speech rule book.qxd

2012-13

SpeechRule Book

Revision History

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Important Changes in Terms and ConditionsThe IHSA Speech Advisory Committee met on April 11, 2012 at the IHSA Office, Bloomington. The report of the Committee was later submitted to theBoard of Directors for its consideration.

Changes in the Terms and Conditions which were adopted by theBoard are printed with screened background. Note them carefully!

Table of Contents

General InformationSpeech Advisory Committee..............................................Page 2

Administration of State Series ...........................................Page 2

List of Participant Instructions...........................................

General Activity By-laws ....................................................Page 4

Terms & Conditions Changes for 2012-13 ........................Pages 5

Future Dates ......................................................................Page 34

Request for Duplicate Awards ...........................................Page 35-36

Individual EventsTerms and Conditions .......................................................Pages 6-18

Performance In The Round Special Event..........................Pages 19-20

Judge Evaluation Form ......................................................Page 21

Drama/Group InterpretationTerms and Conditions .......................................................Pages 22-26

DebateTerms and Conditions .......................................................Pages 27-33

Individual Events:Judges are recommended by the State

Tournament Committee and appointed by theIHSA. Input as to potential hired judges canbe made to the IHSA office.

Once a list of prospective judges iscompiled, the committee meets anddetermines those individuals who are to becontacted as hired judges for the State Final.In addition, the committee prepares a list often to fifteen coaches for consideration ineach of the events to provide guidance to thesub-committee which will contact coachjudges upon completion of the Sectionalcontests.

Contact is made by the IHSA and IHSArepresentatives to persons selected as hiredjudges. On Sunday and Monday, following thecompletion of the Sectional, the judgeassignment sub-committee contacts coaches

by telephone to complete the roster of judgesfor the State Final. Coach judges serve toprovide multiple judges in each round ofcompetition. The Committee makes everyeffort to select representative coaches fromthe various parts of the state. Effort is alsomade to avoid using an individual to judge thesame event(s) in the State Finals as he/shemay have judged in a Regional or Sectional.

Drama/Group Interpretation:Judges are recommended by the State

Tournament Committee and appointed by theIHSA Office. The Committee meets andprovides the IHSA with a prioritized list ofprospective judges. IHSA then contacts therecommended judges and confirms judgepanels for the State Finals. The committeeseeks to maintain a geographic distribution ofjudges and strives to secure judges who

represent various philosophies and who didnot judge at the State Finals during thepreceding year. Judges for the State Finalscannot judge at the Sectionals in the sameevent.

Debate:Judges for the State Final Debate

Tournament are reviewed by the StateTournament Committee. One member of theCommittee is delegated the responsibility ofassigning and contacting all judges. Theprocess includes input from coaches andindividual members of the Committee.Minimum standards for judge qualification areincluded in the Rules Book. At the State Final,a strike system is implemented to insure thatjudges are not assigned to objecting coaches’teams.

Judge Selection Process

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Meet the Speech Advisory Committee

JOHN GONCZYCoach

Chicago (Marist)Term Expires 2015

Division 1

MARK MARANTOCoach

Glenview (Glenbrook South)Term Expires 2015

Division 2

TOM WITTINGActivities DirectorBurbank (Reavis)Term Expires 2015

Division 3

LAURIE PILLENCoachRochelle

Term Expires 2013Division 4

LANCE THURMANPrincipal

Stanford (Olympia)Term Expires 2013

Division 5

Background Information Regarding IHSA Administration of the State Speech Contest Series

IHSA State Speech Advisory Committee

In Speech, as in all other activities forwhich the Association conducts a statecontest, IHSA appoints a committee ofindividuals to serve as advisors to the staffand Board of Directors. This Committee iscomprised of six (6) persons, each appointedfor a three-year term. Three members areactive coaches/directors—one eachrepresenting the special areas of IndividualEvents, Debate and Drama/GroupInterpretation. The fourth is a principal of amember school. The fifth is an activitiesdirector of a member school. Representativesare selected by the Association in consultationwith the leadership of the Illinois Speech andTheatre Association. In addition to requiringcommittee members to be active coaches withthe recommendation of ISTA, geographicrepresentation and school size are alsoconsidered so a balanced view of the overallstate speech program can be maintained. Ageneral effort is made to appoint no more thanone individual from any given member schoolto any of the IHSA advisory committees in thesame school year.

The IHSA Speech Advisory Committeemeets annually to review the Association’sstate contest programs in speech andrecommend changes to the Board ofDirectors. Input to the committee is obtained

through letters from participating schools,occasional surveys, meetings with coachesand/or directors at state final contests andsuggestions offered by contest managers orcoaches through meetings held at the variousRegional and/or Sectional contest sites. Anyindividual who submits a suggestion to theIHSA Office in writing and requests it beconsidered by the contest advisory committeemay be assured the matter will be broughtbefore the committee at its annual meeting. Ifyou call the IHSA Office with a complaint orsuggestion relative to speech contest rules,you will be invited to submit your thought tothe Advisory Committee in writing.

Tournament Committees

Regional and SectionalUnder the provisions of the Speech

Contest Terms and Conditions, a SpeechTournament Committee is to be appointed ateach Regional and Sectional contest.

Regional Tournament Committees forIndividual Events and Sectional TournamentCommittees for Drama/Group Interpretation,consisting of three (3) coaches from three (3)different schools assigned to the contestcenter, will be appointed by each contestmanager. Individuals who would like tovolunteer for committee appointment shouldcall the manager and indicate willingness toserve.

The contest committees for Sectionalcontests in Individual Events are comprised ofthe managers of the subordinate Regionalcontests and the Sectional manager. Duties ofthese committees are generally described inthe Terms and Conditions for each speechactivity. However, the primary purpose of eachcommittee is to provide guidance for the localcontest manager in selection of judges andcontest organization and to provide advice tothe managers in resolving questions, conflictsand rules interpretation issues on contest day.It is essential that the committee be formedand meet prior to the selection/hiring of anyjudges. All committee members must haveinput into the judge selection process.

State FinalThe IHSA Office appoints a State Final

Contest Committee and Chairperson for eacharea of speech competition.

Selection as Contest Host

Persons interested in having a Regional orSectional contest assigned to their schoolneed to complete the Facilities Survey and theHost Availability Survey in the Schools Centeron the IHSA web site at www.ihsa.org.

KENNY KNOXCoach

London Mills (Spoon River Valley)Term Expires 2013

Division 6

AMY McQUIGGANCoach

Granite CityTerm Expires 2015

Division 7

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Instructions for Submitting List of Participants

Schools are required to complete the Speech List of Participants on-line. Note that the passwords for the 2012-13 schoolterm are new this year. The Principal or Athletic Director can give you the new password.

Log on to www.ihsa.org and click on the Schools Center link. Enter you school’s four-digit School ID number andpassword. On the next page, go to the “Sports and Activity Tracker” area, find the row that lists the correct tournament,and click on “LOP (List of Participants)”link under the “Required Data Forms” heading. Please follow the instructionsshown on the screen as you fill in the necessary information. The deadlines for submitting the List of Participants are asfollows:

Individual Events- Monday, January 28, 2013 by noon (Take a copy to the Regional Entry Meeting)Drama/Group Interpretation- Monday, February 25, 2013 (Performance title and author only)Monday, March 4, 2013 (Entire final cast list due)- (Print a copy for your records)Debate- Wednesday, February 27, 2013 (Print a copy for your records)

Confirmation of receipt of Online List of Participants: Schools should login to their School Center site on the IHSAwebsite and go to the Activity Tracker. The Activity Tracker will show “Completed”, if you have checked the buttonindicating you have finished with your report. If it doesn’t indicate “Completed”, then you must go back into your schoolsList of Participants and check the button on the Online List of Participants indicating you are finished with your report.

(If you experience any problems, please call the IHSA Office at 309-663-6377 and ask for Carol Carr).

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS DEADLINES:Individual Events- January 28, 2013, by noon*

Drama/Group Interpretation- February 25, 2013 (Performance title and author only); March 4, 2013 (Entire final cast list due)

Debate- February 27, 2013

LOP Instructions

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Note: A special Division of the Illinois HighSchool Association By-laws is devoted toActivities. Those pertaining to Music activitiesare reprinted here. They relate directly to theeligibility of students wishing to participate ininterscholastic competition.

Students in member schools shall be eligible toparticipate in interscholastic activity contests asrepresentatives of their schools provided:

4.010 ATTENDANCE

4.011 A student must attend a member schooland may only represent in interscholasticcompetition the member school thestudent attends. For purposes of this by-law, the term “attend” shall mean that thestudent is enrolled at the member schooland is taking at, or under arrangementsapproved by, the member school, aminimum of twenty (20) credit hours ofwork for which credit toward high schoolgraduation will be granted by the memberschool upon the student’s completing andpassing the courses. The school whichenrolls the student shall be exclusivelyresponsible to verify the student’scompliance with all of the eligibil ityrequirements of the by-laws.

The Board of Directors shall havediscretion to waive this requirement of thisby-law for the Illinois schools for the deafor blind. In unit systems having a 6-3-3 or6-4-2 type of organization, ninth gradestudents may participate on senior highschool teams at the member high school inthe district designated by the Board ofEducation, provided:

(a) such participation is approved by thedistrict’s superintendent of schools;

(b) the senior high school principal shallcertify that the ninth grade students:(1) are eligible under the requirements

of these By-laws;(2) are students at a junior high school

located in the district whichsupports the senior high school;and

(3) are not members of a grade orjunior high school team in thesame activity; and

(c) the senior high school principalassumes full responsibility for theconduct of these students during allcontests in which they represent thesenior high school.

4.012 They shall have been enrolled and inattendance not later than the beginning ofthe eleventh school day of the semester.Exception may be considered only ifwritten verification that delay in enrollmentor attendance is caused by illness of thestudents or their immediate family or byother circumstances deemed acceptable bythe Board of Directors which are submittedto the Executive Director for presentationto the Board of Directors.

Division 4 — 4.000 Activity Eligibility By-laws4.013 Including a student’s name on school

attendance records for a period of ten (10)or more school days during any givensemester, beginning with the date of thestudent’s first physical attendance andending with the date of the student’sofficial withdrawal from school, shallconstitute a semester of attendance for thestudent.

4.014 If a student does not attend school for ten(10) days in a semester, as defined inSection 4.013, but participates in anyinterscholastic activity, the student shall beconsidered to have completed a semesterof attendance, unless withdrawal fromschool occurs prior to completion of ten(10) days attendance and is necessitatedby disabling illness or injury which iscertified by a physician.

4.015 They shall not have any lapse of schoolconnection during any given semester ofgreater than ten consecutive school days.Lapse of school connection for greaterthan ten consecutive school days shallrender them ineligible for the remainder ofthe entire semester. Exceptions may beconsidered only if written verification thatlapse in school connection is caused byillness of the students or their immediatefamily or by other circumstances deemedacceptable to the Board of Directors whichare submitted to the Executive Director forpresentation to the Board of Directors.

4.016 Absence of students required by militaryservice to state or nation in the time of anystate of national emergency shall not affectstudents’ eligibility.

4.017 Bona fide pupils of grade schools or juniorhigh schools in the district of a memberschool may participate with the high schoolmusical organizations and ensembles ininterscholastic music activities.

4.018 Students in member schools whichmaintain a joint music curricular programwith one or more other member schoolsmay participate in interscholastic musicactivities as members of groups composedof students from the schools involved inthe joint curricular program.

4.020 SCHOLASTIC STANDING

4.021 They shall be doing passing work in atleast twenty-five (25) credit hours of highschool work per week.

4.022 They shall, unless they are entering highschool for the first time, have credit on theschool records for twenty-five (25) credithours of high school work for the previoussemester. Such work shall have beencompleted in the semester for which creditis granted or in a recognized summerschool program which has been approvedby the Board of Education and for whichgraduation credit is received.

4.023 They shall not have graduated from anyfour-year high school or its equivalent.

4.024 Passing work shall be defined as work ofsuch a grade that if on any given date astudent would transfer to another school,passing grades for the course wouldimmediately be certified on the student’stranscript to the school to which theytransfer.

4.025 Work taken in junior college, college,university, or by correspondence may beaccepted toward meeting the requirementsof this Section provided it is granted credittoward graduation from high school by thelocal Board of Education.

4.030 PARTICIPATION LIMITATIONS

4.031 After they enroll in the ninth grade,students shall be eligible for no more thaneight (8) semesters. They shall not beeligible for more than the number ofsemesters for which their school isrecognized by the Illinois State Board ofEducation.

4.032 After they enroll in the ninth grade, theyshall not be eligible for more than four (4)school years of competition in any non-athletic activity.

4.040 AGE

4.041 A student shall be eligible through agenineteen (19).

4.050 USE OF ASSUMED NAME

4.051 After entering a member school, studentsshall not compete under any name otherthan their own.

4.060 MISBEHAVIOR DURING ACTIVITIES

4.061 Students participating in interscholasticactivities in violation of the By-laws, orother persons found to be in grossviolation of the ethics of competition or theprinciples of good sportsmanship, may bebarred by the Board of Directors frominterscholastic activities.

4.070 USE OF PARTICIPANTS

4.071 Only students who are currently eligible toparticipate in an activity shall appear at thesite as representatives of their school.

4.080 SPIRIT LIMITATIONS

4.081 All cheers, performances, routines, orother activities conducted by a school’sspirit squads (i.e. cheerleaders, pom pons,flags, drill team) shall be conducted inaccordance with the Spirit Rules publishedby the National Federation of State HighSchool Associations.

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Terms and Conditions Changes for 2012-13

Board Approved Terms and ConditionsChanges for Individual Events for 2012-13

1. Item VIII-- Event Rules ExtemporaneousSpeaking (Pull-out section)

Recommendation: Allowing the use ofelectronic retrieval devices to store andretrieve research/subject files.

Presentation: (Add the following in the T &C's after Students must provide their ownpreparatory materials.) Computers or otherelectronic devices may not be used to receiveinformation from any source inside or outsideof the room in which the competition occurs.Internet access, use of e-mail, instantmessaging, or other methods of receivinginformation from sources inside or outside ofthe competition room are prohibited.Electronic retrieval devices are defined aslaptop computers, netbooks, iPads, or otherportable electronic retrieval equipment. Cellphones or smart phones are prohibited frombeing used while preparing or before speakingat IHSA tournaments.

Rationale: To clarify that electronic retrievaldevices may be used to retrieve extemp. filesand assure that the present rules for the use oftechnology are followed in order to avoidstudents(s) disqualifications.

2. Item IV-E and XI-E-Judges Compensation

Recommendation: Judges fees shall be paidas follows:Regional: $20 per roundSectional: $20 per roundState Final: $25 per round

Rationale: It would bring the judges fees morein line with other sports and activities. Sincejudges frequently travel great distances andusually spend 8-12 hours judging at aregional, sectional or state tournament, itseems reasonable to compensate themappropriately for their time. Since we useprofessional educators, business people andperformers, adequate compensation needs tobe provided. It is also becoming more difficultto secure quality judges so a modest increasemay encourage more folks to judge. It hasbeen a number of years since these judgingfees for Individual Events have increased.

Board Approved Terms and ConditionsChanges for Drama/Group Interpretation

for 2012-13

1. Item VIII-B-3- Rules and Limitations

Recommendation: All competing schoolsmust be in compliance with all provisionsoutlined by the host site in the qualifiersmanual. Behavior deemed unsafe by a stateofficial will first be given a warning and thenpenalties may include but not be limited to:warnings, lowering one rank per judge and/ordisqualification.

Rationale: To ensure the safety of thestudents and to have a consequence forschools who blatantly disregard the outlinedvenue rules.

2. Item IV-C- and XI-F - Judges Fees

Recommendation: Judges Fees shall be:Sectional:Dramatics- $20 per play judgedGroup Interpretation- $15 per performance

judged

State Final:Dramatics- $20 per play judgedGroup Interpretation- $15 per performance

judged

Rationale: It would bring the judges feesmore In line with other sports and activities.Since judges frequently travel great distancesand usually spend 8-12 hours judging at asectional or state tournament, it seemsreasonable to compensate them appropriatelyfor their time. Since we use professionaleducators, business people and performers,adequate compensation needs to be provided.It is also becoming more difficult to securequality judges so a modest increase mayencourage more folks to judge. It has been anumber of years since these judging fees forDrama/Group Interpretation have increased.

3. Item IV-A- Event Fees

Recommendation: Increase event fees asfollows:

Sectional StateDramatics $75 $75Group Interpretation $75 $75

Rationale: There is a need for an increase infees to balance the proposed increase injudges' pay. The increase in fees will also helpto offset the deficit that occurs at somesectionals.

Board Approved Terms and ConditionsChanges for Debate for 2012-13

1. Item IV-B- Judges Fees

Recommendation: Judges hired by the IHSAshall be paid a flat fee of $200 for Policy,Lincoln Douglas, Congressional and PublicForum Debate at the State Final Tournament.

Rationale: It would bring the judges feesmore in line with other sports and activities.Judges work approximately 12 hours per dayand this modest increase would move themfrom $150 per day to $200 per day. It hasbeen a number of years since judging fees forDebate have increased.

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B. Late EntriesAny attempt to enter a sport or activity on-

line after the established deadlines will bedenied. Schools that wish to enter after thedeadline will be considered late. To beconsidered for late entry, the Principal/OfficialRepresentative must contact the IHSAadministrative officer in charge of thatsport/activity and request late entry. The penaltyfor late entry shall be a payment of $100.00.

C. Breach of Contract By-law 6.041(Withdrawal Procedure)

1. To withdraw without penalty, theschool principal must notify the IHSA office, inwriting, of a school’s team withdrawal from theSpeech Individual Events State Series prior to theRegional Entry Meeting (date Monday, January28, 2013).

2. Withdrawal after the Regional EntryMeeting will result in a school being liable forpayment of its Event Fees ($10.00 per IE eventoriginally entered - $20.00 per PIR originallyentered) plus a $100.00 late withdrawal penalty.

3. If a school withdraws one or moreentries after the Regional Entry Meeting, theschool shall be liable for all event fees (ie-$10/pir-$20) for each category(s) withdrawn andshall be assessed additional penalties in theamount of $25.00 per event withdrawn.

4. If a school does not officially withdrawand/or does not show up for competition at anylevel of the state series, the school will beassessed the penalties in “2” and “3” above andif applicable, the school may be charged for anyadditional financial loss sustained by theoffended schools or the Association as a resultof such breach (Judges’ fees if applicable). Theschool shall also be considered in Breach ofContract under the terms of the IHSA By-law6.040, and the matter shall be reported to theIHSA Board of Directors for disposition.

D. EligibilityAll member schools in good standing may

enter an individual(s) or a team under theprovisions of IHSA By-law 4.071. The principalis the official representative of his/her school inall interscholastic activities, and theresponsibility for seeing that all students fromhis/her school entered in Speech contests areeligible under the rules shall rest with theprincipal. All correspondence with the IHSAOffice must be conducted through the principal.

In each contest in which a school isrepresented, the principal shall have present anadult, preferably a member of the faculty, whoshall supervise and be responsible for theconduct of the participants and other personsfrom the school. A school’s failure to complywith this provision shall result in disqualificationof its contestants.

In accordance with Section 1.450 of the IHSAConstitution, the Board of Directors hasapproved the Terms and Conditions governingthe 2012-2013 IHSA Individual EventsTournament Series.

I. SCHOOL CLASSIFICATION

Competition in the IHSA Individual EventsTournament Series will be held for all memberschools without classification.

II. DATES AND SITES

A. The state shall be divided intoRegionals and Sectionals. The number ofcompeting schools, travel distance, geographicallocation and the number of entries shall beprimary factors in the determination of numberand boundary lines for these Regionals andSectionals.

B. Dates for contests are:Regional February 2, 2013Sectional February 9, 2013State Final February 15-16, 2013

C. Sites for Regional and Sectionalcontests shall be posted on the IHSA website.The State Final Contest will be held at the PeoriaCivic Center in Peoria, IL.

III. ON-LINE ENTRIES, WITHDRAWALPROCEDURES, ELIGIBILITY, ANDON-LINE LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

The policy for Original Entry Deadlines, LateEntries, and Late Withdrawals shall be thepolicies and procedures regarding entry for allIHSA-sponsored sport/activities included in the2012-2013 Entry Policies and Procedures whichcan be found in the Schools Center on the IHSAwebsite.

A. On-line EntriesAll member schools must enter their school

into the state series competition through theIHSA School Center on the IHSA Website atwww.ihsa.org. The deadline for entry isNovember 1, 2012. The 2012-13 Entry Policiesand Procedures outlining the online entryprocedures for all IHSA-sponsored tournamentscan be found in the Schools Center on the IHSAwebsite.

Competing schools are responsible forEvent Fees as described in Section IV.

Event Fees- Regional: $10 per eventEvent Fees- Sectional: $10 per eventEvent Fees- State Final: $10 per event(Event Fees-Performance in the Round: $20

per performance group per level)

E. On-Line List of ParticipantsEach school must complete the On-Line

List of Participants by the deadline of noon onJanuary 28, 2013. This entry form must also beprinted and taken to the Regional Entry Meetingon January 28, 2013. If a school does not submitthe On-line List of Participants by the deadline,coaches and/or participants from the school aresubject to penalties which could include, but notbe limited to being ruled ineligible to compete inthe State Series and/or charged $100.00.Confirmation of receipt of Online List ofParticipants: Schools should login to theirSchool Center site on the IHSA website and go tothe Activity Tracker. The Activity Tracker willshow “Completed”, if you have checked thebutton indicating you have finished with yourreport. If it doesn’t indicate “Completed”, thenyou must go back into your schools List ofParticipants and check the button on the OnlineList of Participants indicating you are finishedwith your report.

IV. HOST FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

A. Event Fees-Regional: For eachindividual event in which a school hasparticipants in the Regional Contest, an EVENTFEE of ten ($10) dollars per event shall be paid tothe Regional host school at the Regional EntryMeeting. No contestant from a school will bepermitted to participate in the Regional contest ifEVENT FEES ($10 per event entered to regionalmanagers) are not paid.

B. Event Fees- Sectional: For eachindividual event in which a school advances anentry from Regional to Sectional competition, anEVENT FEE of ten ($10) dollars shall be paid tothe Sectional host school.

C. Event Fees- State Final: For eachindividual event in which a school advances anentry from Sectional to State Final competition,an EVENT FEE of ten ($10) dollars shall be paidto the Peoria Civic Center.

D. Event Fees- Performance in theRound: At all levels of competition, each schoolentered in Performance in the Round shall payan EVENT FEE of twenty ($20) to the host schoolfor Regional and Sectional competition and tothe Peoria Civic Center for the State Finalcompetition .

E. Judges Compensation:Judges fees shall be paid as follows:Regional$20.00 per roundSectional $20.00 per roundState Final $25.00 per roundEach group of performances for which a

judge completes a ballot is considered a ”round”.

2012-2013 Individual Events Terms and Conditions

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Any judge who drives more than 70 milesround trip to the site of a Regional, Sectional, orState Final Contest shall be reimbursed a travelallowance of $.30 per mile in excess of 70 milesround trip. Reimbursement shall be directlyfrom the IHSA office, upon the judges’submission of a travel report form to beprovided by the IHSA through the contestmanagers.

V. TOURNAMENT ASSIGNMENTS ANDREGIONAL ENTRY MEETING

A. Regional and Sectional AssignmentsRegional and Sectional Assignments can

be found on-line at www.ihsa.org. after Nov. 1.

B. Regional Entry Meeting1. An entry meeting shall be held at

each Regional site on Monday, January 28,2013.

2. The online List of Participants(Regional Entry Form), together with event feesof $10.00 for each Regional event entered, mustbe delivered to the Regional manager at theRegional Meeting to be held on Monday,January 28, 2013. Checks for event fees shouldbe made payable to the host school.

3. Guidelines for ConductingRegional Entry Meeting:

a. The Regional Entry Meetingshall not be held during the regular school day.

b. It is required for the coach oranother official school representative to attendthe Regional Entry Meeting, except under thefollowing conditions:

1) Host schools can makearrangements to receive telephone calls fromparticipating schools on the day of the EntryMeeting.

2) In the event that illness,severe weather conditions or other emergencywill prevent a school’s representative fromattending the Entry Meeting, notice MUST BEGIVEN to the contest manager by telephone onthe day of the meeting.

3) If a school notifies thehost school it will not be represented at theentry meeting, it must also verbally report all itsentries to the manager and must acceptwhatever judging assignments the managerdetermines at the entry meeting. It will beresponsible for payment of fees for allcontestants entered by the telephone call to themanager on the date of the entry meeting. Proofof Publication should be faxed to the manager.

c. If the coach or other schoolrepresentative fails to comply with theseprovisions, the individuals entered from thatschool may not be permitted to participate in theRegional contest.

4. The Regional Entry Meeting willprovide opportunity to all schools to finalizetheir Regional entries. Please note the followinglimitations:

Individual Events Terms and Conditions—Page 2

B. Contest Management1. Designation of manager: In all

cases in which a member school is selected as acontest site, the principal of the high school shallautomatically assume entire responsibility for thecontest. The principal may delegate the authorityto manage the contest to another staff member.If the site is not located in a member school,then the IHSA Board of Directors shall appoint alocal manager with like responsibilities.

2. Contest Managers Meeting: Ameeting in December shall be held at the IHSAoffice for all contest managers. The subject ofthe meeting will consist of contest management.Managers will receive information from the IHSAconfirming the date and time of the meeting.

3. Contest Committee: Regionalcontest committees, consisting of three (3)coaches from three (3) different schoolsassigned to the contest site, will be appointed byeach contest manager. Sectional contestcommittees will be comprised of the managersof the three (3) subsidiary Regional contests andthe Sectional manager.

Participating schools shall be notifiedof the names of Committee members by the hostsite at least five (5) days prior to the date of thecontest.

4. The functions of the ContestCommittee shall be:

a. to aid the manager inplanning, organizing and administering thecontest;

b. to interpret the rules whennecessary; and

c. to serve as a panel to selectcontest judges.

All Committee members must beconsulted about potential judges prior to theselection/hiring of any person(s). Writtenconsensus of the Committee shall be required foreach judge employed and shall be obtained bythe contest manger prior to contracting thejudge.

Contest Committees shall not haveauthority to screen or edit radio scripts, extemptopics or impromptu topics. These materialsmust be used as provided by the IHSA Office.Any direction to update extemp topics mustcome solely from the IHSA office.

A Contest Committee composed ofsix sectional managers, six at-largerepresentatives (one from each sectional), and arepresentative of the Speech Advisory Committeewill be appointed by the IHSA Office to assist theState Final manager.

5. Authority of Contest Managers andContest Committee:

a. Regional and SectionalContests

The Contest manager shall beauthorized to conduct the contest under theprovisions of these Terms and Conditions. If asituation develops in which there is an apparentunfairness to a contestant, and which isdetermined to be the result of an administrative

a. Each school shall completethe List of Participants by noon on the Mondayof the Regional Entry Meeting, containing thenames of students who will participate alongwith other pertinent information. In addition,each school shall submit a copy of the form atthe regional meeting.

b. A copy of proof of publication,which could include: original published source,or copy of published copyright page or internetvalidity (see Article VIII-A-5) must be presentedat the Regional meeting for all interpretiveevents: Dramatic Duet Acting, DramaticInterpretation, Humorous Duet Acting,Humorous Interpretation, Prose and PoetryReading. The Regional Committee will reviewproof of publication. WITHOUT PROOF OFPUBLICATION THE CONTESTANT MAY NOT BEALLOWED TO COMPETE.

c. Schools are permitted oneentry in each Individual Event.

d. Individual students may notparticipate in more than two (2) IndividualEvents. Individuals entered in Performance in theRound may not be entered in any other event.Violation shall result in the school’sdisqualification in all the events in which thestudent participated. If the student or schoolwins any awards in, or as a result of, the eventsin which the violating student participates, suchawards must be surrendered to the IHSA Office.

e. No individual student mayperform any part of a given piece of literature inany Individual Event, in more than one yearduring his/her high school career. In addition, nostudent may perform any part of any given pieceof literature in more than one Individual Eventduring any given year.

f. Substitutions and changes inRegional entries may be made until thecompletion of the Regional Entry Meeting.Following the Regional meeting, substitutions forpersonnel and changes in titles of selections forthe Regional Contest may be made provided (1)the manager is notified prior to the start of thecontest, and (2) the principal attests in writingthat the substitute and/or material are approvedand eligible.(3) Proof of publication must beverified by the contest committee.

g. Substitution for qualifiers forSectional and/or State Final contests shall not bepermitted. If a qualifier cannot or does notadvance, the alternate qualifier advancementprovisions of Article VIII-E-9 shall be followed.

VI. TOURNAMENT STRUCTURES ANDTIME SCHEDULES

A. Events Dependent upon Entries1. Individual Events competition shall

be held at the Regional contests in all events inwhich there are at least two entries.

2. At Sectional and State Finalcontests there shall be competition in all eventsfor which entries have been made.

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Association, shall be reported to the ExecutiveDirector, who shall have authority to investigateall alleged violations. The findings of theinvestigation shall be made known to the school(or schools), person (or persons), alleged tohave committed the violation. The ExecutiveDirector shall then have full authority to invokepenalties against such school or persons foundto have committed violations. Penalties shallinclude, but not be limited to, written warning orreprimand, requisite affirmation correctiveaction... up to and including suspension and/orexpulsion. Failure to take the corrective actionrequired by any penalty shall be the basis forfurther action up to and including suspensionand/or expulsion.

Note that these provisions includepossible penalties against the school orindividual persons found to have committedviolations. This means that competitors,coaches, directors, and/or principals may bepenalized directly for the use of inappropriatematerial in the IHSA Speech Contests.

A performance (language or action)which is a l iteral, symbolic or colloquialexpression describing or naming anything whichis profane and/or vulgar, whether or not suited toa specific character being portrayed, IS ALWAYSCONSIDERED INAPPROPRIATE!

D. Sectional and State Final:The Report of Winners will be completed by

the Regional and Sectional Managers and shallbe the official entry form for these contests.Entry fees for qualifiers shall be paid upon arrivalat the Sectional and State Final sites. Qualifiersfor whom fees are not paid as prescribed shallnot be permitted to participate.

E. Regional/Sectional Time ScheduleFollowing is a suggested time schedule for

Regional and Sectional contests. Localmanagers, with the majority approval of theircontest committees, may alter this schedule inthe event the number of contestants entereddoes not require both Preliminary and FinalRounds in all events, or if necessary to meetjudging needs during the contest day.7:30-8:00 Registration7:45 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

I, Sec. A8:00 Judges Meeting

Coaches Meeting8:30 Round I, Section A (All Events)9:00 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

I, Sec. B9:45 Round I, Section B (All Events)10:30 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

II, Sec. A11:15 Round II, Section A (All Events)11:45 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

II, Sec. B12:30 Round II, Section B (All Events)

LUNCH2:00 Posting of Finals

2:30 FINALS: Dramatic Duet Acting,Humorous Interpretation,Impromptu Speaking, OratoricalDeclamation, Oratory, OriginalComedy, Prose Reading.

3:15 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Finals4:00 FINALS: Dramatic Interpretation,

Extemporaneous Speaking,Humorous Duet Acting,Informative Speaking, PoetryReading, Radio Speaking, SpecialOccasion Speaking.

5:30 Awards

F. State Final Time ScheduleThe State Final time schedule shall be as follows:

Friday12:00-1:00 p.m. Registration12:45 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

I, Sec. A1:30 Round I, Sec. A2:15 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

I, Sec. B3:00 Round I. Sec. B3:45 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

I, Sec. C4:30 Round I, Sec. C

Saturday7:45 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

II, Sec. A8:30 Round II, Section A9:00 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

II, Sec. B9:45 Round II, Section B10:15 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Round

II, Sec. C11:00 Round II, Sec. C1:30 FINALS: Dramatic Duet Acting,

Humorous Interpretation,Impromptu Speaking, OratoricalDeclamation, Oratory, OriginalComedy, Prose Reading.

2:15 Radio and Extemp Prep. for Finals3:00 FINALS: Dramatic Interpretation,

Extemporaneous Speaking,Humorous Duet Acting,Informative Speaking, PoetryReading, Radio Speaking, SpecialOccasion Speaking.

5:30 AWARDS ASSEMBLY

G. Performance Order1. Regional: The order of

appearance of competitors shall be establishedby the IHSA in conjunction with the local contestmanager in consultation with the contestcommittee, and under the following stipulations:

a. The assignment ofcompetitors to Preliminary Round I and theirorder of performance shall be establishedrandomly except when adjustments arenecessary to permit students to participate intwo events and to separate identical selections.Assignment of contestants and speaking orderfor Preliminary Round II shall also be random


or judge’s error, the manager shall consult withhis Contest Committee and determine themanner in which the situation shall be resolved.However, managers shall not have the authorityto advance students affected by any unfairnessto the succeeding contest. Resolution of suchmatters must be within the framework of eachindividual contest. In addition, the manager shallbe responsible to resolve questions of rulesinterpretation, to arbitrate disputes and to applypenalties for violations of contest rules. In allcases, the manager shall consult with theContest Committee prior to making a decision inany such matter. Decisions of the ContestManager in all cases herein described shall befinal.

The authority and responsibility ofthe contest manager and his/her contestcommittee shall end when results are announcedat the contest awards assembly. Any questionrelative to contest rules or any aspect of thecontest which arises following theannouncement of results shall be referreddirectly by the principal of the school involved tothe IHSA Office. The IHSA Office will giveconsideration to questions relative toadministrative and/or clerical matters only, andwill do so only through the end of the firstMonday following the completion of the contestinvolved. In compliance with IHSA By-law 6.033,protests or challenges relative to the decision ofany judge will not be considered.

b. State Final Contest.The State Final Committee shall be

authorized to conduct the contest under theprovisions of these Terms and Conditions. If asituation develops in which there is an apparentunfairness to a contestant, and which isdetermined to be the result of an administrativeor judge’s error, the Committee shall determinethe manner in which the situation shall beresolved.

In addition, the Committee shall beresponsible to resolve questions of rulesinterpretation, to arbitrate disputes and torecommend applied penalties for violations ofcontest rules. Decisions of the ContestCommittee Chairperson in all cases hereindescribed shall be final.

C. Approval of Material1. Material which is inappropriate for

public performance by high school students willnot be tolerated. The principal is required to seeand approve both the selection and performanceof all material, including substitute material, tobe used by contestants from the member schoolin the contest series.

2. IHSA By-law 6.010 will be appliedin the event contestants utilize material which,upon investigation by the IHSA ExecutiveDirector, is determined to be inappropriate. By-law 6.010 states:

Any violation of the Constitution and/orBy-laws, Terms and Conditions, IHSA Policiesand Guidelines, and/or other rules of the

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with the further limitation that no more than one-half the contestants may be drawn to competeagainst the same contestants they competedagainst in Preliminary Round I.

b. Order of performance for allFinal Rounds shall be established by the contestmanager randomly. With the advice of thecontest committee, the contest manager mayalter the drawn schedule for those students whohave conflicting double entries or if necessary toseparate identical selections.

c. Students shall participate intwo preliminary rounds of competition if thereare eight (8) or more contestants entered in anevent. In such cases, the competitors shall bedivided into two groups randomly by the contestmanager. Groups may be revised randomly bythe contest manager for each preliminary round.The top six (6) contestants, plus ties, after twoPreliminary Rounds, will be advanced to thefinals.

d. In the event there are seven(7) or fewer contestants competing in an event,only a final round will be conducted. In suchcases, team points will be awarded only to thetop six (6) ranked performers.

e. Contest managers shall postALL PRELIMINARY ROUND RESULTS in adesignated area so that COACHES ONLY maycheck cumulative judging tallies prior to thepublic posting of the contestants advancing tothe final round. Managers shall also post allperformers’ times in the coaches’ loungeimmediately following each round ofcompetition.

2. Sectional: Random performanceorder in each event shall be made by the IHSAOffice.

ALL EVENTS: Speaking order for thefinal round of competition shall be establishedrandomly conducted following the completion ofthe second preliminary round by the contestmanager and the contest committee. With reviewof the contest committee, the contest managermay adjust the schedule for those students whohave conflicting double entries or if necessary toseparate identical selections.

3. State Final: Drawing forperformance order in each event shall be madeby the IHSA Office.

All Events: Speaking order for the Finalround of competition shall be establishedrandomly following the completion of thepreliminary rounds by the State Final ContestCommittee. The committee will make anyadjustments necessary due to double entries or,if necessary, to separate identical selections.

H. Programs:Identification of Competing Schools: Everyschool will be identified in the Regional,Sectional and State Final program under theCompetitor Roster. Each performer will beidentified in the program under their event bytheir first and last name and material title ifapplicable.


2. Advancement from Preliminariesto Finals: Following completion of bothpreliminary rounds of competition at theRegional and Sectional contests, the ranksreceived from both (at the Regionals), or all four(at the Sectionals) preliminary round judges byeach contestant shall be tallied. The six (6)contestants with the lowest cumulative totals ofpreliminary round rankings shall be advanced tothe finals. In the event of a tie for the lastqualifying position, all tied contestants shall alsoadvance to the finals.

At the State Final, following completionof the preliminary rounds, the six (6) rankingsreceived by each contestant shall be reviewed.The highest and lowest rankings for eachcontestant shall be discarded and theintermediate four rankings tallied. The six (6)contestants with the lowest cumulative totals ofthe intermediate rankings shall be advanced tothe finals in each event. In the event of a tie forthe last qualifying position, all tied contestantsshall also advance to the finals.

3. Individual winners:a. Regional and Sectional: After

the final round for each event, the three Judges’rankings shall be tabulated and a summationmade of the rankings received by each finalist.The entry whose total of rankings is lowest is thewinner; the entry with the second lowest total issecond, etc.

b. State Final: With five judgesbeing used, the highest and lowest rankings foreach contestant shall not be considered indetermining final standing. The contestant withthe lowest total of intermediate rankings is thewinner; the contestant with the second lowesttotal is second, etc.

4. Resolution of Ties:a. Ties affecting Advancement

from Preliminaries to Finals: At all contests(Regional, Sectional and State Final) contestantstied for the last position which qualifies foradvancement from preliminaries to finals shall beadvanced without the tie being broken.

b. Ties Affecting Awards and/orTeam Scoring: At Regional and Sectionalcontests, ties for places for which awards arepresented shall be broken by separating the tiedcompetitors from all other contestants andassigning them relative rankings on the basis ofjudges’ decisions, as though they were the onlycompetitors. The contestant whose total ofrelative rankings is lowest is the winner. If thereis still a tie, duplicate awards will be providedand the team points for the tied places will beadded and equally divided among the teams ofthe tied contestants. At the State Final Contest,the tied competitors shall be separated from allother competitors and assigned relativerankings. If there is still a tie, then the ranksassigned by all five (5) judges will be considered,and the contestant with the lowest total of fiverankings will be declared the winner.

I. Timekeeping1. Time will be kept at all contests for

all events. Contest managers will arrange to havetwo (2) timers in every round for all events in allcontests. To accommodate this requirement,managers are authorized to give timekeepingassignments as needed to participating schools.Timers will be seated out of thejudges/spectators’ sight but in full view of theperformers. Timing devices other than thoseused by the appointed timekeepers are unofficial.Further timing instructions can be found inArticle VIII-D.

VII. ADVANCEMENT OF WINNERS

A. The winners of first, second, third andfourth places in each Individual Event shall beadvanced from Regional to Sectional. Winners offirst, second and third places in each IndividualEvent shall be advanced from Sectional to theState Final.

B. In the event there is a tie for a placewhich qualifies for advancement, all t iedcontestants shall be advanced. (For example: if inthe Regional Contest, two contestants are tiedfor 2nd place, the tie involves the 2nd and 3rdplaces. The next place awarded shall be 4th placeand four (4) contestants would advance.However, if there is a two-way tie for fourthplace, then five (5) contestants 1st, 2nd, 3rd, andthe two tied for 4th would advance.)

C. Substitution of selections by anadvancing Individual Event contestant may bemade prior to any contest, provided the materialis approved by the school’s principal and themanager of the contest is notified at least three(3) days prior to the contest.

D. Determination of Winners:1. Tabulation procedure: Following

the completion of each preliminary and finalround, ballots and critique forms from eachjudge shall be returned to contest headquarters.Contest managers shall cross check ballot cardswith critique forms to insure the accuracy ofrankings and identify to whom rankings areassigned. In the event any error or otherquestion is identified, the judge(s) involved shallbe contacted immediately to resolve the matter.

