OHSSL Canton District Tournament
It is that time of year again for the OHSSL State Qualifying tournament. As our season begins to come to an end, I
wish all coaches good luck as we enter the most competitive part of our season.
Tournament Particulars
WHERE: All events will be held at Jackson High School
WHEN: January 31st and February 1st, 2014
TIME:
Friday, January 31st
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Registration will be between 3:30-4:00
Please don’t come before 3:15pm on Friday night! It will be a mess in the parking lot!
Saturday, February st
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Arrival should be between 7:15-8:00.
All drops must be reported by 7:45.
Judges should arrive by 7:45.
FEES:
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$5.00 per individual student
$10.00 per 2 Person/Duo/Public Forum
$2.00 of each fee is set aside to assist the host school of the OHSSL State Tournament when the state
tournament is held in the Canton District.
Make Checks Payable to OHSSL Canton District
Fees must be paid or an official purchase order must be received before students can compete.
ENTRIES:
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Each MEMBER school of the OHSSL may enter 39 entries.
Each MEMBER school of the OHSSL may enter up to (4) four entries per event.
Duo, Public Forum, and Policy Debate teams count as one (1) entry.
REMEMBER: PDQ Qualifiers in Policy Debate must count as entries and slots. Please email your Qualifiers
to me ASAP and mark them in SpeechWire.
State Qualifying Ratio for District Competition
Entries Per Event
Qualifiers
1-3
1
4-6
2
7-9
3
10-17
5
18-21
6
22-24
7
25-28
8
29-31
9
32-35
10
36-38
11
39-42
12
*Please try to register a full team, as the more individuals competing per event, the more individuals we will have
representing us at the state tournament.
JUDGES:
Must be at least 2013 graduates.
Any 2012 graduate MAY NOT JUDGE the events that he or she competed in last year. This does NOT apply in
DEBATE EVENTS!
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Parents may NOT judge the event/category of his child. This does NOT apply in DEBATE EVENTS.
Please block your 2012 graduates and parents from the categories they should not judge in Speechwire.
All judges need access to a STOPWATCH! Timing on cell phones will be permitted as a timekeeping device,
but the phone may NOT accept calls or access the internet during a round.
There will be 2 judges in each Speech round providing a total of 6 ranks. The lowest rank will be dropped in
determining our State Qualifiers.
You may use different judges on Friday & Saturday.
The following ratio-scale will be used in supplying District Judges:
IE Contestants
Judges
1-4
2
5-8
3
9-12
4
13-16
5
17-20
6
21-23
7
24-25
8
26-27
9
Debate Contestants/Teams
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Judges
1-2
1
3-4
2
Please let us know if there is a hardship in coming up with judges.
We need every judge that you possibly have for the debate events! It will make the tournament run
smoothly.
PLEASE enter judges as soon as you know that you have them! That will help us as we think about
scheduling day of the tournament.
JUDGE PLEA
The most important thing is that we have a clear and realistic view of the judge situation going into the tournament.
We understand that it can be difficult to secure judges for the district tournaments. Please communicate these
difficulties ahead of time. In addition, please make sure that the judges you have registered in Speechwire are
realistic. We will be able to plan better if we more fully understand the number of judges we can expect.
TOURNAMENT TIME SCHEDULE:
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Please look at the tournament schedule on SpeechWire.
*Because of the possibilities of run-offs and important announcements, we DEMAND that all students,
judges, and coaches REMAIN at Jackson High School for lunch. If we are unable to locate a student for an
assignment, that student will forfeit that assignment!
Here are a few reminders regarding manuscripts.
Prose/Poetry Manuscript:
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The coversheet that includes the bibliography and can be found on the OHSSL website. This form must be
turned in to the District Committee before the District Tournament and then forwarded to the State
Committee for State. Students must note the number of words for each source and identify the genre (prose
or poetry).
The student's manuscript must be available for viewing should any protests arise.
The student must have sources available (or Xero copies from the sources) in case of protests.
Original Oratory Manuscript:
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Manuscripts must be submitted utilizing MLA format.
Manuscripts of qualifiers will be proofread by the student’s coach and two additional coaches before being
submitted to the OHSSL Executive committee.
This MLA format includes numbering the sources and numbering the citations within the manuscript to
match the sources on the bibliography for all quoted and/or paraphrased material.
