Scribner-Snyder Trojan
Speech Team
2011-2012 Team Handbook
Welcome
The 2011-2012 speech competition season is about to begin and I would like to begin by thanking
you for your interest in the Trojan Speech Team. With this being my 8th year as a head speech coach
and my 17th season involved in some way with speech competition, I can’t begin to tell you how
great this activity is for young people. I myself have gained a great deal of confidence and lifechanging experiences through my involvement in high school and collegiate speech competition.
There are very few competitive activities that are as rewarding and satisfying as speech competition.
So thank you again for your interest.
As we begin the season, I am asking each team member to bring this handbook home for families to
review and use. In it, you will find our season calendar, as well as additional information that
students and parents may find necessary throughout the year. As with any school activity, there are
guidelines for the competitors and coaches to follow. Some of these come from sanctioning bodies,
like the Nebraska School Activities Association or National Forensic League, while others are set by
the school and coaching staff. If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at
the address below. I will also be mailing out additional contact information to parents should they
need to reach me by phone or text message. I will be sharing my cell phone number only with
parents to avoid any awkward situations with students.
How to contact Mr. Tom Cosenza:
School email: tcosenza@esu2.org
How to stay up to date with the Scribner-Snyder Trojan Speech Team
Follow us on Twitter: TBA
Visit the Scribner-Snyder Trojan Speech Team page on www.sstrojans.org
I would like to extend an open invitation to all of your families and friends in regards to the
upcoming season. If they would like to check out a tournament or more in person, please don’t
hesitate to invite them to come along with the team or join us at a tournament. I would only ask
that visitors be informed of tournament etiquette. I also ask that parents make sure to discuss their
attendance at a tournament with their student(s) so that they can expect you and not be surprised at
a tournament. We expect all of our visitors to be good audience members, so please turn off any
cell phones or other electronic devices during rounds, and we’d ask them to watch at least one
additional speaker after their student’s performances.
Thank you again and please don’t hesitate to contact me as necessary.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. Tom Cosenza
Head Coach – Scriber-Snyder Trojan Speech Team
Team Guidelines
Practice
Each competitor will need to practice regularly during the season. 15- 30 minutes will need to be
with a coach (Mr. Cosenza or guest coaches). It is strongly suggested that each competitor practice
30 minutes with a returning Varsity team member, parent, or other adult who will sign-off on a
practice sheet.
Student practice time will be tracked throughout the pre-season and season. Mr. Cosenza will
recognize students that go above-and-beyond in their practice habits with a special award every week
of the season. We’ll also recognize 1 or more students that set a great example with their practice
regimen at the end-of-the-year team banquet.
Failure to practice regularly will result in suspension of tournament travel privileges (meaning that
you won’t be allowed to continue competing.) Ultimately, every minute of practice time logged will
help you improve your performances and will make the activity more rewarding.
Eligibility
It is crucial for everyone on the Trojan Speech Team to maintain a good academic record and to
keep their eligibility for school activities. Students in paired or group events must keep in mind that
their travel status and eligibility will affect not only them, but their teammates as well.
Competition
Students compete for various reasons. For some, it is the thrill of competition. For others, they
may compete in speech for the social benefits (it’s fun and you can meet lots of new people). For
others, it may be for the experience. Whatever your reasons, if you decide to join the team, you will
be asked to make a commitment to the team, which includes attending at least 4 regular-season
contests.
Students interested in vying for a Varsity Letter in Speech will need to attend at least 8 regularseason contests and meet additional criteria for lettering. Previous year letter-winners are reminded
that they can letter in the activity more than once, but must meet the requirements for lettering
(meaning that letters don’t carry over from one year to the next).
Tournament Registrations
The Scribner-Snyder Trojan Speech Team will operate on a presumed-consent registration process.
This means that if you are on the team and are travel-eligible, you will be considered as attending
that week’s contest(s). Therefore, if you have a scheduling conflict that will not allow you to
represent Scribner-Snyder at a tournament, you must tell Mr. Cosenza in person or via email by the
Tuesday morning of the week prior to that tournament. That way you can be removed from the
travel list submitted to the office and you will not be entered in that tournament (which costs the
team money). Keep in mind that most tournaments will not allow us to add competitors during the
week of the tournament, so if you change your mind on attending a tournament that you’ve been
excused from, you must let Mr. Cosenza know as soon as possible to avoid getting left out.
If you are ill on the day of a tournament or have a family crisis, it is strongly requested that you (or
your parents) notify Mr. Cosenza as soon as possible. Parents will be given Mr. Cosenza’s cell
phone number so that they can reach him that way, otherwise you can email Mr. Cosenza at
tcosenza@esu2.org. Please call or text if illness or family crisis occurs on a Saturday morning as Mr.
Cosenza may not have time to check email before an early-morning leave-time.
Preparation
It is vital that each member of the speech team prepare adequately for competition. Even if your