To insure equality in ranking betweendifferent sections of an event, in no case, exceptfor overtime penalties, shall a contestant ranklower than the smallest number in any section ofthe event for the round. In other words, ifSection A has 5 contestants and Section B has 6contestants, personnel in the Tab Room shouldrecord any rank of 6 given by any judge as a rankof 5, since that is the smallest number ofcontestants in any section of the event for theround. This is to be done exclusively in the TabRoom. Judges are to traditionally rank allcontestants and any adjustment of ranks underthis provision are to be made by the Tab Roompersonnel.

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Dramatic/Humorous Duet Acting (DDA/HDA)

Definition: Dramatic and Humorous Duet Acting are the presentations of dramatic orhumorous selections by two individuals.

Purpose: The purpose of these events is to give students the opportunity ofdeveloping their characterization and acting skills in a confined setting.

Material: Material must come from a single printed, published source and must meethigh standards for good literature. Cuttings from plays, verse plays, teleplays,screenplays or other works may be presented. Excluding the introduction, a cuttingmay include the portrayal of no more than two characters. Material in which an authorassigns multiple characters to one actor is acceptable. Combining the lines of two ormore characters to create one composite character is prohibited. Assigning a linefrom the text to a given character for the purpose of transition or continuity is not tobe considered the creation of a “composite” character. A transition is considered partof the cutting and may not include portrayal of additional characters. Material otherthan the author’s work must be limited to 15%.

Appropriateness of Material: See Art, VIII-A-1-2 of the Individual Events Terms andConditions.

Time Limit: 8 minutes

Timekeeping Procedures: See ART VIII-D of the Individual Events Terms andConditions.

Time Limit Penalty: For each full thirty (30) seconds of overtime (8:30.01, 9:00.01,etc or 1 tic past 8:30, 9:00, etc on a sweep hand) the contestant’s ranking from eachjudge will be lowered by one (1) place. This reduction is mandatory and will beadministered by the contest management. The other contestants’ ranks will not beaffected. There is no penalty for speaking less than eight (8) minutes.

Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids During Performance: A table and/or twostools or two chairs will be the only properties permitted. Performers are not allowedto stand on the tables and chairs at any time for liability reasons. A script may not beheld. No lights, staging, costumes, makeup, sound effects, etc., will be permitted.

Presentation: Characters may direct dialogue to off stage characters or to silentcharacters and /or audience. All performances must include an introduction which willname: the author(s) and the title of the material.

Standards for Excellence: The material should provide opportunity for the actors todevelop an understandable scene with clear character relationships. Thecharacterization should be believable and consistent with the author’s intent. Themovement should flow naturally from the characters, giving proper focus on actionand reaction. The scene should grow with character insight, plot or moodintensification and thematic statement.

Dramatic/Humorous Interpretation (DI/HI)

Definition: Dramatic and Humorous Interpretation are the oral presentation ofliterature.

Purpose: The purpose of these events is to increase the student’s understanding ofcommunication of ideas through performance and to encourage the application oftheories of oral interpretation.

Material: Material must be from a printed published source and may be from plays,verse plays, teleplays, screenplays or other works. One character plays, monologuesand soliloquies will be allowed. Though the performer may select to do multiplemonologues, the presentation will be limited to a single work. Material other than theauthor’s work must be limited to 15%.





Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids During Performance: No properties of anykind may be used in presenting the readings and the script must not be held.

Presentation: Although body language is not prohibited, it should be used withrestraint. All performances must include an introduction which will name: theauthor(s) and the title of the material.

Standards for Excellence: An understanding of the literature being presented shall bedemonstrated by the contestant’s communication of the intent of the author, therelationship of the cutting to the work as a whole, and the specific meanings of thepassages presented. The selection should be such that the performer can respondemotionally to the thought and mood; the literature should be more than superficial incharacterization or development of theme. The delivery should be such thattechniques of presentation are not obvious. The performer’s voice should reveal themeaning of the selection, as should any bodily movement; the total effect should bereal and genuine, rather than artificial and mechanical. Attention should be paid togood pronunciation and articulation, adequate volume, and acceptable vocal quality.

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Prose Reading (PR)

Definition: Prose Reading is the oral interpretation of prose literature.

Purpose: The purpose of Prose Reading is to acquaint students with the genre andthe application of the principles of oral interpretation.

Material: Material must be prose literature. Sources of material include cuttings fromnovels, short stories, biographies, nonfiction, letters and diaries. The cuttings mustcontain less than 50% dialogue. Each contestant will prepare one (1) selection.Selections for this event may be chosen from any source deemed appropriate butmust come from printed, published sources. Compilations are permissible. Thematerial should be in keeping with acceptable standards for good literature.





Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids During Performance: The script will be held.No properties or visual aids will be allowed.

Presentation: Although body language is not prohibited, it should be used withrestraint. All performances must include an introduction which will name: theauthor(s) and the title of the material.

Standards for Excellence: The material should be a logical cutting to give theinterpretation intended by the author and should give the listener the impression thatthe presentation is total and complete. The delivery should indicate the reader’sfamiliarity with the material. The contestant should gain eye contact with theaudience; his/her voice should be clear and direct and the volume adequate; the totalpresentation should be natural and interesting.

Poetry Reading (PT)

Definition: Poetry Reading is the oral interpretation of poetry.

Purpose: The purpose of Poetry Reading shall be to acquaint students with the genreand the application of the principles of oral interpretation.

Material: Each contestant will prepare one (1) program of one (1) or more poem(s).Selections for this event may be chosen from any source deemed appropriate butmust come from printed, published sources. Compilations of poems are permissible.The material should be in keeping with acceptable standards for good literature.





Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids During Performance: The script will be held.No properties or visual aids will be allowed.

Presentation: Although body language is not prohibited, it should be used withrestraint. All performances must include a required introduction which will name: theauthor(s) and the title of the program and/or the poem(s).

Standards for Excellence: The material performed should convey the theme selected.The delivery should be such that the reader conveys the thought of the verse throughvocal expression; rhythm should be apparent but not obvious and distracting; tonequality should enhance meaning. The reader should be natural and interesting.

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Oratorical Declamation (OD)

Definition: Oratorical Declamation is the oral presentation of persuasive orinspirational material of literary merit, such as editorials, essays, speeches, etc.,originally prepared by another person.

Purpose: The purpose of Oratorical Declamation is to acquaint students with notableexamples of persuasive or inspirational literature and give them opportunity to developskills of interpretation and delivery through the preparation and oral presentation ofsuch examples.

Material: Material must come from printed published sources. It is recommendedthat the material be pertinent to current problems.





Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids During Performance: None.

Presentation: The speech shall be presented from memory.

Standards for Excellence: The material should be a logical cutting to give theinterpretation intended by the author. The delivery should indicate the speaker’sfamiliarity with the material and should gain direct eye contact with the audience; thespeaker’s voice should be clear and direct and the volume adequate. If cut, theorganization should be clear and focused upon the purpose of the author’s originalmaterial.

Oratory (O)

Definition: Oratory is the oral presentation of the work of the student and is designedto persuade.

Purpose: The purpose of Oratory is to guide students in research, organization, anddevelopment of a sense of a literary style in a speech designed to express theirpersonal convictions.

Material: The content, format, style and thought of the material must be the productof the contestant. No more than 150 words in the speech may be direct quotation.




Time Limit Penalty: For each full thirty (30) seconds of overtime (8:30.01, 9:00.01,etc or 1 tic past 8:30, 9:00, etc on a sweep hand) the contestant’s ranking from eachjudge will be lowered by one (1) place. This reduction is mandatory and will beadministered by the contest management. The other contestants’ ranks will not beaffected. there is no penalty for speaking less than eight (8) minutes.

Use of Script and Props During Performance: Notes or manuscripts may be used.

Presentation: Students may use notes or manuscripts or speak from memory. Anintroduction, if used, will be included in presentation time.

Standards for Excellence: The subject of the speech should be of current interest andhave a purpose. The material should show preparation, knowledge and clear thinking.The organization should demonstrate a clear, logical development of ideas. The styleshould demonstrate an effective choice of words and phrases. The delivery should beclear, sincere and interesting and the speaker’s appearance effective without beingdistracting.

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Original Comedy (OC)

Definition: Original Comedy is the oral presentation of the work of the student anddesigned to entertain.

Purpose: The purpose of Original Comedy is to enable students to employ theircreative skills in the writing and presentation of humorous material.

Material: The content, format, style and thought of the material must be the productof the contestant. There shall be no restriction on form. It may be dialogue,monologue or a combination of both. Not more than 150 words of the speech may bedirect quotation.





Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids During Performance: Notes or manuscriptmay be used. No properties, visual aids or costumes shall be used.

Presentation: Students may use notes or manuscripts or speak from memory. Anintroduction, if used, will be included in presentation time.

Standards for Excellence: The material should be one of general interest and notoffensive to any audience; should be organized around some unifying idea and shouldbe entertaining. The delivery should be lively and clear; the voice should be pleasingand the volume adequate; the speaker’s appearance should provide no distraction.

Special Occasion Speaking (SOS)

Definition: Special Occasion Speaking is a speech which is the original work of thestudent and, in which, the student is himself or herself at his or her current agespeaking in a realistic situation for the purpose of entertaining an audience. It is apublic speaking event.

Purpose: The purpose of Special Occasion Speaking is to provide an opportunity forcontestants to present a practical message in an entertaining manner under simulated“real life” conditions.

Material: The content, format, style, and thought of the material must be solely theproduct of the contestant. Not more than 150 words of the speech may be directquotation.





Use of Script and Props During Performance: Notes or manuscripts may be used.

Presentation: Students may either use notes or manuscripts or speak from memory.An introduction, if used, will be included in presentation time.

Standards for Excellence: The material for the speech should be organized to suit thesubject, purpose, and occasion and to entertain. Though Special Occasion Speakingis a speech to entertain, the entertaining elements should supplement, not replace, thespeech structure. Thus, if the entertaining elements were removed from the speech,there would still be a clear speech structure. In a public speaking event,characterization is used as an example, when done by the speaker. It should not be aprimary element in the speech. The delivery of the speech should demonstrate thepoise and audience contact of the speaker. Pronunciation, articulation, and volumeshould be adequate; the speaker’s voice should be pleasant; the speaker’s appearanceshould provide no distractions.

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Extemporaneous Speaking (ES)

Definition: Extemporaneous Speaking is an event in which a student is given forty-five minutes to prepare an original speech indicating his/her knowledge of currentevents concerning an assigned topic.

Purpose: The purpose of Extemporaneous Speaking is to encourage a student to gaina broad knowledge of current events and to develop the ability to analyze thesignificance of such events and prepare, in a short period of time, a meaningfulspeech which can be delivered in a skillful manner.

Material: Topics shall concern events which have been of state, national orinternational importance at any time between the beginning of the current school yearand the date of the contest. They shall be worded in the form of question, which doesnot elicit blanket yes or no responses.




Time Limit Penalty: For each full thirty (30) seconds of overtime (6:30.01, 7:00.01,etc or 1 tic past 6:30, 7:00, etc on a sweep hand) the contestant’s ranking from eachjudge will be lowered by one (1) place. This reduction is mandatory and will beadministered by the contest management. The other contestants’ ranks will not beaffected. There is no penalty for speaking less than six (6) minutes.

Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids During Performance: Only notes made duringthe preparation period are allowed.

Presentation: Drawing of topics: contestants shall draw topics according to theirorder of speaking at intervals to provide each contestant 45 minutes of preparationtime., Contest managers shall publish and /or post specific preparation andperformance times for each contestant in each round. The contestant shall draw threetopics and, within one minute, choose the one on which to speak. The choice shall berecorded by the monitor of the drawing. There will be a separate set of questions foreach round. The topic chosen and spoken on will be presented to the judge.Contestants will speak on a different topic in each round. A monitor shall be presentduring the presentation time to assure that there is no consultation and that only theallowable materials are used. After drawing his or her topic, a contestant may notconfer with anyone nor may he or she leave the preparation room without theauthorization of the room monitor. The speaker may use an annotated bibliography inaddition, consult books, magazines, newspapers and summary notes (not to beconstrued as a prepared speech outline). Past speeches and/or prepared speechoutlines may not be used. Students must provide their own preparatory materials.Computers or other electronic devices may not be used to receive information fromany source inside or outside of the room in which the competition occurs. Internetaccess, use of e-mail, instant messaging, or other methods of receiving informationfrom sources inside or outside of the competition room are prohibited. Electronicretrieval devices are defined as laptop computers, netbooks, iPads, or other portableelectronic retrieval equipment. Cell phones or smart phones are prohibited from beingused while preparing or before speaking at IHSA tournaments. In all contests, thecompetitor shall begin forty-five minutes after the first contestant has drawn his or hertopic. NOTE: Extemporaneous Speaking competition is open to spectators, includingall participants.

Standards for Excellence: The organization of the speech should be such that theintroduction gains attention and previews the main points which are clear and inlogical order. The conclusion should be satisfactory. The development of the speechshould be such that the speaker does not deviate from his topic, progresses with histopic, and demonstrates a reasonable analysis. The information used by the speakershould be accurate, pertinent and demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the topic. Indelivery, the speaker should be poised, hold attention, use language effectively, have apleasing voice, and demonstrate true extemporaneous style.

Impromptu Speaking (IS)

Definition: Impromptu Speaking is an event in which a student is given two (2)minutes to prepare and six (6) minutes to deliver an original limited preparationspeech.

Purpose: The purpose of Impromptu Speaking is to utilize creativity and logic toorganize and deliver a meaningful speech in a skillful manner.

Material: Topics shall be chosen from the following categories: Quotations, Words,Phrases and Proverbs. Categories will vary from round to round. Topics will varyfrom section to section. In a given round, all students within the same section willspeak on a topic of their choice from a selection of three topics. Judges shall see thethree topics that the students may select. Topics for each round shall be from thesame genre: Quotations, Words, Phrases and Proverbs.


Time Limit: Two (2) minutes of mandatory prep time will be given in the performanceroom and six (6) minutes of speaking time will be allowed.


Time Limit Penalty: For each full thirty (30) seconds of overtime (6:30.01, 7:00.01,etc or 1 tic past 6:30, 7:00, etc on a sweep hand) the speaker’s ranking from eachjudge will be lowered by one (1) place. This reduction is mandatory and will beadministered by the contest management. The other speakers’ ranks will not beaffected. There is no penalty for speaking less than six (6) minutes.

Use of Script, Props, Visual aids During Performance: Only one (1) note card ofany size/type made during the prep time may be used.

Presentation: All scheduled Impromptu Speakers will begin in the performing room.The room chair will welcome the speakers and take roll. The speakers will then bedismissed to the hallway. The first scheduled speaker will remain in the competitionroom. At an appropriate time before each student speaks, the room chair shall givethe three impromptu topics to the speaker. The speaker shall select a topic in whichto speak and then return the topics to the room chair. After receiving the topics, thestudent may not leave the room (unless there is an emergency) or consult withanyone during his/her allotted prep time. Preparation materials are limited to a stopwatch, writing implement and one (1) note card of any size/type that may be usedduring delivery. No other material shall be allowed in the Impromptu prep room otherthan stated above; this includes cell phone devices which could be used as timepieces. Students may not consult published books, magazines, newspapers, journals,articles, speeches, handbooks, briefs, or outlines. No electronic retrieval device maybe used. During the preparation period, the contestant shall not receive advice,information or suggestions from anyone. The speaker may not enter the room untiltheir scheduled speaking time and must remain after they have finished speakingunless they are double entered and ask permission to leave to perform in anotherround. Students who leave the room due to double entries must not share the topic orgenre with other students. Compromising the confidentiality of the topic(s) may resultin disqualification. The other speakers shall proceed in like manner, in the order ofspeaking. Spectators must remain in the room until all contestants have finishedspeaking. The same three topics shall be used by each section. A different categorywill be used for each round. Immediately upon opening the envelope and reading thetopics, prep time has begun and the student shall have two minutes to prepare aspeech without consultation and without references to prepared notes in theImpromptu competition room. Students may not enter the competition room until theroom chair directs them to enter. Cell phones or smart phones are prohibited frombeing used for all limited prep events at IHSA tournaments.

Standards for Excellence: The organization of the speech should be such that theintroduction gains attention and previews the main points which are clear and inlogical order. The conclusion should be satisfactory. Speakers should demonstratereasonable creativity in analysis, logic, and exposition of the topic and literary devices.In delivery, the speaker should be poised, hold attention, use language effectively, anddemonstrate variety in mechanics.

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Radio Speaking (RS)

Definition: Radio Speaking is the presentation of a newscast, including a commercial.

Purpose: The purpose of Radio Speaking is to encourage concentration on deliveryand style.

Material: A script approximately fifteen (15) minutes in length will be supplied by theIHSA office. From this, the contestant will prepare a newscast by deleting any parts oritems. No new articles or items may be added except transition sentences,introductions and conclusions. However, the use of creative transitions, commentaryand colorful verbs in sports, weather and the commercial is allowed to enhance theperformance. The newscast will include a commercial advertising some well-knownproduct or service. A prepared commercial supplied by the IHSA office will be givento each contestant and must be used. A different script and commercial will besupplied for each round.


Time Limit: 4:50 to 5:05 with the contestant expected to finish at 5:00


Time Limit Penalty: If the contestant does not finish within the time allowed, 4:50 to5:05, he/she will be ranked last in the round and the other contestants’ ranks will beadjusted.

Use of Script, Props, Visual Aids During Performance: The contestant will read fromthe script developed during the preparation period. The student may not utilize anyelectronic or mechanical device in his or her performance other than the microphoneprovided by the management and a timing device.

Presentation: Different Scripts and additional preparations periods will be providedprior to each preliminary round and the final rounds at all levels of competition.Contest managers shall publish and/or post specific preparation and performancetimes for each contestant in each round. During the preparation period, the contestantshall not receive advice, information or suggestions from anyone. The local managershall provide one fairly large room for the preparation period and all contestants at agiven contest shall use this same room. A supervisor shall be in charge of the room,and it shall be his or her duty to see that all the rules regarding the preparation periodare observed. The preparation period shall begin approximately forty-five (45)minutes before the contest is scheduled to begin. The contestants will speak into astandard public address microphone, preferably while seated at a table. The speakerunits must be arranged so that the speaker’s voice will be clearly audible to the judgeor the audience. Contestant should perform in an adjoining room or behind a screen.Each competitor shall have the option of requesting a microphone check prior tobeginning his or her performance. If requested, such an opportunity shall be granted.Cell phones or smart phones are prohibited from being used for all limited prep eventsat IHSA tournaments.

Standards for Excellence: The organization of material should be logical; transitionsshould be smooth. The delivery should include a clear, pleasant and confident voice;the rate should be understandable and varied; news items should be separated bypauses and changes in pitch; correct emphasis and phrasing of thought should beapparent. The time limit is 4:50 to 5:05 with the student expected to finish at 5:00minutes.

Informative Speaking (INFO)

Definition: Informative Speaking is the original expository oral presentation of thestudent.

Purpose: The purpose of Informative Speaking is to guide students in research,organization and the development of a sense of literary style in speech designed toexpress their own interests.

Material: The content, format, style and thoughts of the material must be the originalproduct of the student. No more than 150 words in the speech may be directquotation. A fabricated topic/subject may not be used. A student may not use anyportion of his/her original oratory if double entered at the tournament.




Time Limit Penalty: For each full thirty (30) seconds of overtime (8:30.01, 9:00.01,etc pr 1 tic past 8:30, 9:00, etc. on a sweep hand) the speakers’ ranking from eachjudge will be lowered by one (1) rank. This reduction is mandatory and will beadministered by tournament management. The other speakers’ ranks will not beaffected. There is no penalty for speaking less than eight (8) minutes.

Use of Script, Props, and Visual Aids during Performance: Notes or manuscriptmay be used. Visual aids may not be included in the presentation.

Presentation: Students may use notes, manuscripts or speak from memory. Anintroduction, if used, will be included in presentation time.

Standard for Excellence: The student should describe, clarify, illustrate or define anobject, idea, concept or process. The topic of the speech should be of current interestand have a purpose. The material should show preparation, knowledge and clearthought. The organization should demonstrate clear, logical development of idea. Thestyle should demonstrate an effective choice of words and phrases. The deliveryshould be clear, sincere and interesting and the speaker’s appearance should beeffective without being distracting.