Tournament Details:
California Plan:
Once again, we are not seeding this year. We will be following the California plan. I have attached the exact wording
from the OHSSL Tournament Operations Manual so that we are all on the same page. We can go over these again at
our District Meeting, January 22nd, 2012.
Here is the following approved plan for tournament operations:
A. Plan #4 – Modified NFL “California” Plan
1. Districts may select to use two (2) judges or three (3) judges in each preliminary round but
must apply this decision consistently throughout the tournament and across all events.
2. At least three (3) preliminary rounds of competition must be held. Districts may elect to
conduct additional preliminary rounds based on registration in an event -- between 25 and 42
entries may conduct four (4) preliminary rounds; entries over 43 in an event may conduct five
(5) preliminary rounds.
3. Round One must be randomly scheduled or scheduled by the district’s accepted OHSSL
seeding plan. Entries may be changed from one section to another only to avoid entries from
the same school or, in the event of seeding, seed conflicts.
4. Each judge will rank entries from one as best to seven as worst. In events with uneven
sections, ranks of five, six and seven will be changed to reflect the ranks of the short section.
For example, if an event has three sections of six and one section of five, the tab room will
adjust each rank of six to a rank of five.
5. The judges’ ranks may be totaled for each entry. The sum will be re-ranked for the purpose
of tabulating the round. Alternatively, each judge’s rank may be considered independently. In
this situation, the total of each judge’s ranks for each entry will be used for the purpose of
tabulating the round.
a. Breaking ties with two judges: in the event of a two-way tie, both entries are awarded
the higher rank. In the event of a three-way tie, entries are awarded a tied, middle rank. In
the event of a four-way tie, entries are awarded an upper-middle rank. For other entries
after the tie in the section, eliminate the next position after the tied ranking.
b. Breaking ties with three judges: In the event of a two-way tie, the tie will be broken by
judges’ preference. In the event of three or four-way tie, the entries are awarded the better
middle position for which the speakers are tied. For other entries after the tie in the
section, eliminate the next position after the tied ranking.
6. Round Two and all subsequent rounds are seeded only by the cumulative results of
competition from the previous rounds. Sectioning of Round Two and all subsequent rounds
shall be done by the commonly accepted snaking pattern. Entries are to be moved from
sections only under the following conditions:
a. To avoid an imbalance of schools. The higher seeded entry from a school must remain
in the original section. The lower seeded entry from the same school must be placed in
the next available section in the snaking pattern until school balance occurs.
b. To balance power, entries may be moved from a suboptimal pairing to an optimal
pairing if it does not result in the lowest composite ranks (equal to the number of sections
in the round) meeting each other or an imbalance of schools. The balance of power is
determined by the sum of the composite ranks in each section if sections have the same
number of entries. If uneven sections exist, power is determined by the average of the
composite ranks in each section.
Impromptu Speaking:
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A student will draw two quotations from the envelope and select one to speak on.
The student must take a position on that quotation - to affirm the quotation, negate the quotation, or qualify
the quotation - and speak to that position. Personal stories/experiences may only be used in the introduction
and/or conclusion of the speech.
The student may bring reference materials into the room to use during prep time.
Extemporaneous Speaking:
United States and International Extemporaneous speakers may use electronic devices to access previously stored
material (evidence and support material) in the preparation room. Electronic devices may NOT be used to compose
the extemporaneous speech. No electronic devices are permitted in any other Individual Events.
And a few reminders about some existing rules. . .
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The OHSSL rules on cell phones will be enforced. If a competitor’s cell phone sounds in a round, that
competitor will be ranked last or be given a loss. If a judge’s cell phone sounds in a round, the judge’s
school will be assessed $25.00.
Policy, Lincoln Douglas, and Public Forum may use electronic devices to take notes and to access
previously stored material during a round.
We shall all meet for a District Meeting on Tuesday, January 21st at 4:00 pm or as soon as you can arrive at
Hoover High School!
Please park behind the school off of 10th St. You will be entering through Door #20.
Yummy snacks will be provided.
FINAL REMINDERS: All Due by Tuesday January 21st, 2014
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Please complete all registration on SpeechWire
Please make sure all manuscripts meet requirements
Please attach cover pages to manuscripts
Please pay registration fees
Please submit all judges’ names
PLEASE DO NOT DROP ANY CONTESTANTS OR JUDGES!