goals are modest, you are still representing Scribner-Snyder High School and the Speech Team.
This means that you need to invest time in the preparation of speeches and/or interpretation pieces.
You need to work on memorization (it is one of the keys to success in speech competition). You
need to attend contests with all of your needed tools (speech copies, scripts, notecards, black books,
visual aides/props, etc.) for competition. But most importantly, you’ve got to be prepared to
represent yourself and your teammates well.
Tournament Attire and Behavior
One of the unwritten rules of speech competition is that judges will make snap judgments of each
competitor based on their dress. So, given that we want to be judged based on the quality of our
work, competitors are strongly encouraged to dress professionally for speech contests. This doesn’t
mean needing to go out and buy a suit (although if you have a nice suit, that would be the ideal
professional attire), but it does mean a few guidelines should be followed whenever possible.
For guys: Dress pants / slacks with a belt. Button dress shirt with a professional tie (Mr. C can teach
you how to tie a tie if need be). Dress socks and dress shoes.
For girls: Dress skirt or dress pants. Professional blouse. Pantyhose and dress shoes (flats or
modest heels).
As for appropriate tournament behavior, it is important for competitors to understand that being at
a speech tournament is like being at school. The same behavior expectations we have during school
apply at a school activity. Additionally, because we are always around other competitors, coaches,
and judges while at a speech tournament, our behavior must be even MORE in control than at
school. Students have been “punished” by judges because of comments made and actions taken at
speech tournaments. And judges remember what you say and do for a long time.
When it comes to behavior in competition rounds, first and foremost do not be a distraction to
other competitors. This means your phone (if you have one) is set to silent and stored away from
you – so no texting. This also means you will sit and listen to each speaker and avoid talking to
anyone during someone’s performance. If you are single-entered at the tournament, you’re to watch
everyone in the round and be a good audience member for everyone’s speeches. If you arrive to a
round and there is a speaker going, you need to wait outside of the room until they are done.
Ultimately, it comes down to respecting the other speakers in your round – since you’d probably like
to be respected by them too.
Win, Lose, or Draw
Speech competition is a lot of fun and it is a great outlet for competition. Unfortunately, the judging
of speech contests can be very subjective. While other activities have objective standards (if the ball
goes in the basket, you score points; if the ball goes in the hole on the green, you’ve made the putt),
speeches can be judged by the harshest and most superficial of standards. Whether you win a high
place in a round (or the tournament as a whole), or whether you lose and get disappointing marks,
you are the ultimate judge of your efforts. If you put in your best (truly your best) effort, then it
doesn’t matter what a judge had to say. There really aren’t draws in speech, but there are personal
victories and tough loses. It’s what we do with them that matters the most.
Lettering:
Procedure: To obtain a letter a member must meet the following achievements:
1. Earn Varsity Member status through attendance at 8 speech contests during the season.
2. Regular attendance at team meetings and weekly practice sessions.
AND
3. Achieve one of the following:
Place (finish in the top 6) at a minimum of three varsity-level competitions throughout the season
OR
Qualify for the NSAA state tournament
OR
Be a Senior-status member with an above-average record of team involvement
4. Mr. Cosenza may also make “coach selections” of students who may not have hit automatic
qualifiers, but who are deserving of this honor.
Earning a letter in Speech is a honor. It is the hope of the Trojan Speech Team coaching staff that
earning a letter as a member of the Trojan Speech Team is met with the same respect as a letter in
any other activity; thus we model our requirements with the greatest respect and will continue to
refine them with each season.
Districts:
Two weeks before districts a team will be selected to compete at districts. Earning this recognition
will be an honor and will be based on attendance and results from the previous tournaments, with special regard
given to varsity level competition. It is our team goal to put together the most competitive group from
Scribner-Snyder.
District competition will allow only two entries in each event. Competitors may only be doubleentered, so we need to have quality 3rd and 4th performers in each category.
Qualifying for State Tournament:
To qualify for the NSAA State Tournament, you need to place in the top 3 of your event at NSAA
Districts. Some events may go straight to a final round (if 8 or fewer are competing in that event),
while others have a prelim round where the top 3 in each prelim advance to the final round.
Trojan Speech Team
2011-2012 Projected Travel Schedule
Note: The following is a projected travel schedule which is subject to change. Please
check the Trojan Speech Team page on www.sstrojans.org for updates.
For those families new to speech competition, we’re a bit at the mercy of the tournament schedule
as to when things will wrap up for a given tournament. Therefore, the end-times are estimates. I
will ask students to call for rides when we are 15 minutes or so away from school on our return and
we’ll post updates during tournaments on our Twitter account.
Bulleted dates below are tentative and subject to cancellation if there isn’t enough student interest in
participating on those dates.
Friday, November 11th – Norfolk Speech Tournament (Leave Scribner-Snyder at 12:30 p.m., done by 9:00
p.m. + travel time back to Scribner.)
Saturday, November 12th – Norfolk Debate Tournament (Leave Scribner-Snyder at 6:45 a.m., done by 6:30
p.m. + travel time back to Scribner.)