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Example: Three (3) contestantstied for fourth place at the Regional. The tie isunbreakable, so the points for fourth, fifth andsixth places (3, 2 and 1 respectively,) are addedand divided by three. Each school is thenawarded two (2) points for its contestant’s finish.

5. School winners: Points shall beawarded on the basis of the following scale foreach Individual Event: 1st 6 points; 2nd 5 points,3rd 4 points; 4th 3 points; 5th 2 points; 6th andall other finalists 1 point. This point scale shallbe followed at all contests, except as specified inArt. VI-G-1-d.

VIII. TOURNAMENT RULES

A. Material:1. Material which is inappropriate for

public performance by high school students willnot be tolerated. The principal is required to seeand approve both the selection and performanceof all material including substitute material, to beused by contestants from the member school inthe contest series.

2. IHSA By-law 6.010 will be appliedin the event contestants utilize material which,upon investigation by the Executive Director, isdetermined to be inappropriate. By-law 6.010states:

Any violation of the Constitution and/orBy-laws, Terms and Conditions, IHSA Policiesand Guidelines, and/or other rules of theAssociation, shall be reported to the ExecutiveDirector, who shall have authority to investigateall alleged violations. The findings of theinvestigation shall be made known to the school(or schools), person (or persons), alleged tohave committed the violation. The ExecutiveDirector shall then have full authority to invokepenalties against such school or persons foundto have committed violations. Penalties shallinclude, but not be limited to, written warning orreprimand, requisite affirmation, and correctiveaction up to and including suspension and/orexpulsion. Failure to take the corrective actionrequired by any penalty shall be the basis forfurther action up to and including suspensionand/or expulsion.

Note that these provisions includepossible penalties against the school orindividual persons found to have committedviolations. This means that competitors,coaches, directors, and/or principals may bepenalized directly for the use of inappropriatematerial in the IHSA Speech Contests.

A performance (language or action)which is a l iteral, symbolic or colloquialexpression describing or naming anything whichis profane and/or vulgar, whether or not suited toa specific character being portrayed, IS ALWAYSCONSIDERED INAPPROPRIATE!

3. Not more than 150 words of anyOration, Informative Speaking, Original Comedyor Special Occasion Speech may be directquotation.

the performer know the time limit has beenreached. Both timers shall keep the hands raisedabove their heads until the performer concludes.When the speaker concludes his/herpresentation, both timers shall record the totalelapsed time shown on their individual watcheson an official time sheet. Times shall not beannounced to competitors, judges or audiences,except in Radio Speaking. Judges shall beinstructed not to take time into consideration intheir rankings. The timers must deliver their timesheets to the contest headquarters at theconclusion of each Section. All penalties for timeviolations shall be assessed by the contestmanagement. Timers must use stopwatches.

4. Penalties for Violationa. Regional, Sectional and State

Final Prelims: For each full thirty (30) seconds ofovertime, as defined in 2. above, the contestant’sranking from each judge shall be lowered by one(1) place. This reduction in ranking shall bemandatory and shall be administered by thecontest management. This rule supercedesArticle VII-D-1. Thus a contestants ranking mayexceed the least number of contestants in around of that event. For example: Contestant Ais ranked 2, 3, 1 by three judges, but is overtimeby forty-five (45) seconds. Contestant B isranked 3,1, 2 and Contestant C is ranked 1, 4, 3.The manager shall then adjust the rankings forcontestant A to 3, 4, 2 before the tabulation ofrankings is made. No change is made in therankings of Contestant B or Contestant C.

Thus final results become:A-3, 4, 2 = 9B-3, 1, 2 = 6C-1, 4, 3 = 8

b. State Final Rounds: In thefinal rounds of the State Final Contest only, nopenalty for time violations will be assessed inany event except Radio Speaking, until one (1)minute beyond the specified time limit. Forexample, if the time limit is eight (8) minutes, nopenalty will be assessed until the speaker hasexceeded nine (9) minutes as verified by two (2)stopwatches.

5. In Extemporaneous Speaking andImpromptu Speaking, time cards shall be used toinform the speakers of the amount of timeremaining. These cards should be visible to thespeaker at all times.

a. In Radio and ExtemporaneousSpeaking, the prep room monitor will informspeakers of the allowable prep time and dismissthe speakers accordingly. In ImpromptuSpeaking, the timer will give the speaker oralprep time signals in thirty (30) second intervalsin the competition room. At two (2) minutes theprep time ends and the Impromptu timer willdirect the competing student to begin theirspeech.

6. In Radio Speaking, the timers shallbe seated in such a way that they are visible tothe speaker. Timers shall use stopwatches whichwill be the only official t iming devices. If


4. In Oratory, Informative Speaking,Original Comedy and Special Occasion Speaking,the content, style and thought of the selectionmust be solely the product of the contestant.

5. The Internet may be used as asource for printed published material as long asthe following provisions are met:

a. It must be copyrighted andavailable to all (equal access).

b. It must NOT be a product ofany person(s) associated with the competingschool, coach(s), or student(s).

c. It must NOT have been postedsolely for a student’s use in competitive speechactivities.

d. It may NOT be transcribedfrom an audio or video source; it must beavailable in its original written form.

e. In addition, it isrecommended that all internet sites be evaluatedfor authenticity.

6. If you are entering Impromptuplease submit a list of suggested topics in eachcategory (Quotations, Proverbs, Words andPhrases). Please send your topics to the IHSAoffice no later than November 1, 2012. Earliertopics will be accepted.

B. Properties:A property shall be defined as any item,

except a manuscript, including the contestant’sapparel and accessories, which is used for effectduring the presentation.

C. Royalties:The Association assumes no

responsibilities for the payment of royalties orother fees connected with the performance ofany material in the Speech Contest Series.

D. Timekeeping1. Time will be kept at all contests for

all events. Contest managers will arrange to havetwo (2) timers in every round for all events in allcontests. To accommodate this requirement,managers are authorized to give timekeepingassignments as needed to participating schools.Timers will be seated out of thejudges/spectators’ sight but in full view of theperformers. Timing devices other than thoseused by the appointed timekeepers are unofficial.

2. In all events except Impromptu,Extemporaneous Speaking, and Radio Speaking,when a timer’s watch is read to determine time, areading of 8:30.00 or less, will not be considereda time violation. If a watch reads 8:30.01 orgreater on a digital watch or is a tic past 8:30 ona sweep-hand watch, the time will be consideredto be 8:31. If both timers confirm the overtime,penalties will be assessed. In Impromptu,Extemporaneous Speaking, and Radio Speakingthe same time concept applies per their specifictime limitations.

3. In all events except RadioSpeaking, both timers designated by themanager shall raise their hands above theirheads upon expiration of the allotted time, to let

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4. Tardiness, Absence, Perform anceOut of Order: Contestants must be present whencalled upon in accordance with the scheduleprepared by the contest manager and printed inthe program. In the event a contestant cannot, forany reason, comply with the printed schedule, hemust personally consult the contest manager tobe excused. Only if the manager or a member ofthe contest committee gives the student writtenpermission may any contestant perform out of theorder printed in the program. Contestants failingto comply with the printed schedule withoutwritten excuse shall be disqualified.

5. Manuscripts: For all IndividualEvents except Radio Speaking, Extemporaneousand Impromptu Speaking, coaches must be ableto produce in a reasonable amount of time, asdetermined by the contest management, a typedmanuscript or copy of selections to be performedby their students for presentation to the contestmanager if requested. Manuscripts must containidentification of sources of quotes. The actualsource of non-original cuttings should also beidentified on the manuscript. Failure to producesuch copy shall result in disqualification of thecontestant from the contest.

6. Failure to Present OriginalSelections:

a. Quoted Material: If it isdiscovered that a contestant has included morethan 150 words of direct quotation in hisselection, he/she shall be disqualified. In the eventof late discovery of a violation of this rule,procedure as outlined in Art. VIII-E-8 below shallbe followed.

b. Originality of Material: In allcases where originality of material is questioned,the local contest committee shall be responsiblefor examining the material and ruling on itseligibility. If a judge suspects that a speech is notoriginal, he should so inform the contestcommittee and the committee will investigate.

7. Use of Inappropriate Material: If, inthe opinion of any contest judge, material which isperformed for his/her adjudication isinappropriate for public performance by a highschool student, he/she may rank the performancedown. If, in the opinion of a majority of thejudges, a performance is persistentlyinappropriate or is flagrantly profane or vulgar,the judges may stop the performance anddisqualify the contestant or group from thecontest. In either case, judges shall explain theiropinions and actions in written critiques, and thecontest manager shall forward a copy of thecritiques to the IHSA Office. In addition, anyreport of the use of inappropriate material shall beinvestigated by the IHSA Executive Director, whoshall investigate the allegation and take action ifwarranted under the provision of IHSA By-law6.010 and the procedures stated in Art. VI-C andVIII-A of these Terms and Conditions.

8. Late Discovery of Violations: If aviolation is not discovered until after the close ofthe contest in which the violation occurred, thefollowing procedure shall be followed:

a. The contestant, group orschool shall be disqualified and advancement tothe next succeeding contest shall be denied if theviolation is reported to the IHSA Office prior tothe next contest. If the violation is not reporteduntil after the next contest, no action shall betaken and the matter shall be considered closed.

b. The rankings of the othercontestants in the event shall be revised upward.

c. If the violation is reported tothe IHSA Office prior to the next succeedingcontest, the winners shall be advanced on thebasis of the revised rankings.

d. If the disqualified individual,group or school has won any awards, suchawards shall be returned to the IHSA Office. Anattempt will then be made to redistribute theseawards on the basis of the revised rankingsmentioned above.

9. Alternate Qualifier Advancement:In the event a qualified student is, for any reason,unable to advance to the succeeding contest, andprovided the IHSA Office is notified by theprincipal of the qualifier’s school at least one dayprior to the succeeding contest, the fifth placecontestant (in case of Regional to Sectionaladvancement) or the fourth place contestant (incase of Sectional to State Final advancement)from the qualifier’s last qualifying contest shallbe notified and permitted to advance.

IX. TOURNAMENT POLICIES

A. Damage to Property or EquipmentIf contestants or people from any school enteredin a state series are found guilty of carelessnessor maliciously breaking, damaging or destroyingproperty or equipment belonging to the hostschool, such school shall be held responsible forcosts incurred in replacing or repairing suchproperty or equipment.

B. Media Policies1. Media Personnel

a. Any media person wishing totake photographs will contact the Regional,Sectional, or State Final manager to verifyarrangements to take photos at the tournaments.Photographers are welcome to take photos in thecommons area. IHSA Regional/Sectional SiteManagers names and information can be foundon the IHSA website or by contacting the IHSAOffice.

b. Photography is NOT allowedin rooms while rounds are taking place, however,reporters are invited and encouraged to sit in onrounds as spectators.

c. At all levels of IHSAcompetition, a media area may be set aside forphotographs. All participating students will beinvited and encouraged to make themselvesavailable during the tournament for the OfficialIHSA Photographer as well as other local mediaoutlets.


possible, the local management should provide awall clock with a sweep second hand placedwithin view of the contestants. Contestants mayalso use their own timing devices. One of thetimekeepers shall use time cards to notify thespeaker when the following time remains: two(2) minutes, one (1) minute, thirty (30) secondsand fifteen (15) seconds. Thereafter, he willnotify the speaker by means of upraised fingers,when ten (10) seconds are left, and finally, whenonly five (5) seconds remain in the five (5)minutes time limit. After each presentation, thetimers shall inform the judges of the exact timeof the performance; and after the finalpresentation, the timers shall each deliver cardsto the contest management showing the exacttime consumed by each speaker. For RadioSpeaking, if both timers show a violation of thetime limit, the contestant shall be ranked last inthat round by the contest management.

NOTE: The term “ranked last” shallmean given a rank on each individual judge’sballot equal to the number representing thenumber of contestants in the round. In otherwords, if there are six (6) contestants in theround, ‘ranked last’ means being given the rankof six (6) on each judge’s ballot. Othercontestants in the round who do not violate thetime limits will have their ranks from each judgeadjusted upward as appropriate.

E. Special Rules and Limitations:1. These Terms and Conditions have

been established under the authority of Article1.450 of the IHSA Constitution. Violation issubject to penalty by the IHSA Board of Directorsunder the provisions of IHSA By-laws and anyspecial provisions contained herein.

2. Protests and challenges of aperformance’s compliance with the rules may befiled in writing with the contest manager by anycoach or judge. Other persons wishing to filesuch a protest or challenge, shall do so througha coach or judge at the contest.

3. General Penalty for Violations byContestants: Unless otherwise specified in therules, the penalty for rules violations in anyround of competition throughout the entirecontest series shall be that the contestant’sranking in the round where the violation occursbe changed to last (see VII-D) and the ranks ofother contestants will be adjusted as necessary.

For example: In Preliminary Round II ofHumorous Duet Acting, a student from Duet Astands on the table during the duet’sperformance. The penalty is that the duet is to beranked last in the round. Thus, the final resultsfor Preliminary Round II will be adjusted asfollows:Duet A was 2nd becomes 6thDuet B was 1st remains 1st Duet C was 3rd becomes 2nd Duet D was 5th becomes 4th Duet E was 6th becomes 5th Duet F was 4th becomes 3rd

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d. Results from each level of thetournament can be obtained by logging into theIHSA website and choosing the appropriateactivity. Results will be posted for Regionals andSectionals as soon as the tournament concludes.State Final results will be posted as soon aspossible following the tournaments.

2. Managersa. May arrange a room for

photographers and students to gather for photoopportunities.

b. Will post any information forall participating students to have the opportunityto meet with area media.

c. Will cooperate fully with mediapersonnel to arrange photo opportunities andensure coverage of all levels of the tournament.

C. Tobacco Products:No coach, student or any other person

connected with a school shall be permitted to usetobacco products during the contest, eitherduring preparation times or performances.

D. Use of Inhalers:A student with asthma may possess and usehis/her medication during an IHSA competition,while under the supervision of school personnel,provided the school meets the outlinedprocedures of self administration in the Illinoisschool code.

E. Alcoholic Beverages and IHSA StateSeries Events:

The possession, distribution, sale and/orconsumption of alcoholic beverages areprohibited at the site and on any affiliatedproperty of any IHSA state series contest. Stateseries hosts are required to make all state seriescontest sites and any affi l iated property,including parking lots, fan accommodation areas,and other school or event venue property, alcoholfree zones on the date or dates of any IHSA eventbeing held at the site. Violation of this policy byan event host will subject the host to a penalty forviolation of IHSA By-law 2.020. Such penaltymay include but not necessarily be limited toprohibition against subsequent event hostingassignments. Violation of this policy by a non-hosting member school will subject the school topenalty for violation of IHSA By-law 2.020.Patrons of any IHSA state series contestdetermined to be in violation of this policy will beremoved from the premise, and law enforcementofficials will be called as warranted.

F. Special Report Forms and SAWAReports

Special report forms have been developedto facil itate schools reporting any matterconcerning high school programs that merit theattention of the high school principal. Theseforms can be used for reporting any incidents orproblems with a competitor, coach, director orspectator. The forms may also be used to reporterrors in applying rules or any phase of judging

in which a judge should immediately attempt toimprove. The SAWA Report form should be usedfor reporting any instances where a coach,director, participant, judge or spectator has donean exemplary job of Sporting A Winning Attitude.These forms can be found on the IHSA website atwww.ihsa.org.

G. Responsibility for Theft or OtherLosses

The IHSA will not be responsible for loss ortheft of any personal or school property duringthe course of a contest.

H. Prayer at IHSA State Series Contest:Prayer at an IHSA state series contest that

takes place over the public address system isprohibited.

X. AWARDS

A. Regional and Sectional: Medals shallbe given to first, second, third and fourth placewinners at Regionals, and to first, second andthird place winners at Sectionals. A plaque shallbe given to the school winning first place.

B. State Final: The finalists in each of theIndividual Events shall receive medallions.Trophies and team medallions shall be given tothe schools winning first, second and thirdplaces.

C. In case of a tie between two or moreschools, an award for the highest place tied shallbe given to each of those schools if awards areprovided for that place.

XI. JUDGING

A. In accordance with Art. VI-B-4-c,Regional and Sectional managers shall appointjudges after consultation with the entire ContestCommittee.

B. Selection : Local managers, inconjunction with their contest committees, areurged to select judges from the list of preferredjudges supplied by the IHSA Office and to employthose who are located as near the contest centeras possible. Also, coaches from participatingschools must be available throughout eachcontest for judging assignments. Judges for theState Final will be selected by the State ContestCommittee. Tournament workers and ContestCommittee personnel, assigned to work with thetabulation of results, should not be used asjudges, except in emergency situations and withthe approval of the Contest Committee.

C. Duties:1. It shall be the duty of each judge to

rank all contestants in each round in the order ofthe excellence of their performances. Judges maynot award the same ranking to more than one (1)individual or group in a given section.

2. A judge shall confer with no oneprior to the submission of his ballot to thecontest manager. A judge shall not change orrevise his ballot after it has been signed andplaced in the hands of the contest manager.Judges shall not reveal their decisions to anyoneprior to the announcement of results by thecontest manager. No one may question a judge’sballot or confer with a judge concerning hisdecisions unless it is necessary to do so becausethe ballot is not intelligible or the decisions orrankings were not made in conformity with therules.

3. In all events, at all contests, eachjudge shall prepare brief written critiques of thework of each contestant. All critiques shallspecify major reasons for ranking. Thesecritiques shall then be made available at the endof the contest to the coach of each competingschool.

4. The same judge shall rank allcontestants within an event during a given round.

D. Number:1. In the Regional contests, one (1)

judge shall be used in each preliminary group. Inthe Sectional contests, two (2) judges shall beused in each preliminary group. Three (3) judgesshall be used in the final round of each event atboth contests.

2. In the State Final, three (3) judgesshall be used in the preliminary rounds of eachevent. Five (5) judges, preferably two (2) hiredand three (3) coaches selected by the StateTournament Contest Committee shall be used inthe final round of each event.

3. The number of hired judges shallbe determined by the contest manager within theframework of the budget for the contestapproved by the IHSA Office. All others are to becoaches supplied by the participating schoolsand assigned by the contest manager. Eachschool with an entry at the State Tournamentmust provide at least one coach to serve as ajudge at the tournament.

E. Judges Compensation:Judges fees shall be paid as follows:Regional$20.00 per roundSectional $20.00 per roundState Final $25.00 per roundEach group of performances for which a

judge completes a ballot is considered a “round.”Any judge who drives more than 70 miles

round trip to the site of a Regional, Sectional, orState Final Contest shall be reimbursed a travelallowance of $.30 per mile in excess of 70 milesround trip. Reimbursement shall be directly fromthe IHSA office, upon the judges’ submission of atravel report form to be provided by the IHSAthrough the contest managers.

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The purpose of Performance in the Round isto provide students with opportunities forexpanded performance at the Individual EventsState Series.

THE RULES FOR PERFORMANCE IN THEROUND:

1. DEFINITION OF THE EVENT:Performance in the Round will involve three ormore students performing original or scriptedliterature. Performance may be humorous ordramatic in nature and will be staged in theround with the audience in an arenaarrangement and the performance space in thecenter of the area. (The audience will beplaced around the performance space at anappropriate distance as allowed by theperformance area from the circle allowing foradequate movement.)

2. SPECIFIC RULES & GUIDELINES:a. The actual performance space

shall be in a 16 foot diameter taped circulararea. This may be in a classroom, study hall,cafeteria, gymnasium, or on a stage, etc.Except for music, all performance elements,including off stage dialogue, must be withinthe 16-foot circle.

b. No auxiliary/supplementallighting cues shall be used. Facility lighting willremain on at all times.

c. No scenery may be used.d. Performance groups may only

use 10 standard chairs (not folding ones) and2 tables which will be provided by the hostschool. The tables should be standard; it issuggested that the table be approximately 30”x 40”. Schools will not be allowed to bringadditional tables, chairs, stools, set pieces,etc.

e. Only personal hand props andcostumes may be used. Footwear must beworn.

f. Live or electronic music/soundmay be used. If used, music should enhancethe performance, not dominate theperformance. Character or charactersperforming solo or ensemble singing initiatedwithin the performance circle must resolve

itself upon leaving thecircle. Solo or

ensemble singinginitiated whileoutside of thecircle shoulds u p p o r tc o n t e x t u a lmood and not

represent aspecific character

or charactersintensions and must resolve

itself upon entering the performance circle.

g. After the physical set-up, thecircle is cleared. The actual performancebegins as soon as the title of the performance,author, and name of the school performing isannounced. Timers shall start the clock withthe first identified audio and or visual elementinside or outside of the performance circle.

h. Performers may enter and leavethe performance space aisles as dictated bythe director and/or script.

i. Entrance and exit for Regional,Sectional, and State Final: See Illustration.

