Plano Senior High School Annual Wildcat Fall Fair Tournament

September 5-6, 2025

Dear Coaches:

“Welcome to a new chapter at Plano Senior High School! I’m Naomi Bell, the new coach, and I’m thrilled to invite you to the Fall Fair tournament, an exciting opportunity to celebrate speech and debate excellence. I would be honored to have you join us at the Fall Fair, hosted by the Plano Senior High School Speech and Debate team. This year, we will return to our own campus, Plano Senior High School at 2200 Independence Pkwy., Plano, TX, 75075. We will be offering all TFA events (using rules from the TFA Constitution) along with Poetry and Prose, using the UIL categories. In addition, we will offer a novice category in all debate events as well as a novice extemporaneous speaking category, provided we meet the minimum requirements in the varsity divisions.Please remember that TFA state points are not awarded in the novice divisions. A novice is a competitor who entered or who is entering their first NSDA format competition in the fall of 2025.

We are capping initial entries as follows: 2 for CX and WS, 4 for LD and PF, 6 for IE’s, and 10 for CD. Our entry caps are determined based on the availability of rooms. Any additional entries beyond the established caps will be placed on a waitlist. We will accommodate as many as possible at the end of the day on August 29.

The Fall Fair is likely a NIETOC qualifier (National Individual Events Tournament of Champions) in all relevant categories, but we are awaiting final approval very soon and will update when that approval is completed.

Independent Entries

We do not accept independent entries. A school coach or adult authorized by a school administrator to serve as the school sponsor must enter students to the Plano Senior High Fall Fair on Tabroom and be in attendance for the duration of the time that students are competing. Students may not register themselves and cannot be registered by parents - they must be registered by an appointed school employee.

Debate Events

All debate events will have four preliminary rounds in all debate events except Congressional debate, which will follow the TFA constitutional recommendations. We will use the TFA IQT to determine the level of elimination rounds in debate events; however, all entries with a 4-0 record will clear to elimination rounds.

Students will be able to cross-enter in Congressional Debate and individual events. Other debate events will not be allowed to cross-enter in other events.

Individual Events, Duo and Duet

Section A: IX, USX, NX, Duet, HI, PR

Section B: OO, Info, Duo, DI, PO, POI

Individual events will consist of two preliminary rounds. We will advance to semi-finals in events with entries of 25 or more.

Individual event entries may cross-enter up to 2 events per section, with the understanding that they are responsible for managing any schedule conflicts. Drop fees will be assessed if rounds are missed.

Judging Requirements

Each school will be required to provide reasonably qualified judges using this customary formula:

CX and WS Debate: One judge per two teams or part thereof.

LD and PF Debate: One judge per four entries or part thereof.

Duo, Duet and Individual Events: One judge for each 6 entries or part thereof.

We are requiring all schools to provide their first judge in all debate events. Judges provided for one debate format may be reassigned to another if conflicts arise, based on tournament needs. Other judges may be “bought out” for $200 (debate) or $150 (IEs, duo and duet)

We may use experienced varsity high school students to judge novice debate events.

We will NOT break brackets in debate events.

Our amazing booster club will provide a fantastic hospitality room for our coaches and judges as well as a concession stand for competitors.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We wish to make this tournament one of your favorites for years to come =)

Sincerely,

Naomi Bell

Head Speech and Debate Coach

Dr. Silvia Martinez

Assistant Speech and Debate Coach

Annie Chen

President