2009 Invitational

James Logan High School

January 16-18, 2009

Dear Colleague,
 
James Logan High School invites you to participate in the thirteenth annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational to be held Friday, January 16 through Sunday, January 18, 2009. It is our hope that we can assist you in getting your students excited and involved in forensics while opening up the Spring 2009 forensics season with a success.
 
The tournament is held in remembrance of Dr. King and falls on his national holiday weekend. The final round of Lincoln-Douglas Debate, International Extemporaneous, and National Extemporaneous will again be Tournament of Champions qualifiers.  Please note we will not be offering Congress this year.  We may have to close registration early due to this constraint, so entries will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
 
The schedule for the tournament includes five preliminary rounds of debate and three preliminary rounds of individual events (with a break to double-octofinals in all debate events and a break to quarterfinals in individual events). California High School Speech Association rules will be used as a guideline.
 
Due to the increasing size of the tournament and space constraints, the invitational will be a varsity-only event. Please take note of the entry limits on the pages that follow. Competitors who reach octofinals in debate or semifinals in individual events will receive awards. The sweepstakes awards will be awarded to the top five schools. Speaker awards will be given to the top five competitors in Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Parliamentary, and Policy Debate. The top five Tri-athletes will also receive awards.
 
You will find the tournament schedule on this website.  The deadline for entries is Friday, January 9, 2009 before 4pm Pacific Standard Time.  You will not be refunded your entry fee for any drops after this date.  Due to the nature of this tournament, there will be absolutely no adds at registration.  We do not accept email entries.
 
Please enter your squad on Joy of Tournaments as soon as possible. We take entries on a first-come, first-served basis and the tournament will likely fill up before the official deadline. While we will make every effort to accept all entrants, it may be necessary to limit entry in some popular events. We will take as many entries as possible starting from the top of each list.
 
Schools are required to bring qualified judges. One judge will cover one of the following: two Team Debate teams, four Lincoln-Douglas debaters, or five entries in individual events. Schools are required to provide one judge for every two debate teams in elimination rounds up to one round past that school's dropping from competition. Please call if you have any questions about your judging obligations. Schools will pay a penalty for uncovered judges: $90 per uncovered Team, Parliamentary, or Public Forum Debate judge, $80 per uncovered LD judge, and $60 per uncovered IE judge. Schools will also be fined $20 per round for missed ballots. The tournament committee will resolve any disputes that arise during the tournament.
 
Registration will be at the Student Union of James Logan High School on Friday, January 18 from 3:00pm to 3:30pm. For those schools not participating in debate, registration for individual events will be on Saturday, January 19, from 8:00am to 8:30am. We strongly advise you to register on Friday if at all possible. Turn in your fees at registration.
 
We hope to make the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational a successful and exciting tournament. With your help, it will be done. We are looking forward to seeing you.
 
Sincerely,
 
The James Logan Forensics Staff