Judges seating positions must beapproved by the committee the day of theperformance.

Judges need to be positioned anequal distance apart from one another aroundthe circle, as reasonably possible. Avoidsitting judges directly beside aisle.

j. Performers are not allowed tostand on tables and chairs at any time forliability reasons.

k. General Penalty for Violations byContestants: Unless otherwise specified in therules, the penalty for rules violations in anyround of competition throughout the entirecontest series shall be that the contestant’sranking in the round where the violationoccurs be changed to last and the ranks ofother contestants will be adjusted asnecessary.

3. STANDARDS FOR EXCELLENCE:a. The material should provide an

opportunity for the performers to develop anunderstandable sequence, with coherence andclarity.

b. The movement should flownaturally from the performers, giving properfocus to action and reaction. The performanceshould use space effectively to provide foroptimum visual effects.

4. MATERIAL: Material performed inPerformance in the Round may includeoriginal or published materials. Excerpts, fulllength works, adaptations, and compilationsare permissible. Material must conform to theIHSA rules for appropriateness (See ArticleVIII-A of the IHSA Speech Rules Book).

5. TIME LIMIT: Performances shall notexceed 15 minutes in length from the initialperformance element to the final performanceelement.

a. Two timers shall keep time andfollow the same procedures as are used in theregular Individual Events. (See Article VIII-Dof the IHSA Speech Rules Book.)

b. In addition to the actualperformance time, each group performing willhave an additional 30 seconds to “set up” andan additional 30 seconds to “take down” theirmaterials.

c. The time limit for a PIRperformance is fifteen (15) minutes. When atimer’s watch is read to determine time, areading of 15:30.00 or less will not beconsidered a time violation. If a watch reads15:30.01 or greater on a digital watch, or is atic past 15:30 on a sweep-hand watch, thetime will be considered to be 15:30.01. If bothtimers watches confirm that a performanceran more than 15:30.01 minutes from theinitial cue to the final performance element,the performance shall be penalized one (1)rank per judge for each full thirty (30) secondsof overtime.

6. ENTRY LIMIT: A school may onlyhave one entry for Performance in the Roundat the Regional Contest. Individuals entered inPerformance in the Round may NOT beentered in any other event at the sametournament. Substitutions and changes inentries are permitted with the followinglimitations:

a. After the Regional Entry meeting,changes with any original entries may be madeby notifying the IHSA office and the contestmanager in writing.

b. Substitutions and/or additionsfor personnel may be made provided the IHSAoffice and the local contest manager arenotified at least one (1) day prior to thecontest. Exceptions may be permitted only incases of i l lness or other extenuatingcircumstances and provided the principalattests in writing that the substitute is eligible.

7. JUDGING: Each Performance in theRound will perform only once, and a panel ofthree judges shall be used to determine thewinners.

a. At the Regional & SectionalTournaments, the three judges’ rankings shallbe tabulated and a summation made of therankings. The entry whose total of rankings islowest is the winner; the entry with the secondlowest total is second, etc.

b. The top four finishers in eachRegional shall advance to the Sectional. Thetop three in each Sectional shall advance tothe State Tournament.

c. At the State Tournament, the 18qualifiers from the six Sectionals will bedivided into two sections of nine performanceseach. Entries in each section will performonce and be ranked by a panel of three judges.The three performances in each section withthe lowest cumulative rankings will advance tothe finals along with any performance whosetotal of rankings is lower than the total ofrankings for the third place performance in theopposite preliminary group. The final roundwill be conducted during the Saturdaymorning of the State Tournament. The finalswill be judged by a panel of five judges; each

2012-2013 PERFORMANCE IN THE ROUND IHSA Speech Contest “Special Event”

Entrances at 12, 3, 6, 9 on the circle

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judge will rank the performances first through6th (no ties). The high and low rankings willbe discarded, and the remaining ranks will beadded. The performance group with thelowest cumulative rankings is first; secondlowest is second, and so on. At the StateFinals if a tie occurs, the tied competitors shallbe separated from all other competitors andassigned relative rankings. If there is still a tie,then the ranks assigned by all five (5) judgeswill be considered, and the contestant with thelowest total of five rankings will be declaredthe winner.

8. TIES: In the event of a tie foradvancement to the next contest or to theFinals of the State Finals, all tied entries shalladvance.

9. TEAM POINTS: Team points will notbe tabulated for this event.

10. AWARDS: At Regionals andSectionals the first place teams will receive aplaque.

State Final: Medallions will be awardedto the team members of the first place team.Plaques will be awarded for first, second andthird place performances.

11. EVENT FEES: There will be an eventfee of $20.00 per performance group enteredat the Regional, Sectional, and State Contests.

12. JUDGES FEES: Judges fees shall bepaid at $10.00 per performance judged forRegional, Sectional and State Finalcompetition.

Any judge who drives more than 70 milesround trip to the site of a Regional, Sectional,or State Final Contest shall be reimbursed atravel allowance of $.30 per mile in excess of70 miles round trip. Reimbursement shall bedirectly from the IHSA office, upon the judges’submission of a travel report form to beprovided by the IHSA through the contestmanagers.

Performance In The Round—Page 2

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Illinois High School AssociationJudges Top 15 List

____Regional____Sectional Site: _____________________________________________________StateRank order your selection of the top 15 I.E. judges - these names will be confidentially secured and used whenselecting our top state series judges. Copies of critique sheets may be included. Please report any concernswith judges to the IHSA.

JUDGE RANK Judge Name Contact Info. 1 through 15)

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Tournament Management Rating ________________(Regional/Sectional Committee)

Please return this form to:Susie Knoblauch. IHSA. 2715 McGraw Drive, Bloomington, IL 61704

Fax: 309-663-7479Judges Evaluation

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sport/activity. The penalty for late entry shall bea payment of $100.00.


1. To withdraw without penalty, theschool principal must notify the IHSA office, inwriting, of the school’s team withdrawal fromDrama Group Interpretation State Series prior toDecember 1.

2. Withdrawal after December 1 butbefore February 25, 2013 will result in a schoolbeing liable for payment of a $100.00 latewithdrawal penalty.

3. If a school withdraws one or bothentries after February 25, 2013, the school shallbe liable for all event fees ($75 for Drama and/or$75 for Group Interpretation) for each eventswithdrawn and shall be assessed an additionalpenalty in the amount of $100.

4. If a school does not officiallywithdraw and/or does not show up forcompetition at any level of the state series, theschool will be assessed the penalties in “2” and“3” above and if applicable, the school may becharged for any additional financial losssustained by the offended schools or theAssociation as a result of such breach (Judges’fees if applicable). The school shall also beconsidered in Breach of Contract under theterms of the IHSA By-law 6.040, and the mattershall be reported to the IHSA Board of Directorsfor disposition.

D. EligiblityAll member schools in good standing may

enter 1 (one) team in Drama and 1 (one) team inGroup Interpretation under the provisions ofIHSA By-law 4.071. The principal is the officialrepresentative of his/her school in allinterscholastic activities, and the responsibilityfor seeing that all students from his/her schoolentered in Drama/Group Interpretation contestsare eligible under the rules shall rest with theprincipal. All correspondence with the IHSAOffice must be conducted through the principal.

In each contest in which a school isrepresented, the principal shall have present anadult, preferably a member of the faculty, whoshall supervise and be responsible for theconduct of the participants and other personsfrom the school. A school’s failure to complywith this provision shall result in disqualificationof its contestants.

E. On-line List of Participants1. List of Participants DeadlineEach school must complete the On-

line List of Participants by the deadline date ofFebruary 25, 2013. The deadline date ofFebruary 25, 2013 (standardized date of the firstMonday of week 35) shall only include theperformance title and author, not the entire castlist. The entire final cast list shall be due onlineMarch 4, 2013 (standardized date of the firstMonday of week 36) prior to sectionalcompetition. It is no longer necessary for thePrincipal to sign the form. If a school does notsubmit the On-line List of Participants by thedeadline, coaches and/or participants from the

2012-2013 Drama/Group Interpretation Terms and ConditionsIn accordance with Section 1.450 of the

IHSA Constitution, the Board of Directors hasapproved the Terms and Conditions governingthe 2012-2013 IHSA Drama/Group InterpretationTournament Series.


Competition in the IHSA 2012-2013Drama/Group Interpretation Tournament Serieswill be held for all member schools withoutclassification.

II. DATES AND SITES

A. The state shall be divided into six (6)Sectionals. The number of competing schools,travel distance, geographical location and thenumber of entries shall be primary factors in thedetermination of number and boundary lines forthese Sectionals.

B. Dates for the contests are:Sectional March 15-16, 2013State Final March 22-23, 2013

C. Sites for Sectional contests shall beposted on the IHSA website at www.ihsa.org.

D. The State Final Drama/GroupInterpretation Contest site is SangamonAuditorium at the University of Il l inois inSpringfield.

III. ON-LINE ENTRIES, WITHDRAWALPROCEDURES, ELIGIBLITY, AND ON-LINE LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

The policies for Original Entry Deadlines,Late Entries and Late Withdrawals shall be thepolicies and procedures regarding entries for allIHSA-sponsored activities, included in the 2012-2013 Entry Policies and Procedures which canbe found in the Schools Center on the IHSAwebsite.


into the state series competition though the IHSASchools Center on the IHSA Website atwww.ihsa.org. The deadline for entry isNovember 1, 2012. The 2012-13 Entry Policiesand Procedures outlining the online entryprocedures for all IHSA-sponsored tournamentscan be found in the Schools Center on the IHSAwebsite.

Competing schools are responsible forEvent Fees as described in Section IV. Checksfor Event Fees should be made payable to thehost school for Sectionals and to the Universityof Illinois at Springfield for the State Final.

B. Late EntriesAny attempt to enter a sport or activity on-

line after the established deadlines will bedenied. Schools that wish to enter after thedeadline will be considered late. To beconsidered for late entry, the Principal/OfficialRepresentative must contact the IHSAadministrative officer in charge of that

school are subject to penalties which couldinclude, but not be limited to being ruledineligible to compete in the State Series and/orcharged $100.00. Confirmation of receipt ofOn-line List of Participants: Schools shouldlogin to their School Center site on the IHSAwebsite and go to the Activity Tracker. TheActivity Tracker will show “Completed”, if youhave checked the button indicating you havefinished with your report. If it doesn’t indicate“Completed”, then you must go back into yourschools List of Participants and check the buttonon the Online List of Participants indicating youare finished with your report.

Note: All participants must be eligiblestudents under the provisions of IHSA By-law4.071. (This includes all cast and crewmembers.)

Note: It is recommended that eachsectional site conduct a sectional meeting priorto the contest to allow competing schools anopportunity to view the performance spaces andaddress any questions or issues prior to thecontest. This meeting shall not be held duringthe regular school day.

2. Entry Limitationsa. Schools are permitted one

entry in Dramatics and one in GroupInterpretation at the Sectional Contests.

b. Individual students mayparticipate in both Drama and GroupInterpretation.

c. No individual or school mayperform any of the same lines from a given pieceof l iterature in the Drama and/or GroupInterpretation competition more than once in anyfive (5) year period.

d. No school may perform anypart of the same piece of literature in Dramaticsand/or Group Interpretation in the current year.

e. Substitutions and changes inentries are permitted with the followinglimitations:

1) Changes in Original Entriesmay be made prior to the final date foracceptance of Original Entries, by notifying theIHSA Office in writing.

2) Substitutions and/oradditions for personnel in Dramatics and GroupInterpretation at any contest may be madeprovided the local contest manager and the IHSAoffice are notified at least one (1) day prior to thecontest. Exceptions may be permitted only incases of i l lness or other extenuatingcircumstances and provided the principal attestsin writing that the substitute is eligible.

3. Approval of MaterialThe principal is required to see and

approve both the selection and performance ofall material including substitute material, to beused by contestants from the member school inthe contest series.


A. Schools will be required to pay eventfees for all entries listed on the Assignment pagewhich can be found on the IHSA website atwww.ihsa.org after December 1. No contestantfrom a school will be permitted to compete if

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D. Programs1. Sectional: The order of

performance for Dramatics and GroupInterpretation shall be established by the localcontest manager in consultation with the contestcommittee using a blind draw, except whereadjustments are necessary to accommodateFriday night performances, to permit students toparticipate in two events and/or to separateidentical selections. Competition shall begin onFriday evening, with schools being givenopportunity to volunteer for a Friday eveningperformance time. If volunteers are not secured,the local manager and Contest Committee shallrandomly assign schools for Friday eveningperformances.

2. State Finala. Dramatics: Performance order

in Dramatics shall be made randomly by theIHSA office. An attempt will be made to separateduplicate entries. Adjustments for double entrieswill be made as necessary.

Groups will then perform under thefollowing time schedule in accordance with aperformance order established by the IHSAOffice:

Friday: 8:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m.9:45 a.m. 2:45 p.m. 7:45 p.m.11:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m.

Saturday: 8:30 a.m. 9:45 a.m. 11:00 a.m.

b. Group Interpretation:Performance order in Group Interpretation shallbe made by the IHSA office. An attempt will bemade to separate duplicate entries. Adjustmentsfor double entries will be made as necessary.Groups will then perform under the followingtime schedule.Friday: PRELIM A PRELIM B

8:00 a.m. 2:45 p.m.8:40 a.m. 3:25 p.m.9:20 a.m.. 4:05 p.m.10:00 a.m. 4:45 p.m.10:40 a.m. 5:25 p.m.LUNCH DINNER11:50 p.m 6:40 p.m.12:30 p.m. 7:20 p.m.1:10 p.m. 8:00 p.m.1:50 p.m. 8:40 p.m.

Post Finalists – Directly after the lastperformanceSaturday: 8:30 a.m. 11:50 a.m.

9:20 a.m. 11:00 a.m10:10 a.m. 12:40 p.m.

(1:30 p.m. if needed)

E. The Report of Sectional Winners willbe completed online by the Sectional Manager.This shall be the official entry form for the StateFinal. Event fees for qualifying Dramatics and/orGroup Interpretation groups shall be paid uponarrival at the Sectional and State Final sites.Qualifying groups for whom fees are not paid asprescribed shall not be permitted to participate.

F. RoyaltiesThe Association assumes no

responsibilities for the payment of royalties or

such fees are not paid. Checks for event feesshould be made payable to the host school forSectionals and to the University of Illinois atSpringfield for the State Final. Event fees shallbe:

Sectional StateDramatics $75.00 $75.00Group Interpretation $75.00 $75.00

B. Special Costs: If the properties andequipment for any Dramatics entry are notreadily available at the host school, then theschool desiring such items must assumeresponsibil it ies both for securing andtransporting them.

C. Judges Fees: Judges Fees shall be:SectionalDramatics $20.00 per play judgedGroup Interpretation $15.00 per

performance judgedState FinalDramatics $20.00 per play judgedGroup Interpretation $15.00 per

performance judgedAny judge who drives more than 70 miles

round trip to the site of any contest in the IHSAState series shall be reimbursed a travelallowance of $.30 per mile in excess of 70 milesround trip. Reimbursement shall be directlyfrom the IHSA office upon the judges’submission of a travel report form to be providedby the IHSA through the contest managers.

V. TOURNAMENT ASSIGNMENTS

Sectional Assignments can be found on-line at www.ihsa.org after Dec. 1.

VI. TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE ANDTIME SCHEDULES

A. Contest ManagementIn all cases in which a member school is

selected as a contest site, the principal of thehigh school shall assume responsibility for thecontest. The principal may, however, delegatethe authority to manage the contest to anotherstaff member. In case the site is not located in amember school, then the IHSA Board ofDirectors shall appoint a local manager. Contestmanagers shall be responsible for all aspects ofcontest administration.

B. Contest CommitteeSectional Managers shall appoint a ContestCommittee to be comprised of three (3) directorsfrom three (3) different schools assigned to thecontest site while striving to have a balancedrepresentation of Drama and GroupInterpretation directors. Participating schoolsshall be notified of the names of committeemembers at least five (5) days prior to the dateof the contest.

The functions of the Contest Committeeshall be:

1. to aid the manager in planning,organizing and administering the contest;

2. to interpret the rules whennecessary; and

Drama/Group Interpretation Terms and Conditions—Page 2

3. to serve as a panel to selectcontest judges.

All Sectional and State Final Committeemembers must be consulted about potentialjudges prior to the selection/hiring of anyperson. Written consensus of the committeeshall be required for each judge employed.

For the State Final a ContestCommittee composed of selected Drama and/orGroup Interpretation coaches and arepresentative from the IHSA Speech AdvisoryCommittee will be appointed by the IHSA Officeto assist the Host manager for the State Final.

C. Authority of Contest Manager andContest Committee

1. Sectional Contests.The contest manager shall be

authorized to conduct the contest under theprovisions of these Terms and Conditions.However, if a situation develops in which there isan apparent unfairness to a Drama/GroupInterpretation Entry, and which is determined tobe the result of an administrative or judge’serror, the manager shall consult with his/herContest Committee and determine the manner inwhich the situation shall be resolved. However,managers shall not have the authority to advancethe Drama/Group Interpretation entry affected byan unfairness to the state contest. I naddition, the manager shall be responsible toresolve questions of rules interpretation, toarbitrate disputes and to apply penalties forviolations of contest rules. In all cases, he/sheshall consult with the contest advisorycommittee prior to making a decision in anysuch matter. Decisions of the contest managerin all cases herein described shall be final.

The authority and responsibility of thecontest manager and his/her contest committeeshall end when results are announced at thecontest awards assembly. Any question relativeto contest rules or any aspect of the contestwhich arises following the announcement ofresults shall be referred directly by the principalof the school involved to the IHSA Office. TheIHSA Office will give consideration to questionsrelative to administrative and/or clerical mattersonly, and will do so only, through the end of thefirst Monday following the completion of thecontest involved. In compliance with IHSA By-law 6.033, protests or challenges relative to thedecision of any judge will not be considered.

2. State Final Contest.The State Final Contest Committee

shall be authorized to conduct the contest underthe provisions of these Terms and Conditions. Ifa situation develops in which there is anapparent unfairness to a Drama/GroupInterpretation Entry, and which is determined tobe the result of an administrative or judge’serror, the Committee shall determine the mannerin which the situation shall be resolved.

In addition, the Contest Committeeshall be responsible to resolve questions of rulesinterpretation, to arbitrate disputes and to applypenalties for violations of contest rules.Decisions of the Contest Committee in all casesherein described shall be final.

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other fees connected with the performance ofany material in the Dramatic/Group Interpretationcontest series.

G. Timekeeping1. Two (2) timers, using

stopwatches, shall be required. No time signalshall be given by either timekeeper.

2. The director of each GroupInterpretation shall describe to the timers and arepresentative of the Contest Manager, prior tothe start of the performance, the precisemoments of the initial cue and the finalperformance element. Timers shall use thesesuggestions as guidelines to start and stopwatches. However, timing of the production willbegin with the first performance element andconclude with the final performance element.

3. In Drama prior to the start of theperformance the director shall describe to thetimers and a representative of the ContestCommittee a precise moment of the initial cueand the final performance element. However,timing of the Drama production will begin withthe first performance element and conclude withthe final performance element. No element ofproduction or performance, including any stagelighting, house lighting, or sound, may beginprior to the announcement of the play. Followingthe last element of production or performance,the stage shall go dark and actors shall exit.

H. Special Rules and Limitations1. Tardiness or Absence: If any

group is not ready to perform at its scheduledtime, the management shall be under noobligation to assign it a later hour and shall notso assign it if it would delay the program.

