National Forensics League

The National Forensic League is one of two major U.S. national Organizations which direct high school competitive speech events. (The other is the National Catholic Forensic League or NCFL.)

HISTORY

Founded May 25 1925 , the NFL hosted the first national high school speech tournament in 1930 with 49 schools from 17 States . By and large the rules that governed that tournament are still in effect today providing one of the longest running national competitions for High School Students . Approximately 1 million high school students have been members of the NFL since 1925. Well over 30,000 high school students participate in NFL certified events every year. The National Tournament for 2006 will be held in Grapevine, Texas.

EVENTS

The NFL hosts the U.S. national high school forensics tournament annually in the US, attracting over 3000 high school students to compete for national honors in a wide variety of events including:

Policy Debate (Cross Examination: CX)

Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD)

Public Forum Debate (PFD) (Controversy/Ted Turner Debate)

Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking (FX or '''IX''')

Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking (DX or '''USX''')

Original Oratory (OO)

Dramatic Interpretation (DI)

Humorous Interpretation (HI)

Duo Interpretation / Duet Acting (DA)

Student Congress (Congress)

Prose Interpretation {PR or '''Prose'''} (supplemental event in National Tournament)

Poetry Interpretation {PO or '''Poetry'''} (supplemental event in National Tournament)

Extemporaneous Commentary (supplemental event in National Tournament)

Expository Address (supplemental event in National Tournament)

Impromptu Speaking (consolation event in National Tournament)

Storytelling (consolation event in National Tournament)

All the above events are NFL-sponsored events which one can compete in at the NFL National Tournament . However, those events marked as supplemental or consolation one cannot qualify in; they are events which, if pre-registered, a contestant can compete in if that contestant does not advance beyond the preliminary rounds.

Students qualify for competition in the national tournament through competition in NFL-sanctioned district tournaments. Each district sends one, two (or, rarely, more) students in each event based on the number of entrants in that event. The rules for running a district tournament are fairly complex and are explained in the National Forensic League Manual.

Districts tend to follow state boundaries, although some states have several districts. Arizona, for instance, has one district, whereas Ohio has four. The NFL website contains a list of districts.

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

During June of each year, the National Forensic League holds a National Tournament. In order to participate in this tournament, student must qualify through their home district's qualifying tournament. The competitors in this tournament are believed to be the best forensic students in the nation. Each year, the tournament is held in a different location in the United States. The location in which the tournament is held is determined through a bidding process similar to that of the Olympics .

COMPETITIVE APPEARANCE

All NFL Competitors/Coaches are required to Dress Professionally. The following are the casual appearance of an NFL Individual though in no way represent an enforced dress code:

''Young Men''

# Recommended but not required Long Sleeved Shirt:

#--- Can be worn with a Jacket

#--- Color of any choice

#--- Thoroughly Pressed

# Dress Pants Only:

#--- No jeans, shorts or crushed pants

#--- Silk, Khaki, and other Dress Pants permitted

#--- Pants waist goes no further beyond the Rear

#--- Thoroughly Pressed

# Presentable Physical Features:

#--- Hair like Features such as: Nose Hair, Beard, Moustache, and Grooming Hair are recommended but not required to be kept tamed, and to a possible minimum

#--- Competitors must have a presentable odor when competing! For other competitors sake, it is required that everyone including Judges and Coaches clean themselves before competing, judging, or coaching.

#--- Highly recommended but not required pleasing breath/mouth. This especially goes towards Debaters and Extempers since both competitors almost always use verbal language while competing and/or choosing a topic.

''Young Women:''

# 90% Of Values for Young Men Goes toward Young Women as well

#--- Blouse, skirts, or Dress Pants are permitted

#--- No female, either student or adult, is permitted to wear anything that reveals any portion of their private areas. All females must extend their blouses, skirts etc. pass their private parts.

''Coaches/Judges'':

# There are different but mindful recommendation for Coaches and Judges:

#--- Judges/Coaches are not required to dress professionally, but presentable.

#--- Judges must dress presentably for their competitors. Judges must keep their competitors in mind while cycling through their wardrobe.

#--- Coaches, whether male or female, follow the exact physical features as described with Young Men. Coaches generally judge, so they also follow the same criteria as a typical judge.

#--- Coaches and Judges have a little bit more freedom of picking out their wardrobes, but they must keep the tournament in mind, and dress presentable!

''Sponsors'':

# Though they are Hosting the Tournament, Sponsors do follow a dress code. However, it isn't as strict as their Guests. As a result, Sponsors are highly recommended to dress decently.

MEMBERSHIP

According to the National Forensic League , any participating
high school student who has attained 25 points becomes a member of the organization. However, this new member is required to pay a $10 lifetime fee. Even though membership is lifelong, one can only compete as a high school student. The lifetime ranking of an NFL member is determined by his or her Point Score, explained in the

UNIVERSITY INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE

The National Forensic League also works with the , Dramatic Interpretation , Humorous Interpretation , and Impromptu are not offered by the UIL. Those events can only be competed at District Level, National Tournaments, State Tournaments, and Regular Tournaments. Like many of the Organizations associated with the National Forensic League, UIL is a qualified Tournament. Competitors Qualify to the UIL Tournament through their Performances at Regular Tournaments. UIL Events provide a different performance than regular NFL Events within each competitor.

STATE LEAGUES

While the National Speech And Debate Tournament and the qualifying District Competitions are hosted by the NFL, most forensics tournaments during the school year operate under the auspices of other organizations. Chief among them are the state speech leagues, such as:

California High School Speech Association {Link without Title}

Florida Forensic League, Inc. {Link without Title}

Iowa High School Forensic League (Iowa also has the Iowa High School Speech Association {Link without Title} though the two bodies are independent and the IHSFL is operated directly by speech and debate coaches)

Kentucky High School Speech League, Inc.

Massachusetts Forensics League

Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association

Ohio High School Speech League

Pennsylvania High School Speech League {Link without Title}

Texas Forensic Association {Link without Title}

Utah High School Forensics Association {Link without Title}

Wisconsin Forensics Coaches Association {Link without Title}

In other states, speech is classed with other high school interscholastic competition and is overseen by the same organization as football, basketball and gymnastics such as: