Welcome to our Trojan Way March MS Asynchronous Tournament!

This asynchronous tournament is organized by the middle school team of West Marshall Middle School but is open to all middle school students from across the country. There are few opportunities for middle schools that can't travel to a local tournament, so we strive to provide a place for all Middle Schools to have a competition outlet that will provide good feedback for our competitors and strengthen the competition.

So, please note that while we will Follow NSDA Middle School Rules &Prioritize Judge Feedback for Students. Students need constructive feedback to improve their pieces and a ballot with only compliments can only help so much. Be sure to be specific about what they can improve to tell their speech/story. If you need additional guidance on how to be an effective speech judge, please refer to this training through the NSDA: Intro To Judging Speech Events

SCHEDULE (Central Standard Time):

3/12 (5:00 pm): Async speech recordings are due in Tabroom. Add deadline.

3/14 (8:00 am): Preliminary round ballots released.

3/15 (8:00 pm): Preliminary round ballots are due.

3/16 (8:00 am): Final round ballots released.

3/16 (8:00 pm): Final round ballots due.

3/17 (6:00 pm): Awards Slideshow Posted to Tournament

Awards will be mailed to schools following the tournament.

EVENT RULES

We will be following National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) Middle School rules for all events, with the expected rules for the ASYNCH Pro-Con Challenge listed in the event description below.

ASYNC Pro-Con Challenge Rules:

In the ASYNC Pro Con Challenge, students write a 3-5 minute affirmative case and a 3-5 minute negative case on one of theNational Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) topics from the current month for Public Forum Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, or Policy Debate. Judges will evaluate the structure, arguments, evidence, and speaking abilities of each competitor and rank them against each other. The total recording time limit is 10 minutes and 30 seconds. This is a hard limit, and time spent walking to and from the camera counts toward the recording time if the performance is recorded. Both the affirmative and the negative speeches will be read within this time limit. If the performance is recorded, students may take recorded “prep time” in between speeches to pull up files or take a short break, but their two speeches must be submitted as one recording that is no longer than 10 minutes and 30 seconds. If there are multiple judges in the round, all must agree that the student has gone beyond the grace period. Should a student go beyond the grace period, the student may not be ranked 1st. There is no other prescribed penalty for going over the grace period. The ranking is up to each judge’s discretion. Judges who choose to time are to use accurate (stopwatch function) timing devices. No minimum time is mandated. Students may read from pre-written text during the speech as if they were presenting a constructive speech in a round. Speeches should not be memorized.