2. In Dramatics:a. Performing groups shall have

a total maximum of fifteen (15) minutes elapsedtime in which to unload their vehicle(s) and storetheir entire set in a designated storage area. Anygroup exceeding this time limit shallautomatically be dropped one (1) rank per judgeper 30 seconds overtime. If needed, groups willbe allowed five (5) minutes after the set strike tomove their set from the strike area to thedesignated loading area. Any group exceedingthis time limit shall automatically be dropped one(1) rank per judge per 30 seconds overtime.

b. Performing groups shall havea total maximum of twenty (20) minutes elapsedtime in which they must both set up and strikethe staging and set for performance (e.g. Ifsixteen (16) minutes are used to set up, thenfour (4) minutes are available for striking). Setup and strike time shall include any adjustment,addition or removal of lighting instruments. Anygroup exceeding this time limit shallautomatically be dropped one (1) rank per each30 seconds. Each school may call for a non-timed safety check after its set is up. However,this check should be made only if there is apossibility of a failure in the power source fromthe host school or if there is the possibility ofdanger to the general welfare of the cast, crewand audience. The safety check may not be usedto move props or readjust lighting or soundlevels or anything that has to do with set-up of


lower than the total of rankings for the thirdplace performance in the opposite preliminarygroup.

Following completion of the finals, the five(5) final round judges’ rankings for each entryshall be listed by the contest manager. Thehighest ranking and the lowest ranking shall bediscarded for each performance and only thethree (3) intermediate rankings for each shall beconsidered in determining its final standing. Theentry with the lowest total of intermediaterankings is the winner of the event; the next tolowest is second, etc., through the list.

3. Ties: If a tie occurs inpreliminary and/or final rounds, the tied entriesshall be separated from all other entries andassigned relative rankings. If there is still a tie,then the ranks assigned by all five (5) judges willbe considered, and the entry with the lowest totalof five rankings will be declared the winner.


A. Material: Material presented by allcontesting groups shall be appropriate for publicperformance by high school students.

1. Material which is inappropriate forpublic performance by high school students willnot be tolerated. The principal is required to seeand approve both the selection and performanceof all material including substitute material, to beused by contestants from the member school inthe contest series.

2. IHSA By-law 6.010 will be appliedin the event contestants utilize material which,upon investigation by the Executive Director, isdetermined to be inappropriate. By-law 6.010states:

Any violation of the Constitution and/orBy-laws, Terms and Conditions, IHSA Policiesand Guidelines, and/or other rules of theAssociation, shall be reported to the ExecutiveDirector, who shall have authority to investigateall alleged violations. The findings of theinvestigation shall be made known to the school(or schools), person (or persons), alleged tohave committed violation. The ExecutiveDirector shall then have full authority to invokepenalties against such school or persons foundto have committed violations. Penalties shallinclude, but not be limited to, written warning orreprimand or requisite affirmation correctiveaction. Failure to take the corrective actionrequired by any penalty shall be the basis forfurther action up to and including suspensionand/or expulsion.

Note that these provisions includepossible penalties against the school orindividual persons found to have committedviolations. This means that competitors,coaches, directors, and/or principals may bepenalized directly for the use of inappropriatematerial in the IHSA Contests. A performance(language or action) which is a literal, symbolicor colloquial expression describing or naminganything which is profane and/or vulgar, whetheror not suited to a specific character beingportrayed, IS ALWAYS CONSIDEREDINAPPROPRIATE!

the play. If a host site has difficulties or adangerous situation arises, the committeemembers and host(s) of the contest will decidethe necessary course of action.

The clock timing set-up for eachperformance shall be started when the firstmovement of any set pieces is made from thedesignated storage area to which the set wasunloaded from the vehicle(s), and stopped at thecue of the director when the crew is off stage(wings or house). If a participant is injuredduring the set up and/or striking phase of theperformance, the clock may be stopped by themanager until the emergency is addressed. Afterthe performance, the clock will start at the cue ofthe director when the crew is off stage (wings orhouse) and be stopped when the last set piece isplaced into the designated strike area.

Following this non-timed check, the set-uptiming watches may be started again to permitthe stage crew to make further adjustmentswithin the time limit. No other start or stop of thewatch shall be allowed.


A. Advancement of Winners1. Dramatics: The winners of first

and second places in each Sectional shalladvance to the State Final. Ties for advancementwill be broken according to Article VII-B-3.

2. Group Interpretation: The winnersof first, second and third places in each Sectionalshall be advanced to the State Final. Ties foradvancement will be broken according to ArticleVII-B-3.

B. Determination of Winners1. Sectional (Dramatics and Group

Interpretation): The five (5) judges’ rankings foreach entry shall be l isted by the contestmanager. The highest ranking and the lowestranking shall be discarded for each group, andonly the three (3) intermediate rankings for eachentry shall be considered in determining its finalstanding. The entry with the lowest total ofintermediate rankings is the winner of the event;the next lowest is second, etc., through the list.

2. State Finala. Dramatics: The five (5)

judges’ rankings for each entry shall be listed bythe contest manager. The highest ranking andthe lowest ranking for each play shall bediscarded and only the three (3) intermediaterankings for each entry shall be considered indetermining its final standing. The entry with thelowest total of intermediate rankings is thewinner of the event; the next to lowest is second,etc., through the list.

b. Group Interpretation: Therankings assigned by all five (5) judges in eachpreliminary group shall be listed and totaled bythe contest manager. The highest ranking andthe lowest rankings for each entry shall not beconsidered in determining its final standing in itspreliminary group. The three (3) performancesfrom each preliminary group with the lowesttotals of judges’ rankings (after high and low arediscarded) shall be advanced to the finals, alongwith any performance whose total of rankings is

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drama, speeches, diaries, letters, essays, orcompilations and original material.

4. Time Limit: The time limit for aGroup Interpretation performance is thirty (30)minutes. When a timer’s watch is read todetermine time, a reading of 30:00.00 or less willnot be considered a time violation. If a watchreads 30:00.01 or greater on a digital watch, oris a tic past 30:00 on a sweep-hand watch, thetime will be considered to be 30:01. If bothtimers watches confirm that a performance ranmore than 30:00.00 minutes from the initial cueto the final performance element, theperformance shall be penalized one (1) rank perjudge for each full thirty (30) seconds ofovertime. In the final round of the State FinalContest only, no penalty for time violations willbe assessed until one (1) minute beyond thespecified time limit. For example, if the time limitis thirty (30) minutes, no penalty will beassessed until the performance has exceededthirty-one (31) minutes as verified by two (2)stopwatches.

Groups will be allowed five (5) minutesto move their set from the backstage entrance tothe strike line. Set pieces are only allowedbehind the designated strike line as determinedby the contest management. Any groupexceeding this time limit shall automatically bedropped one (1) rank per judge per 30 secondsovertime.

The cast must enter the designatedperformance space after the production isannounced and exit at the conclusion of thepresentation.

5. In the Sectional contests, GroupInterpretation selections may be presented in aclassroom or other appropriate performancespaces.

6. Standards for Excellence: Thesestandards are to provide the basis for bothperformance and judging. Judges are toevaluate performances within the context ofthese standards.

a. Gesture and pantomimeshould be used as justified by interpretation ofthe text.

b. At the discretion of theperforming group, the script may be used.

c. Focus should be primarily off-stage, although mixed focus (a combination ofoff-stage and on-stage focus) is allowed.

d. Uniformed dress is permitted.Costuming is not allowed. Clothing thatdelineates specific character(s) worn by anindividual or the entire cast shall be consideredcostuming. All Group Interpretation performersmust wear shoes.

e. Character makeup isprohibited.

f. Sound effects may be used,but music may be used only as background or toestablish mood.

g. Participating schools willprovide their own stools, chairs, boxes,platforms, ramps, risers and stairs only. Theseitems may be placed on appropriate flooring.Ladders, posts, pillars, and walls are prohibitedin Group Interpretation. Performers are notallowed to stand on chairs or stools.Performers may stand on safe boxes, platforms,

3. Use of Inappropriate Material. If, inthe opinion of any contest judge, material whichis performed for his/her adjudication isinappropriate for public performance by a highschool student, he/she may rank theperformance down. Judges shall explain theiropinions and actions in written critiques, and thecontest manager shall forward a copy of thecritiques to the IHSA office.

B. Special Rules and Limitations1. The following items are prohibited

for use in a Drama and Group Interpretationproduction:

• fire• firearms and explosives• animals• non-member school students2. General Penalty for Violations by

Contestants: Unless otherwise specified in therules, the penalty for rules violations in anyround of competition throughout the entirecontest series shall be that the contestant’sranking in the round where the violation occursbe changed to last and the ranks of othercontestants will be adjusted as necessary.

3. All competing schools must be incompliance with all provisions outlined by thehost site in the qualifiers manual. Behaviordeemed unsafe by a state official will first begiven a warning and then penalties may includebut not be limited to: warnings, lowering onerank per judge and/or disqualification.

4. Late Discovery of Violations: If aviolation, the penalty for which isdisqualification, is not discovered until after theclose of the contest in which the violationoccurred, the following procedure shall befollowed:

a. The contestant, group orschool shall nevertheless be disqualified andadvancement to the next succeeding contestshall be denied if the violation is reported to theIHSA Office prior to the next contest.


c. If the violation is reported tothe IHSA Office at least three (3) days prior tothe next succeeding contest, the winners shall beadvanced on the basis of the revised rankings.

d. If the disqualified individual,group or school has won any awards, suchawards shall be returned to the IHSA Office. Anattempt will then be made to redistribute theseawards on the basis of the revised rankingsmentioned above.

C. Dramatics1. Definition: Dramatics is an event

in which students perform in and run (with adultsupervision as necessary) an actual dramaticproduction, cut to fit within the time limits ifnecessary.

2. Purpose: The purpose ofDramatics is to give students on-stageexperience in acting and other theatre-relatedskills.

3. Selection: The choice of apresented play shall be from either publishedone-act plays or cuttings from longer published

plays. Published adaptations written for the stageare permitted. Unpublished adaptations andplays that are published solely online areprohibited. Selections may be either serious orcomedic in nature. The play shall not be anoperetta or other musical presentation; however,background and incidental music will bepermitted. Coaches must be able to produce, ifrequested by the contest committee, the originalpublished script performed. Failure to producesuch a copy shall result in disqualification fromthe contest.

4. Time Limit: The time limit for acontest play is forty (40) minutes. When atimer’s watch is read to determine time, areading of 40:00.00 or less will not beconsidered a time violation. If a watch reads40:00.01 or greater on a digital watch, or is a ticpast 40:00 on a sweep-hand watch, the time willbe considered to be 40:01. If both timerswatches confirm that a performance ran morethan 40:00.00 minutes from the initial cue to thefinal performance element, the play shall bepenalized one (1) rank per judge for each thirty(30) seconds of overtime. If the overtime occursbecause of an incident beyond the control of theperforming group, the committee will take thatinto consideration. At the State Final Contestonly, no penalty for time violations will beassessed until one (1) minute beyond thespecified time limit. For example, if the time limitis forty (40) minutes, no penalty will be assesseduntil the speaker has exceeded forty-one (41)minutes as verified by two (2) stopwatches.

5. Standards for Excellence: Thesestandards are to provide the basis for bothperformance and judging.

a. The judge’s written evaluationshould clearly identify the major strengths andweaknesses of the performance and specify thereasons for the ranking assigned.

b. Undue emphasis should not beplaced on technical elements or judgespreferences, likes or dislikes of literature. Actingshould be of primary importance and within asupportive or unified concept.

D. Group Interpretation:1. Definition: Group Interpretation is

an event in which groups of three (3) or morestudents interpretively present literature.

2. Purpose: The purpose of GroupInterpretation is to give students experience inthe group performance of l iterature. Theinterrelatedness of the narrator(s), themovement of the literature and character voicescontrol the performance. Group Interpretationencourages students to create an ensembleperformance which showcases their interpretiveskil ls and group work without the aid ofcostumes, make-up, set or props. SuccessfulGroup Interp. performances should be basedprimarily on interpretation. Focus should beprimarily off-stage, although mixed focus (acombination of off-stage and on-stage focus) isallowed.

3. Selection: The choice of a groupinterpretation to be presented for competitorsshall be, but is not limited to prose, verse,

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ramps, risers and stairs. Explicit set and setdesign are prohibited.

h. Props shall be prohibited;creative use of scripts shall not be interpreted asuse of props.

i. Undue emphasis should notbe placed on technical elements or judges’preferences, likes or dislikes of literature.


A. Damage to Property or EquipmentIf contestants or people from any school

entered in a state series are found guilty ofcarelessness or maliciously breaking, damagingor destroying property or equipment belonging tothe host school, such school shall be heldresponsible for costs incurred in replacing orrepairing such property or equipment.


a. Any media person wishing totake photographs will contact the Sectional orState Final manager to verify arrangements to setphotos at the tournaments. Photographers arewelcome to take photos in the commons area.Managers names and information can be foundon the IHSA website or by contacting the IHSAOffice.

b. Photography is NOT allowedin rooms during performances, however, mediais invited and encouraged to sit in onperformances.

c. At all levels an area may be setaside for photographs. All participating studentswill be invited and encouraged to makethemselves available during the tournament forthe Official IHSA Photographer as well as localoutlets.

d. Results from each level of thetournament can be obtained by logging into theIHSA website. Results will be posted forSectionals as soon as the competition concludes.State Final results will be posted as soon aspossible following the tournament.

2. Managersa. May arrange a media area for





associated with a school shall be permitted touse tobacco products during the contest, eitherduring rehearsals or performances.

D. Use of Inhalers:A student with asthma may possess and

use his/her medication during an IHSAcompetition under the supervision of schoolpersonnel, provided the school meets theoutlined procedures of self administration in theIllinois School Code.


1. The possession, distribution, saleand or consumption of alcoholic beverages areprohibited at the site and on any affiliatedproperty of any IHSA state series contest. Stateseries hosts are required to make all state seriescontest sites and any affi l iated property,including parking lots, fan accommodation areas,and other school or event venue property, alcoholfree zones on the date or dates of any IHSA eventbeing held at the site. Violation of this policy byan event host will subject the host to a penalty forviolation of IHSA By-law 2.020. Such penaltymay include but not necessarily be limited toprohibition against subsequent event hostingassignments. Violation of this policy by a non-hosting member school will subject the school topenalty for violation of IHSA By-law 2.020.Patrons of any IHSA state series contestdetermined to be in violation of this policy will beremoved from the premise, and law enforcementofficials will be called as warranted.

F. Special Report Forms and SAWASpecial report forms have been developed

to facil itate schools reporting any matterconcerning High School programs that merit theattention of the high school principal. Theseforms can be used for reporting any incidents orproblems with a competitor, coach, director orspectator. The forms may also be used to reporterrors in applying rules or any phase of judgingin which a judge should immediately attempt toimprove. The SAWA Report form should be usedfor reporting any instances where a coach,director, participant, judge or spectator has donean exemplary job of Sporting A Winning Attitude.These forms can be found on the IHSA website atwww.ihsa.org.

G. Responsibility for Theft or otherLosses

The IHSA will not be responsible for loss ortheft of any personal or school property duringthe course of a contest.



X. AWARDS

A. SectionalA plaque shall be awarded to the first place

winner in both Drama and Group Interpretation.

B. State FinalTrophies shall be awarded to the schools

ranking first, second, and third in both Dramaand Group Interpretation. Individual medallionsshall be given to the members of the first,second, and third place Play Casts, GroupInterpretation Casts, the All State Play Cast andthe All State Group Interpretation Cast.

C. All-Contest Casts Judges at Sectional contests shall each

nominate individual students for All-Contest Castconsideration in both the drama and group

interpretation events. There shall be no maximumon any judge nominations. At the sectionalcontest, any student whose name is contained onat least three (3) ballots shall be named to theAll-Contest Cast for his or her particular event. Atthe State Final, judges in each event shallnominate a minimum of ten (10) students for All-State Cast consideration. There is no maximumon any judges’ nominations. Any student whosename appears on a minimum of four (4)nomination ballots shall be named to the All-State Cast.

D. Sportsmanship/Teamwork AwardsA sportsmanship/teamwork award will be

presented to the schools whose director, castand crew in Drama and Group Interpretationworked best behind the scenes. Adult staff atUIS will be used to make this determination andselection.

XI. JUDGING

A. The local manager and the contestcommittee shall appoint five (5) judges each forDrama and Group Interpretation at the Sectionalcontests. The State Final Contest Committeeshall appoint five (5) judges for Dramatics; two(2) panels of five (5) judges each for GroupInterpretation preliminaries and one panel of five(5) judges for Group Interpretation Finals at theState Final contest.

B. Each judge shall rank the performancesin the order of their excellence in his or herjudgment. Judges may not award the sameranking to more than one group. There shall beno consultation between judges or with anyoneelse before the judges rank the performances andsubmit their ballots to the contest manager.

C. Each judge shall prepare a brief writtencritique of each performance. These shall bedistributed to the participating schools followingthe contest.

D. Undue emphasis should not be placedon technical elements or judges’ preferences,likes or dislikes of literature.

E. Judges shall not reveal their decisionsto anyone prior to the announcement of resultsby the contest manager.

F. Judges Fees:1. SectionalDramatics: $20.00 per play judgedGroup Interpretation: $15.00 per

performance judged2. State FinalDramatics: $20.00 per play judgedGroup Interpretation: $15.00 per

performance judgedAny judge who drives more than 70 miles

round trip to the site of any contest in the IHSAState series shall be reimbursed a travelallowance of $.30 per mile in excess of 70 milesround trip. Reimbursement shall be directly fromthe IHSA office upon the judges’ submission of atravel report form to be provided by the IHSAthrough the contest managers.

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In accordance with Section 1.450 of the IHSAConstitution, the Board of Directors has approvedthe Terms and Conditions governing the 2012-2013 IHSA Debate Tournament Series.


Competition in the IHSA 2012-2013 DebateTournament Series will be held for all memberschools without classification.

II. DATES AND SITES

A. The State Final Debate Tournament willbe held at Il l inois Wesleyan University inBloomington, IL.

B. Dates for the tournament shall beMarch 14-16, 2013.

III. ON-LINE ENTRIES, WITHDRAWALPROCEDURES, ELIGIBILITY, AND ON-LINE LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

The policies for Original Entry Deadlines,Late Entries and Late Withdrawals shall be thepolicies and procedures regarding entries for allIHSA-sponsored activities, included in the 2012-2013 Entry Policies and Procedures which can befound in the Schools Center on the IHSA website.


into the state series competition through theIHSA Schools Center on the IHSA Website atwww.ihsa.org. The deadline for entry isNovember 1, 2012. The 2012-13 Entry Policiesand Procedures outlining the online entryprocedures for all IHSA-sponsored tournamentscan be found in the Schools Center on the IHSAwebsite.

Competing schools are responsible forEvent Fees as described in Section IV. Checksfor Event Fees should be made payable to IllinoisWesleyan University and brought to registrationat the tournament.

B. Late EntriesAny attempt to enter a sport or activity

online after the established deadlines will bedenied. Schools that wish to enter after thedeadline will be considered late. To be consideredfor late entry, the Principal/Official Representativemust contact the IHSA administrator in charge ofthat activity. The penalty for late entry shall be apayment of $100.00.


1. To withdraw without penalty, theschool principal must notify the IHSA office, inwriting, of the school’s team withdrawal fromDebate State Finals prior to February 27, 2013.

2. Withdrawal after February 27,2013 will result in a school being liable forpayments of $100.00 late withdrawal penalty.

3. If a school withdraws one or moreentry after February 27, 2013, the school shallbe liable for all event fees (see terms andconditions Article IV-A) for each debate category

withdrawn and shall be assessed additionalpenalties in the amount of $25.00 per eventwithdrawn.

4. If a school does not officiallywithdraw and/or does not show up forcompetition, the school will be assessed thepenalties in “2” and “3” above and if applicable,the school may be charged for any additionalfinancial loss sustained by the offended schoolsor the Association as a result of such breach(Judges’ fees if applicable). The school shallalso be considered in Breach of Contract underthe terms of the IHSA By-law 6.040, and thematter shall be reported to the IHSA Board ofDirectors for disposition.

D. EligibilityResponsibility of Individual School: The

principal is the official school representative in allinterscholastic activities and is responsible to seethat all students from his/her school entered incompetition are eligible under the rules. Allcorrespondence with the IHSA Office should beconducted through the principal.