Saturday, December 3rd – Millard West Debate (Leave Scribner-Snyder at 6:45 a.m., done by 4:30
p.m.+ travel time back to Scribner.)
Saturday, December 10th – Creighton Prep Speech (Leave Scribner-Snyder at 6:45 a.m., done by 4:30 p.m.+
travel time back to Scribner.)

Saturday, January 7th – Millard North Speech (Leave Scribner-Snyder at 7:00 a.m., done by 4:00 p.m.
+ travel time back to Scribner.)
Saturday, January 14th – Raymond Central Speech (Leave Scribner-Snyder at 6:45 a.m., done by 4:30 p.m.+
travel time back to Scribner.)
Friday, January 20th – Fremont Speech (Leave Scribner at 2:00 p.m., done by 9:30 p.m. or sooner + travel
time back to Scribner)
Saturday, January 21st – North Bend Speech (Leave Scribner at 7:00 a.m., done by 4:30 p.m. + travel time
back to Scribner.)
Saturday, January 28th – Logan View Speech (Leave Scribner at 7:00 a.m., done by 4:30 p.m. + travel time
back to Scribner.)
Saturday, February 4th –West Point C.C. Speech (Leave Scribner at 7:00 a.m., done by 4:30 p.m. + travel time
back to Scribner.)
Saturday, February 11th – Wakefield Speech (Leave Scribner at 6:30 a.m., done by 4:30 p.m. + travel time
back to Scribner)
Friday, February 17th – Battle Creek Speech (Leave Scribner at 12:00 p.m., done by 9:30 p.m. + travel time
back to Scribner)
Saturday, February 25th – East Husker Conference Speech Tournament @ Oakland-Craig (Leave Scribner at
7:00 a.m., done by 4:30 p.m. + travel time back to Scribner.)
Saturday, March 3rd – Possible Invitational Tournament if available. OR Districts Team Workday.
Monday, March 5th – Scribner-Snyder Speech Showcase @ Scribner-Snyder Elementary. Students arrive at
4:00 p.m. in tournament dress for 5:00 p.m. start. Banquet dinner to follow.
Monday-Thursday (3/12-3/15) – NSAA District Speech (location and date TBA, check back for updates.)
Friday, March 23rd – NSAA State Speech @ UNK (travel on March 22nd after school, Leave Scribner by 4:00
p.m. with overnight stay in Kearney. Leave hotel on Friday by 6:45 a.m., done by 5:00 p.m. + travel time back
to Scribner.)
Last week of March / First week of April – Trojan Speech Team Banquet. Date to be determined.
NSAA and Common Speech Event Descriptions

Limited Preparation Events (2 events where students have a limited amount of time to prepare a
speech)
o
o

Prepared Public Address Events (3 events where students write and memorize a speech,
delivering it all season long).
o
o
o

Informative Speaking (a serious 6-8 minute-long speech on a topic worth studying and
informing an audience over.)
Persuasive Speaking (a serious 8-10 minute-long speech on a topic with more than 1 side
and whose aim is to change an action, mindset, or awareness.)
Entertainment Speaking (a humorous 6-8 minute-long speech on a topic with either an
informative or persuasive approach.)
Acting/Interpretation of Literature Events (5 events where a student seeks to portray 1 or more
characters from a piece of literature, memorized and performed all season long.)
o
o
o
o
o

Extemporaneous Speaking (a serious 5-7 minute-long speech on a topic of newsworthiness, prepared with 30-60 minutes of prep-time)
Impromptu Speaking (a humorous 3-5 minute-long speech on topics drawn from random,
prepared with 5 minutes of prep-time.)
Serious Prose (a serious presentation 8-10 minutes in length with 1 or more characters
presented by 1 contestant).
Humorous Prose (a humorous presentation 8-10 minutes in length with 1 or more
characters presented by 1 contestant).
Poetry (a serious or humorous presentation of poems 6-8 minutes in length presented by 1
contestant.)
Duet Acting (a serious or humorous cutting of a play 10-12 minutes in length presented by
2 contestants.)
Oral Interpretation of Drama (a serious or humorous cutting of a play 10-15 minutes in
length presented by 3-5 contestants.)
Debate
o
Student Congress (a debate event where students speak on issues with more than 1 side,
presenting 1-3 minute speeches that explain their position on the topic and respond to
arguments brought up by the opposing side. Students compete individually and debate in
groups of 20-25 competitors. This is modeled after how a congress or legislature debate.)
Students may enter more than 1 event at all contests. NSAA rules prohibit a student from entering
the same event twice (like two Duets or two OIDs). Some contests allow more than 2 entries
(especially those with a flighted schedule.)