Speech and Debate Information

Tournament Information

Location: 7819 FM 275 South Cumby, Texas 75433

Contact Marcy Hayden mhayden@mgisd.net for more details.

Entries:  Entries will be accepted until our spaces are filled.  We have a limited number of rooms, so plan on entering early! All entries dropped after 4:00 pm on Wednesday, February 9th will lose their original entry fee.  We reserve the right to charge nuisance fees for drops that are not communicated with us in a timely fashion.  Get your drops in AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!  Please text or call us on Wednesday morning if you have speech and debate drops.

Communication from sponsors and the tournament directors prior to the tournament is of the utmost importance in running a tournament that gets out on time or early. Please help us in this endeavor. We encourage all sponsors to text day-of drops ahead of time to Marcy Hayden 903-413-5264 so that it does not delay the beginning of the tournament. This includes any judge changes as well.

Entry Limits: The only entry limit is our building capacity. Please utilize our waitlist which will be updated it as frequently as we can!

Cross-Entering:  Students may enter as many speech events as they like, but if they enter more than two, we will not hold rounds for them. In academics, students should pay attention to the schedule to make sure there are no conflicts. Students may enter academic events and debate event as the pattern allows. We will not hold rounds for academics.

Awards: We will offer 1st through 6th in every academic event as well as debate, speaking, and interp events. A top journalism and speech team will be given as well. Awards for academic events will be placed in a bag with all other awards for that school and you may take with you when you leave. 

Judges/Graders:

 Lincoln-Douglas – One judge for every four entries, or portion thereof. 

 Speaking Events – One judge for each event you have students registered in

NOTE: The same judge can be used for informative and persuasive that was used for prose and poetry.

*All judges must be entered on the website by Wednesday, February 9th at 4:00 pm or you will be assessed missing judge fees. Committing to a judge and then not providing that judge will result in a missing judge fee assessed on the day of the tournament.

Topics:

 Lincoln-Douglas Debate – Winter/Spring UIL Topic

 Fees:

 Missing Judge - $125

 Speaking - $10

 LD, Congress Entry - $20

 Academic Entry - $8

Payment of Fees: Schools should bring a check payable to Miller Grove High School. If you are not able to have a check prepared in time, please have proof of payment and leave a copy with the registration table.  All accounts must be paid in full within 30 days.  All delinquent accounts are subject to a $100 fee.

Student Behavior: All competitors and visitors are held to the rules and regulations of the Miller Grove Independent School District

Other Notes:

 We will make every effort as a tournament to run on schedule and will attempt to accelerate when possible. We ask for your patience and cooperation in the event that this is not possible.

 We believe that oral critiques and disclosure are valuable teaching tools in debate. However, due to the incredibly tight schedule, we are asking that all judges turn in ballots within five minutes of the last speech. Critiques can be given after the ballot has been turned in. An oral critique does not replace a well-written ballot, as that is helpful communication at this time of the year between the judge and coach.

 During the tournament, we will provide a hospitality room for coaches and judges and a concession stand for competitors. Schools are asked to clean up all trash in tournament common areas.

 Questions should be directed to Marcy Hayden mhayden@mgisd.net