In each contest in which his/her school isrepresented, the principal shall have present anadult, preferably a member of the faculty, whoshall supervise and be responsible for theconduct of the participants and other personsfrom the school. Failure to comply with thisprovision shall result in disqualification of theschool’s contestants.

E. On-Line List of ParticipantsEach school must complete the Online List

of Participants by the deadline date of February27, 2013. If a school does not submit the OnlineList of Participants by the deadline, coachesand/or participants from the school are subject topenalties which could include, but not be limitedto being ruled ineligible to compete in the StateSeries and/or charged $100.00. Confirmation ofreceipt of Online List of Participants: Schoolsshould login to their School Center site on theIHSA website and go to the Activity Tracker. TheActivity Tracker will show “Completed”, if youhave checked the button indicating you havefinished with your report. If it doesn’t indicate“Completed”, then you must go back into yourschools List of Participants and check the buttonon the Online List of Participants indicating youare finished with your report.

1. Entry Limitationsa. Schools are allowed to have

up to four entries in Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, andPublic Forum Debate. All entries will debate bothsides of the question. Schools are allowed tohave up to ten (10) entries in CongressionalDebate.

b. Policy Debaters mayparticipate in only one (1) debate event at theState Finals. Congressional Debaters may doubleenter in either Lincoln-Douglas or Public ForumDebate.

c. Substitutions and changes inentries are permitted with the followinglimitations:

1) Changes in Original onlineentries may be made prior to the deadline forsubmitting final entries to the contest manager

February 27, 2013), by notifying the IHSA Officein writing.

2) Members of participatingteams shall be determined prior to the start ofcompetition. No substitutions will be permittedonce the Debate contest has begun.


A. Event FeesAn Event Fee of $50.00 per Policy team,

$25.00 per Lincoln-Douglas, $15.00 perCongressional Debate Entry and $25 per PublicForum Debate Entry shall be paid to the StateFinal Contest Manager. No contestant from aschool will be permitted to participate in the StateFinal contest if the Event Fees ($50.00 per Policyteam, $25.00 per Lincoln-Douglas, $15.00 perCongressional Debate Entry and $25 per PublicForum Debate Entry) are not paid. Checks forEvent Fees should be made payable to IllinoisWesleyan University and brought to registrationat the tournament.

B. Judges Fees: Judges hired by theIHSA shall be paid a flat fee of $200.00 for Policy,Lincoln Douglas, Congressional and PublicForum Debate at the State Final Tournament.However, if a judge is late for a round or missesan assignment, the flat fee will be rescinded andthe judge will be paid $10.00 per round actuallyjudged. Any judge who drives more than 70miles round trip to the site of the State FinalContest shall be reimbursed a travel allowance of$.30 per mile in excess of 70 miles round trip.Reimbursement shall be directly from the IHSAoffice upon the judges’ submission of a travelreport form to be provided by the IHSA to thecontest manager.

V. TOURNAMENT ASSIGNMENTS

All schools will participate in the statecontest at Il l inois Wesleyan University inBloomington, IL.

VI. TOURNAMENT STRUCTURES ANDTIMES SCHEDULES

A. Contest Management:1. Tournament Committee:

Tournament committees composed of debatecoaches and a representative from the IHSASpeech Advisory Committee will be appointed bythe IHSA. One member shall be designated to bein charge of each of the four divisions: Policy,Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, andCongressional. The tournament committees willassist the State Final Manager.

Participating schools shall refer online to alisting of the State Debate TournamentCommittee members. The functions of theTournament Committee shall be:

a. to aid the manager inplanning, organizing and administering thecontest;

b. to interpret the rules whennecessary; and

c. to serve as a panel to selectcontest judges.

2012-2013 Debate Terms and Conditions

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The State Final Tournament Committee shallbe authorized to conduct the contest under theprovisions of these Terms and Conditions and tomake final decisions on any issues notspecifically covered by the rules. If a situationdevelops in which there is an apparent unfairnessto a contestant, and which is determined to bethe result of an administrative or judge’s error,the Tournament Committee shall determine themanner in which the situation shall be resolved.

The Tournament Committee shall beresponsible to resolve questions of rulesinterpretation, to arbitrate disputes and to applypenalties for violations of contest rules.Decisions of the Tournament Committee in allcases herein described shall be final.

B. Time ScheduleThe time schedule for the State Final Tournamentwill be established by the state final tournamentcommittee and will be posted online on the IHSAwebsite.


All contestants will debate five rounds onThursday and Friday. The highest rankingcontestants shall be paired for elimination roundson Saturday. The winner of the final debate ineach event shall be awarded first place andsecond place shall be awarded runner-up.


A. Policy Debate Competition Rules1. Definition:Policy Debate is organized oral

argument which, in the setting of interscholasticcompetition, provides participants an opportunityto display their skills of oral persuasion, logicalreasoning, research and application of evidenceand extemporaneous delivery before criticjudges.

2. Debate Subject:The topic for debate will be the national

policy topic developed by the Discussion andDebate Committee of the National Federation ofState High School Associations. By a poll of thecoaches of the nation, the following resolutionhas been selected as the national policy debatetopic for 2012-2013:

Problem area: InfrastructureResolution:Resolved: The United States federal

government should substantially increase itstransportation infrastructure investment in theUnited States.

3. Time Schedule and Procedures:a. Tardiness or Absence: No

debate shall start unless both members of bothteams are present. If any debater is absent, thechairman shall wait five minutes for his/herappearance. If still absent, the team of which thedebater is a member shall forfeit the debate tothe other team. If members of both teams areabsent, the debate shall be annulled and indetermining the final ranking of the teams, bothshall be charged with the loss of the debate.

If a coach is five (5) minutes latefor a round that he/she is to judge, his/herteam(s) will forfeit that round.

Note: If the manager is convincedthat the tardiness of a debater, debate team, orcoach/judge is due to clearly unavoidable causes,the starting time for the debate may be extended,or the debate may be arranged for another hourprovided that it does not in any way interfere withor postpone termination of the contest.

b. Each elimination round muststart no later than fifteen (15) minutes after it isposted. Coaches will be notified whereelimination pairings will be posted and the timeof posting will be recorded. If a team is late it willforfeit that round.

c. Individual Round TimingProcedures:

1) In Policy style debating, thequestioner controls the time and may interruptthe person being questioned to ask that shorteror more direct answers be given or to inform theperson that the answer is insufficient. Thequestioner should ask relevant questions. Thequestioner should neither comment on theanswer, argue with the opponent nor makespeeches. He/she should use the time forquestioning only.

2) Time lost throughunavoidable interruptions shall be made good tothe debater. No debater may be interrupted by anopponent during the course of the debate.

3) A debate twosome shalltake no more than eight (8) minutes total elapsedpreparation time during a round of debate. Thetimekeeper should keep a record of elapsed timebetween speeches and indicate to the debater thetime remaining.

4) Speeches in policy debatewill be limited to: eight (8) minute constructives,three (3) minute cross-examinations, and five (5)minute rebuttals.

4. Rules of Competition:a. Debaters and coaches shall

not exchange evidence or other materials withcontestants from other schools during a contest.

b. Debaters should make allevidence read in their speeches available forperusal by their opponents. Debaters, however,should not be penalized for refusing to letopponents take such evidence back to theirdesks. If any judge wishes to read evidencefollowing the debate, that evidence may berequested by the judge and should be provided.Judges must not provide such materials to theopposition.

c. Each debater is responsiblefor the validity of evidence read in the debate. Allevidence cards or other evidentiary materialsmust contain the name of the author, thequalifications, the source, the date, the pagenumber, even if the full citation is not read in thedebate.

d. Prompting is not allowed.Prompting does not exclude time notations, butdoes prohibit all other forms of assistance to adebater during a speech or when involved in aPolicy period.

e. New issues shall not beintroduced during the rebuttal speeches.

f. The members of either teammay switch the order of rebuttals; however, thejudge must be so informed before the debatebegins.

g. Observers are permitted toattend debates. Flows of the debates may betaken. Electronic (audio/video) recording of thedebates shall be prohibited without prior consentof the IHSA.

h. The use of computers, electronicstorage and retrieval devices, etc. is allowed inrounds of Policy Debate. Connectivity to anyperson, machine, device, or server outside thecompetition room or persons other than thecompetitors in the round is not allowed. Thisincludes the prohibition of the use of wired orwireless local, or wide, area networks; cellphones; personal digital assistants; Palm, Treo,or Blackberry type devices; etc. Theestablishment of such a connection willconstitute a violation of this rule. Competitorsviolating this rule will be disqualified fromcompetition.

5. Matching of Teams and DrawingProcedures:

It will be attempted to allow each teamto debate each side of the question three (3)times in the preliminary rounds.

a. There will be a randomdrawing to determine pairings for Rounds 1 and2. Subsequent preliminary rounds should bepower matched, high-low within brackets.

b. If there are at least forty (40)teams in the tournament, debaters advancing tothe octa-final round will be paired according to abracket prepared by the Tournament Committee.If there are at least eighty-five (85) teams,elimination rounds will begin with double octa-finals (top 32). If there are less than 40 teams,elimination rounds will begin with quarterfinals.

c. If in the elimination rounds,teams from the same school are necessarilypaired against each other, they may either debateto determine a winner or the coach of the schoolinvolved may designate one of the teams as thewinner of the round. Elimination brackets willnot be altered to prevent such pairings.

d. In the elimination rounds,sides will be determined by a flip of a coin,unless they have met previously. In such casesthe debaters will switch sides.

6. Judging:a. Two (2) judges shall be used

for each debate in the preliminaries. Asavailability permits, three (3) judges should beused in all eliminations except for the final round.Five (5) judges shall be used in the final debate.

b. Judges for Policy debate shallbe in the second year removed from an Illinoishigh school. Judges who competed for an out-of-state high school must be high schoolgraduates. All judges should have judged at aminimum of two tournaments on the currentresolution. Each participating school shallprovide a coach-judge for each team entered inthe State Final. Schools which fail to provide therequired number of judges in accordance withtheir entries shall be subject to disqualification ofone Policy team per missing judge. Schoolswhose judges miss individual rounds shall beassessed a $30.00 fee for each round missed.

c. Each judge shall complete theballot indicating the winning team, reason(s) forthe decision, and appropriate speaker points foreach debater, and a written critique of the debate.

Debate Terms and Conditions—Page 2

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The decision as to who won the round must beturned in to the tournament headquarters withinfifteen minutes after the end of the secondaffirmative rebuttal. The completed ballot mustbe turned in as soon as possible and prior to thedistribution of ballot packages to schools. Ajudge’s decision should be made withoutconsultation with anyone. Judges are notprohibited from oral critiques and/or disclosureof their decision to the debaters. All judges,including those who are school coaches, shall beavailable for all rounds including all eliminationrounds.

d. Each judge shall keep a flowsheet during the debate to assist him/her incompleting the ballot and reaching a decision. Itis recommended that judges concentrate on theflow sheet during the debate and on the ballotafter the debate has been completed.

e. Judges shall not conversewith anyone, other than the debaters themselves,prior to submitting their decisions for a givenround to the tournament manager.

f. Judges in any round must beat least four years removed from any affiliationwith a team in that round. Judges are expectedto notify the contest manager of any conflicts ofinterest prior to the start of competition. Judgesmay strike themselves from hearing anyindividual team(s) in the tournament.

g. Schools with teams inelimination rounds must maintain arepresentative in the tab room area until therounds have started.

B. Lincoln-Douglas Debate Com petitionRules

1. Definition:Lincoln-Douglas Debate is organized

oral argument which, with only one debaterarguing on each side of a proposition of value,provides participants an opportunity to displaytheir skills of oral persuasion, logical reasoning,research and application of evidence andextemporaneous delivery before a critic judge.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate is audience-oriented, meaning that people should be able tofollow the clash of ideas without taking a flowsheet.

2. Debate Subject:The topic for the IHSA Lincoln-Douglas

debate series will be the March-April topic of theNational Forensic League as published in TheRostrum(http://www.nflonline.org/Rostrum/Rostrum).Wording of this topic will be posted online atwww.ihsa.org. on the debate menu page.

3. Timing Schedule and Procedures:a. The order of speakers and

time limits for each Lincoln-Douglas debate willbe as follows:Affirmative 6 minute constructiveNegative 3 minute cross-examinationNegative 7 minute constructiveAffirmative 3 minute cross-examinationAffirmative 4 minute rebuttalNegative 6 minute rebuttalAffirmative 3 minute rebuttal

b. State Final Time Schedule:The time schedule for the State Final Tournamentwill be established by the state final tournament

committee and will be posted on the IHSAwebsite.

c. Tardiness or absence: Nodebate shall start unless both contestants arepresent. If any debater is absent, the chairmanshall wait five minutes for his/her appearance. Ifstill absent, the absent debater shall forfeit thedebate. If both competitors are absent after thefive-minute grace period, the debate shall beannulled and in determining the final rankings,both shall be charged with the loss of the debate.

Note: If the tournament manageris convinced that the tardiness of a debater orjudge is due to clearly unavoidable causes, thestarting time for the debate may be extended, orthe debate may be arranged for another hourprovided that it does not in any way interfere withor postpone termination of the contest.

d. Elimination Rounds. Eachelimination round must start fifteen (15) minutesafter it is posted. Coaches will be notified whereelimination pairings will be posted and the timeof posting will be recorded. If a debater is latehe/she will forfeit that round.

A debater may take no more thanfour (4) minutes total elapsed preparation timeduring a round of debate. The timekeeper shallkeep a record of elapsed time between speechesand indicate to the debater the time remainingafter each interval.

4. Rules of Competition:a. Debaters and coaches shall

not exchange evidence or other materials withcontestants from other schools during a contest.

b. Each debater is responsiblefor the validity of evidence read in the debate.

c. Judges shall not revealdecisions to anyone prior to the announcementof results by the contest manager.

d. A debater shall not receivehelp from anyone during the debate.

e. New issues shall not beintroduced during the rebuttal speeches.

f. If charts are used, they shallnot remain on display after the speaker using thecharts has finished his/her speech. However, ifthe opponent wishes the charts displayed, theabove rule shall be disregarded.

g. Observers are permitted toattend debates. Electronic (audio and/or video)recording of the debates shall be prohibitedwithout prior consent of the IHSA.

h. The use of computers,electronic storage and retrieval devices, etc. isallowed in rounds of Lincoln-Douglas Debate.Connectivity to any person, machine, device, orserver outside the competition room or personsother than the competitors in the round is notallowed. This includes the prohibition of the useof wired or wireless local, or wide, area networks;cell phones; personal digital assistants; Palm,Treo, or Blackberry type devices; etc. Theestablishment of such a connection willconstitute a violation of this rule. Competitorsviolating this rule will be disqualified fromcompetition.

5. Matching of Contestants andDrawing Procedures:

It will be attempted to allow everydebater to debate each side of the question threetimes in the preliminary rounds. In theelimination rounds, sides will be determined by aflip of a coin unless they have met previously. Insuch cases the debaters will switch sides.

a. Preliminary rounds 1 and 2will be randomly paired. Subsequent preliminaryrounds should be power matched, high-lowwithin brackets.

b. If there are at least forty (40)contestants, debaters advancing to the octa-finalround will be paired according to a bracketprepared by the Tournament Committee. If thereare at least eighty-five (85) contestants,elimination rounds will begin with double octa-finals (top 32). If there are less than 40contestants, elimination rounds will begin withquarterfinals.

If in the elimination rounds,debaters from the same school are necessarilypaired against each other, they may either debateto determine a winner or the coach of the schoolinvolved may designate one of the competitors asthe winner of the round. Elimination roundbrackets will not be altered to prevent suchpairings.

6. Judging:a. Two (2) judges shall be used

for each debate in the preliminaries. Asavailability permits, three (3) judges should beused in all eliminations except for the final round.Five (5) judges shall be used in the final debate.

b. Each participating school shallprovide one (1) judge per (2) students entered aslong as the tournament is double flighted. Eachparticipating school shall provide one (1) judgeper student entered if the tournament is notflighted.

Schools which fail to provide therequired number of judges in accordance withtheir entries shall be subject to disqualification ofone (1) Lincoln-Douglas contestant per missingjudge.

Judges for Lincoln-Douglas debateshall be in the second year removed from anIllinois high school. Judges who competed foran out-of-state high school must be high schoolgraduates. All judges should have judged at leasttwo tournaments during the current season.

Schools whose judges missindividual rounds shall be assessed a $30.00 feeper round missed.

c. Each judge shall complete theballot indicating the winning debater, reason(s)for the decision, appropriate speaker points foreach debater, and a written critique of the debate.The decision as to who won the round, and thecompleted ballot, must be turned in to thetournament headquarters within fifteen (15)minutes after the end of the second affirmativerebuttal.

Judges are not prohibited fromoral critiques and/or disclosure of their decisionto the debaters. All judges, including those whoare school coaches, shall be available for allrounds including all elimination rounds.

d. Judges shall not conversewith anyone, other than the debaters themselves,prior to submitting their decisions for a givenround to the tournament manager.


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e. Judges are expected to notifythe contest manager of any conflicts of interestprior to the start of competition.

C. Congressional Debate CompetitionRules

1. Definition:Congressional Debate is a simulated

congressional activity (debate) modeled after theState or NationalCongress. Participants research and write billsand/or resolutions which will be debated on thefloor of the congressional debate, utilizing thetools of deliberative decision making such asParliamentary Procedure and other groupcommunication skills.

2. Debate Subject:a. After preliminary entries are

received, each school will be assigned to writelegislation (bill or resolution) for one of thefollowing areas: foreign affairs, economics, andpublic welfare. A school should submit one pieceof legislation for that area. Schools entered inCongressional Debate will be notified inDecember for which committee they may writethe piece of legislation. Appropriate legislationmust be submitted by January 30, 2013. Thelegislation submitted will then be available toschools online.

b. Only legislation sent via anofficial coach’s e-mail will be accepted.

3. State Final Time Schedule:Sessions will begin at the posted times. Debatewill not wait for a late participant.

4. Procedures in PreliminaryChambers:

a. Committee Sessions: 1) Each chamber will have a

committee for each of the three areas oflegislation. The participants from each schoolwill be assigned to the committee to which it wasassigned to write legislation. The committee willselect the chairperson for the committee.

2) The committees will meetduring the assigned Committee Sessions toselect bills to be debated within the respectivechambers. Each committee will provide aprioritized list of the top four bills recommendedfor debate. The purpose of such committees isto select the most debatable bills. Discussionswithin the committees will be restricted by thechairpersons to the issue of debate-ability. (“Isthe bill controversial, timely, and well written?”“Are there substantial pro and con argumentsconcerning the bill?”) The merits of the ideacontained within a bill should not be discussedwithin the committee meeting.

3) Committees will have theauthority to recommend amendments to thelegislation.

4) The bills on the prioritizedcommittee lists will be considered in the orderrecommended by the respective committees,selecting the top priority bil l f irst fromEconomics, then from Foreign Affairs, then fromPublic Welfare. The process will continue untiltime expires or until all bills are debated.

b. Apportionment:One (1) entry per school will be assigned to achamber.

c. Order of Events:1) Two judges will be assigned

to each chamber. The committee will prepare aseating chart for each chamber.

2) At the beginning of Session1, judges will conduct an election for a PresidingOfficer (P.O.) for that session. Presiding Officersfor Sessions 2 and 3 will be elected at theconclusion of Sessions 1 and 2.

3) Debate will begin once thePresiding Officers have been elected. Debate ona bill will be limited to a maximum of one hour.

4) Debate on each bill willbegin with a request for a four-minute authorshipspeech to be given by the author orrepresentative from his/her high school. In theabsence of a school representative, the PresidingOfficer will call for a three-minute speech in favorof the bil l . Following the delivery of theauthorship or three minute first “pro” speech, thePresiding Officer will ask for a speech inopposition to the bill. This speech will be fourminutes long if it follows a four-minuteauthorship. It will be three minutes long if itfollows a three minute first “pro” speech. Thisalternating process of three-minute speeches willcontinue until the one-hour limit expires. Shoulda session terminate while a bill is still beingdebated, the Presiding Officer will instruct thePresiding Officer for the next session concerningthe amount of time left for debate on that bill.Following each speech, a two-minute questionand answer period will be held. The time clockwill run continuously for the question and answerperiod.

d. General Rules1) A participant may not speak

on both sides of the same legislation.2) Voting on all matters in the

first three sessions will be one vote per person.3) Abstentions shall not be

counted in voting totals.4) The members of a chamber

may not suspend any of the above rules.e. Judges Rules:

1) Judges will be responsiblefor evaluating the participants’ speeches.Ordinarily they will alternate that responsibilityexcept that no judge will evaluate the speech of astudent from his/her own school. Judges shouldnot evaluate a second speech of a student untilthe other judges have evaluated him/her. Ballotsshould be placed face up so that all judge canreview them.

2) The judges will be requiredto keep track of the participation of members ofthe chamber by recording speeches andquestions on the seating chart. Judges are tocompare their seating chart with the chart of thePresiding Officer for accuracy. Both seatingcharts will be submitted to the Tab Room.Judges will assign a range of zero to three pointsper session to each legislator (with the exceptionof the Presiding Officer) based upon theconstructive participation of each.

3) The judges, acting inconcert, shall be the ultimate authorities onparliamentary procedure and fairness inrecognizing speakers. They shall have the powerand the responsibility to correct or overturn adecision of the Presiding Officer.

4) At the end of every session,each judge will nominate two speakers (not aP.O.), not from his own school, to be consideredfor advancement to semis. The judges must notconfer.

5) Judges will evaluate theperformance of the Presiding Officer followingeach session. The P.O. will be given a scorewhich will result in his/her earning 10% to 100%of the point total earned by the top speaker in thechamber. The percentage will be based on thecriteria listed on the P.O. critique sheet. For All-State tabulation, actual fraction points (notrounded scores) will be recorded by thetabulation team at headquarters.

6) Judges will conductelections for Outstanding Legislation at the endof the third session. All legislation that wasdebated within the chamber will be eligible toadvance to semis. Each person in the chamberwill be allowed one vote. The winning legislationmust receive a simple majority of the votes cast.If no legislation earns a simple majority, thelegislation which receives the lowest vote total(or legislation with the same lowest total) will bedropped from consideration until such a time asone piece of legislation does obtain the requiredsimple majority.

7) Judges will conductelections for best Presiding Officer at the end ofthe third session. Each person in the chamberwill be allowed one vote. The winning candidatemust receive a simple majority of the votes cast.If no person earns a simple majority, thecandidate who received the lowest vote total willbe dropped from consideration and voting will berepeated. If the two lowest vote getters are tied,a run off between the two will occur with thelowest vote getter being dropped. Another votewill be taken between the two remainingcandidates.

f. Elimination RoundProcedures:

1) Semi-final Congressa) Eligibility for the Semi-

final Session will be determined in the followingmanner at the end of Session 3. The high pointspeaker, all speakers with judge nominations,and the winning presiding officer from chamberwill advance. Four Semi-final chambers will beestablished.

b) Three coaches will beassigned to judge the Semi-final Session.

c) Coaches will beassigned to preside over the Semi-final Sessions.

d) For this session, whengiving a speech, a portion of the remaining timemay be yielded to questions. There will be noseparate questioning time as in the othersessions.

e) Four participants fromeach of the Semi-final chambers will advance tothe Final Session (Super Congress). Selectionwill be based on the following criteria: high pointspeaker, greatest number nominations, and twomembers voted by preferential ballot.

2) Final Congress (SuperCongress)

a) Sixteen participants willadvance to the Final Congress.

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b) Five coaches will beassigned to judge the Final Session. Each judgewill evaluate all speeches.

c) A coach will be assignedto preside over the Final Session.

d) To determine finalawards, each of the five judges will nominate twocontestants each. A preferential ballot will beestablished containing those nominees, and thejudges will rank order those contestants. Thecontestants with the smallest cumulative numberwill be ranked Champion, and the student withthe second smallest cumulative number will beranked Runner-Up.

g. The use of computers,electronic storage and retrieval devices, etc. isallowed in rounds of Congressional Debate.Connectivity to any person, machine, device, orserver outside the competition room or personsother than the competitors in the round is notallowed. This includes the prohibition of the useof wired or wireless local, or wide, area networks;cell phones; personal digital assistants; Palm,Treo, or Blackberry type devices; etc. Theestablishment of such a connection willconstitute a violation of this rule. Competitorsviolating this rule will be disqualified fromcompetition.

D. Public Forum Debate CompetitionRules

1. Definition: Public Forum debateuses current controversial subjects as topics(resolutions) to be debated. Topics are brief,require no plan, and are debatable. Debate teamsdo not know on which side of the argument theywill be speaking. Due to the subject matter ofthese topics, much of the research towardbuilding and understanding the topic of a publicforum debate case will be conducted usingcurrent publications and news sources.

2. Debate Subject: The topic for theIHSA Public Forum debate series will be theMarch topic of the National Forensic League aspublished in The Rostrum(http://www.nflonline.org/Rostrum/Rostrum).Wording of this topic will be posted online atwww.ihsa.org. on the debate menu page.

3. Timing Schedule and Procedures: a. Public Forum Debate Timing

ScheduleFirst Speaker – Team A. .......................4 MinutesFirst Speaker – Team B ........................4 MinutesCrossfire (A1&B1)................................3 MinutesSecond Speaker – Team A ...................4 MinutesSecond Speaker – Team B ...................4 MinutesCrossfire (A2&B2)................................3 MinutesSummary – First Speaker – Team A ... 2 MinutesSummary – First Speaker – Team B ...2 MinutesGrand Crossfire ...................................3 MinutesFinal Focus – Second Speaker – Team A ...................1 Minute

Final Focus – Second Speaker – Team B ...................1 Minute

PREPARATION TIME FOR EACH TEAM .......................................2 Minutes

b. State Final Time Schedule:The time schedule for the State Final Tournamentwill be established by the state final tournament

committee and will be posted on the IHSAwebsite.

c. Tardiness or Absence: Nodebate shall start unless both members of bothteams are present. If any debater is absent, thechairman shall wait five minutes for his/herappearance, this allowance being grantedspecifically for variations in timepieces. If stillabsent, the team of which the debater is amember shall forfeit the debate to the other team.If members of both teams are absent, the debateshall be annulled and in determining the finalranking of the teams, both shall be charged withthe loss of the debate.

If a coach is five (5) minutes latefor a round that he/she is to judge, his/herteam(s) will forfeit that round.

Note: If the tournament manageris convinced that the tardiness of a debater ofjudge is due to clearly unavoidable causes, thestarting time for the debate may be extended, orthe debate may be arranged for another hourprovided that it does not in any way interfere withor postpone termination of the contest.

d. Procedure: Prior to the roundin the presence of the judge(s), a coin is tossedby one team and called by the other team. Theteam that wins the flip may choose one of twooptions: Either the side of the topic they wish todefend (pro or con) or the speaking position theywish to have (begin the debate or end thedebate).

1) Once the coin toss winnersselect their favored option, the other team makesa choice within the remaining options. Oncespeaking positions and sides has beendetermined, the debate can begin.

2) Each speaker shall havefour minutes for constructive argument,alternating between pro and con. (Please keep inmind that the debate may begin with a conspeech.)

3) Following the first twoconstructive speeches, the two debaters whohave just given speeches will participate in athree-minute “crossfire”. (In “crossfire” bothdebaters “hold the floor”. However, the speakerwho spoke first must ask the first question. Afterthat question, either debater may question and/oranswer at will.)

4) At the end of the first“crossfire”’ the four-minute constructivearguments are continued by the students yet tospeak.

5) At the conclusion of the lasttwo constructive arguments, another three-minute “crossfire” takes place between the twodebaters who just spoke using the crossfireprocedure discussed above.

6) Following the fourconstructive speeches and two “crossfire”segments, the 1st speaker for each team willeach give a two-minute summary continuingestablished alternation. The summary speechesshould include arguments his or her team iswinning and refuting of arguments it is losing.

7) At the conclusion of thesummary speeches, all four debaters willparticipate in a three-minute “Grand Crossfire” in

which all four debaters are allowed to cross-examine one another. The speaker who gave thefirst summary speech must ask the first question.

8) At the conclusion of the“Grand Crossfire”, the second speaker will eachgive a 1-minute “Final Focus” speech. The “FinalFocus” is a persuasive final restatement of why ateam has won the debate.

4. Rules of Competition:a. The first speaker for each

position usually has a prewritten case thatprovides reasons for affirming or negating atopic.

1) After both speakers havestated their cases a cross-fire session occurs. Incross-fire both speakers ask and answerquestions in a civil manner.

2) The second speaker foreach position generally attempts to refute thepoints of the opposing side and can also provideadditional reasons to vote for their position.

3) The second speakersconduct a cross-fire session in the same mannerthe first speakers did. The speech that follows isthe summary in which the first speakers of bothpositions summarize their points and theopposing sides points and try to show the judgeswhy their points still stand or why the opposingteam’s points fall.

4) Following this speech is agrand cross-fire, a cross-fire session that isconducted sitting down and includes all fourspeakers. The final speech for both sides is a lastshot in which the second speaker for each teamprovides one main reason why the judges shouldvote for their position on the resolution.

5) Remember, last shotspeeches are only limited to one point!

b. Debaters and coaches shallnot exchange evidence or other materials withcontestants from other schools during a contest.

c. Each debater is responsiblefor the validity of evidence read in the debate.

d. Judges are not prohibitedfrom oral critiques and/or disclosure of theirdecision to the debaters.

e. A debater shall not receivehelp from anyone during the debate.

f. The use of computers,electronic storage and retrieval devices, etc. isallowed in rounds of Public Forum Debate.Connectivity to any person, machine, device, orserver outside the competition room or personsother than the competitors in the round is notallowed. This includes the prohibition of the useof wired or wireless local, or wide, area networks;cell phones; personal digital assistants; Palm,Treo, or Blackberry type devices; etc. Theestablishment of such a connection willconstitute a violation of this rule. Competitorsviolating this rule will be disqualified fromcompetition.

5. Matching of Teams and DrawingProcedures:

It will be attempted to allow each team todebate each side of the question three (3) timesin the preliminary rounds.

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a. There will be a randomdrawing to determine pairings for Rounds 1 and2. Subsequent preliminary rounds should bepower matched, high-low within brackets.

b. If there are at least forty (40)teams in the tournament, debaters advancing tothe octa-final round will be paired according to abracket prepared by the Tournament Committee.If there are at least eighty-five (85) teams,elimination rounds will begin with double octa-finals (top 32). If there are less than 40 teams,elimination rounds will begin with quarterfinals.

c. If in the elimination rounds,teams from the same school are necessarilypaired against each other, they may either debateto determine a winner or the coach of the schoolinvolved may designate one of the teams as thewinner of the round. Elimination brackets willnot be altered to prevent such pairings.

d. In the elimination rounds,sides will be determined by a flip of a coin,unless they have met previously. In such casesthe debaters will switch sides.

6. Advancement and Determination ofWinners: The highest-ranking teams will bepaired for elimination rounds on Saturday.

7. Ties: Speaker points will break ties.8. Judging:

a. Two (2) judges shall be usedfor each debate in the preliminaries. Asavailability permits, three (3) judges should beused in all eliminations except for the final round.Five (5) judges shall be used in the final debate.

b. Each participating school shallprovide one (1) judge per (2) teams entered aslong as the tournament is fl ighted. Eachparticipating school shall provide one (1) judgeper team entered if the tournament is notflighted.

c. Schools, which fail to providethe required number of judges in accordancewith their entries, shall be subject todisqualification of (1) Public Forum team permissing judge. Judges for Public Forum Debateshall be in the second year removed from anIll inois high school. Judges must not beaffiliated with the teams they are judging. Judgeswho competed for an out-of-state high schoolmust be high school graduates. Schools whosejudges miss individual rounds shall be assesseda $30.00 fee per round missed.

d. Each judge shall complete theballot indicating the winner debater, reason(s) forthe decision, appropriate speaker points for eachdebater, and a written critique of the debate. Thedecision as to who won the round, and thecompleted ballot, must be turned in to thetournament headquarters within fifteen (15)minutes after the end of the last final focus.

e. On the ballot, the judgesshould rank each debater 1-4 (No Ties). Inaddition, the judge should rate each speaker on ascale of 11-30. Finally, the judge needs to write abrief reason for his/her decision.

f. Judges shall not reveal theirdecisions to anyone prior to the announcementof results by the contest manager. All judges,including those who are school coaches, shall be

available for all rounds including all eliminationrounds.

g. Judges shall not conversewith anyone, other than the debaters themselves,prior to submitting their decisions for a givenround to the tournament manager.

h. Schools with teams inelimination rounds must maintain arepresentative in the tab room area until therounds have started.

i. Judges are expected to notifythe contest manager of any conflicts of interestprior to the start of competition.

E. Special Rules and Limitations:1. Use of Inappropriate Material:If, in the opinion of any judge, material

which is debated for his/her adjudication isinappropriate for public presentation by a highschool student, the judge may rank the teamdown. If, in the judge’s opinion, a debate ispersistently inappropriate or is flagrantly profaneand vulgar, he/she may stop the debate anddisqualify the students or team. In either case,the judge shall explain his/her opinion and actionin a written critique and the manager shallforward a copy of the critique to the IHSA Office.

Please Note: Material which isinappropriate for public presentation by highschool students will not be tolerated.

IHSA By-law 6.010 will be applied inthe event contestants utilize material which, uponinvestigation by the Executive Director, isdetermined to be inappropriate. By-law 6.010states:

Any violation of the IHSA Constitutionand/or IHSA By-laws, IHSA Terms andConditions, IHSA Policies and Guidelines, and/orother rules of the Association, shall be reportedto the Executive Director, who shall haveauthority to investigate all alleged violations. Thefindings of the investigation shall be made knownto the school (or schools), person (or persons),alleged to have committed violation. TheExecutive Director shall then have full authority toinvoke penalties against such school or personsfound to have committed violations. Penaltiesshall include, but not be limited to, writtenwarning or reprimand, requisite affirmationcorrective action... up to and includingsuspension and/or expulsion. Failure to take thecorrective action required by any penalty shall bethe basis for further action up to and includingsuspension and/or expulsion.

Note that these provisions includepossible penalties against the school or individualpersons found to have committed violations.This means that competitors, coaches, directors,and/or principals/official representatives may bepenalized directly for the use of inappropriatematerial in the IHSA competitions.

A debate (language or action) whichincludes symbolic or colloquial expressiondescribing or naming anything which is profaneand/or vulgar, whether or not suited to a specificcase being presented, IS ALWAYS CONSIDEREDINAPPROPRIATE!

2. Violation of Limitation Rule:If a student participates in more events

than permitted by Art. III-E, his/her school shallbe disqualified in all the events in which he/sheparticipated. If the student or his/her school wonany awards in, or as a result of, the events inwhich he/she participated, such awards must besurrendered to the IHSA Office.

3. Late Discovery of Violations:If a violation, the penalty for which is

disqualification, is not discovered until after theclose of the contest in which the violationoccurred, the following procedure shall befollowed:

a. The student, team or schoolshall nevertheless be disqualified and theviolation shall be reported to the IHSA office.


c. If the disqualified individual,team or school has won any awards, suchawards shall be returned to the IHSA Office. Anattempt will then be made to redistribute theseawards on the basis of the revised rankingrankings.


A. Damage to Property or EquipmentIf contestants or people from any school

entered in a state series are found guilty ofcarelessness or maliciously breaking, damagingor destroying property or equipment belonging tothe host school, such school shall be heldresponsible for costs incurred in replacing orrepairing such property or equipment.


a. Any media person wishing totake photographs will contact the State Finalmanager to verify arrangements to take photos atthe tournaments. Photographers are welcome totake photos in the commons area. Managers’names and information can be found on the IHSAwebsite or by contacting the IHSA Office.

b. Photography is NOT allowedin rooms while rounds are taking place, however,media personnel are invited and encouraged tosit in on rounds as spectators.

c. At all levels of IHSAcompetition, an area may be set aside forphotographs. All participating students will beinvited and encouraged to make themselvesavailable during the tournament for the OfficialIHSA Photographer as well as local mediaoutlets.

d. Results from each level of thetournament can be obtained by logging into theIHSA website and choosing the appropriateactivity. State Final results will be posted onlineas soon as possible following the tournament.

2. Managersa. May arrange an area for



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connected with a school shall be permitted to usetobacco products during the contest, eitherduring preparation times or competition.

D. Use of Inhalers:A student with asthma may possess and

use his/her medication during an IHSAcompetition under the supervision of schoolpersonnel, provided the school meets theoutlined procedures of self administration in theIllinois school code.


The possession, distribution, sale and orconsumption of alcoholic beverages areprohibited at the site and on any affiliatedproperty of any IHSA state series contest. Stateseries hosts are required to make all state seriescontest sites and any affi l iated property,including parking lots, fan accommodation areas,and other school or event venue property, alcoholfree zones on the date or dates of any IHSA event

being held at the site. Violation of this policy byan event host will subject the host to a penalty forviolation of IHSA By-law 2.020. Such penaltymay include but not necessarily be limited toprohibition against subsequent event hostingassignments. Violation of this policy by a non-hosting member school will subject the school topenalty for violation of IHSA By-law 2.020.Patrons of any IHSA state series contestdetermined to be in violation of this policy will beremoved from the premise, and law enforcementofficials will be called as warranted.

F. Special Report Forms and SAWAForms

Special report forms have been developedto facil itate schools reporting any matterconcerning high school programs that merit theattention of the high school principal. Theseforms can be used for reporting any incidents orproblems with a competitor, coach, director orspectator. The forms may also be used to reporterrors in applying rules or any phase of judgingin which a judge should immediately attempt toimprove. The SAWA Report form should be usedfor reporting any instances where a coach,director, participant, judge or spectator has donean exemplary job of Sporting A Winning Attitude.These forms can be found on the IHSA Web Siteat www.ihsa.org.

G. Responsibility for Theft or OtherLosses: The IHSA will not be responsible forloss or theft of any personal or school propertyduring the course of the contest.



X. AWARDS

Trophies shall be awarded to the Policy,Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas andCongressional Debate teams finishing first andsecond. In Policy, Lincoln-Douglas,Congressional and Public Forum Debate,medallions shall be given to the top ten (10)ranking speakers in each event after thepreliminary rounds and in Policy, Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum all other contestantswho qualify for the octa-final, quarter-final, semi-final or final rounds. In Congressional Debate, allqualifiers for the Super Congress will receivemedallions.

XI. JUDGING

Refer to the Rules of Competition for eachDebate category in Article VIII.

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Future Standardized Dates

IHSA Standardized CalendarIHSA-sponsored State Tournament Series and IHSA Sport Seasons shall be conducted on dates established in accordance with the Associates

Standardized Calendar. This calendar shall number the weeks of the year, with week one (No. 1) being the first full week of July (Sunday throughSaturday).

Speech - Individual Events 2012-13 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-16 2016-17List of Participants Due On-Line (Mon.) Jan. 28 Feb. 3 Feb. 2 Feb. 1 Jan. 30Regional Entry Mtg. (Mon.) Jan. 28 Feb. 3 Feb. 2 Feb. 1 Jan. 30Regionals (Sat.) Feb. 2 Feb. 8 Feb. 7 Feb. 6 Feb. 4Sectionals (Sat.) Feb. 9 Feb. 15 Feb. 14 Feb. 13 Feb. 11State Final (Fri.-Sat.) Feb. 15-16 Feb. 21-22 Feb. 20-21 Feb. 19-20 Feb 17-18

SPEECH – DEBATEList of Participants Due On-Line (Wed.) Feb. 27 Mar. 5 Mar. 4 Mar. 2 Mar. 1State Final (Thurs.-Sat.) March 14-16 Mar. 20-22 Mar. 19-21 Mar. 17-19 Mar. 16-18

SPEECH - DRAMA, GROUP INTERPRETATIONNOTE: The week of the state series usually revolves around Easter.List of Participants Due On-Line (Performance Title and Author Only) (Mon.) Feb. 25 Mar. 3 Mar. 2 Feb. 29 Feb. 27

List of Participants Due On-Line (Entire Cast List Due) (Mon.) Mar. 4 Mar. 10 Mar. 9 Mar. 7 Mar. 6

Sectionals (Fri.-Sat.) Mar. 15-16 Mar. 21-22 Mar. 20-21 Mar. 18-19 Mar. 17-18State Final (Fri.-Sat.) Mar. 22-23 Mar. 28-29 Mar. 27-28 Mar. 25-26 Mar. 24-25

2013-2014Note:EasterSunday is boxed.

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