National Christian Forensics and Communications Association

The Christian Speech & Debate League, also known as the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, is a speech and debate league for Christian students in the United States. The NCFCA was established in 2001 after outgrowing its parent organization, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which had been running the league since it was originally established in 1995. NCFCA is now organized under its own board of directors with regional and state leadership coordinating various tournaments throughout the season.

NCFCA Christian Speech & Debate League
Formation1995[1]
HeadquartersMountlake Terrace, Washington, United States[2]
Websitencfca.org

Since 2001, the NCFCA seeks to provide students with the opportunity to apply and communicate their worldview with skill and clarity through competitive debate. The mission of the organization is to "challenge and equip ambassadors for Christ to communicate truth with integrity and grace." As a Christian organization, NCFCA's statement of faith is the Nicene Creed. NCFCA claims that "...their training and competition will provide a supportive opportunity for them to apply a biblical worldview to real-life issues."[3]

Structure of the organization

The NCFCA is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization. Tournaments are run by volunteers, who are usually parents, club directors, and league officials in the area. The judging pool includes parents of competitors, NCFCA alumni, and members of the community. Coaches also serve as judges on a volunteer basis. The NCFCA is governed by a board and divided into eleven regions. Each region has a regional coordinator and each state has a representative.

National Opens

Additionally, a certain number of national invitational slots are awarded each year at competitions known as National Opens. Currently, each national open awards two nationals slots for every individual speech event and debate event and four slots for moot court. These are large tournaments held mostly at colleges or large convention centers and are open to the entire nation.[4] Qualifying at a National Open tends to be more difficult than a regional qualifying tournament because of their increased size.

National opens since 2005:

  • 2005: California National Open (San Diego, CA); Colorado National Open (Colorado Springs, CO)[5][6]
  • 2006: California National Open (San Diego, CA); Tennessee National Open (Jefferson City, TN); Colorado National Open (Colorado Springs, CO)[5][6]
  • 2007: Washington National Open (Seattle, WA); Ohio National Open (Cedarville, OH); Texas National Open (Houston, TX)[5][6]
  • 2008: Virginia National Open (Virginia Beach, VA); Colorado National Open (Colorado Springs, CO); Texas National Open (Houston, TX)[5][6]
  • 2009: Texas National Open (Houston, TX); Alabama National Open (Trussville, AL)[5][6]
  • 2010: Texas National Open (Houston, TX); Massachusetts National Open (Wenham, MA); Colorado National Open (Denver, CO)[5]
  • 2011: Texas National Open (Houston, TX); Georgia National Open (Lookout Mountain, GA)[5][6]
  • 2012: Texas National Open (Houston, TX); Illinois Open (Joliet, IL); Washington Open (Spokane, WA)[5][6]
  • 2013: Alabama National Open (Montgomery, AL); Massachusetts National Open (Wenham, MA)[5][6]
  • 2014: Idaho National Open (Nampa, ID); Minnesota National Open (St. Paul, MN); North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC)[5][6]
  • 2015: North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC); Massachusetts National Open (Wenham, MA); Idaho National Open (Nampa, ID)[7][6]
  • 2016: California National Open (San Diego, CA); North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC); Oklahoma National Open (Shawnee, OK); Wisconsin National Open (Oshkosh, WI)[8]
  • 2017: Washington National Open (Spokane, WA); Massachusetts National Open (Wenham, MA); and North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC).
  • 2018: Wisconsin National Open (Oshkosh, WI) and North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC).
  • 2019: North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC).
  • 2020: North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC) and Kentucky National Open (Louisville, KY).
  • 2022: North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC).
  • 2023: North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC).
  • 2024: Online National Opens, North Carolina National Open (Black Mountain, NC), Minnesota National Open (St. Paul, MN), Idaho National Open (Post Falls, ID), Texas National Open (Fort Worth, TX)

National Mixers

National Mixers debuted in the 2017–2018 season and have been recalled for the 2022–2023 season. Mixers are competitions, now mostly online, incorporating competitors from two or more regions. They were officially known as March Mixer, because they only occurred in the month of March. As national level tournaments, they hosted moot court, but they only gave out one national championship slot in each individual event and debate event and two slots in moot court. In the first year, there were eight March Mixers, all occurring in the first two weeks of March. There was a mixer in a city inside every region except 1 and 3 (which are much smaller than the other eight regions). Because of the large number of mixers and their close proximity in time, most competitors went to only the mixer closest to their home in the first year even though they could technically attend any mixer in the country.

As of the 2022–2023 NCFCA season, there were two online Moot Court national mixers and one online national mixer. Mixers between two or more individual regions happened throughout the season, from January into March.

Competition

During the 2022-2023 season, there were roughly 38,000 speeches given, making the NCFCA the third largest national high school speech and debate league after the National Speech and Debate Association and the National Catholic Forensic League.[9]

Speech

The NCFCA offers ten individual events for speech from three categories: Platform (memorized, 10-minute speeches), Interpretation (short interpretations of written works), and Limited Preparation (impromptu or limited preparation speeches).[10] The rules for each of these events are published in the Speech Guide each season.

Competitors may only compete in five out of the ten events at a given tournament.

At qualifier tournaments, competitors compete in three rounds of speech and are judged by three judges. Afterwards, the top competitors enter into elimination rounds.

As of the 2023-2024 NCFCA season, these events are:

  • Platform: Persuasive, Informative, Digital Presentation
  • Interpretation: Duo Interpretation, Open Interpretation, Biblical Thematic, Original Interpretation
  • Limited Preparation: Apologetics, Extemperaneous, Impromptu

From 2002 to 2007 and 2013–2014, the NCFCA also provided a different Wildcard event each season:

  • The 2002–2003 Wildcard was Duo Impromptu. Two competitors would randomly draw three pieces of paper with the words for a person, place, and thing. Then they would have four minutes to prepare a five-minute skit incorporating all three nouns.
  • The 2003–2004 Wildcard was Impromptu Apologetics. It was later renamed Apologetics and has become a standard NCFCA event.
  • The 2004–2005 Wildcard was Oratorical Interpretation. The competitor would interpret a famous and/or historical speech.
  • The 2006–2007 Wildcard was Thematic Interpretation. Competitors select several pieces of literature and weave them around a common theme. Thematic interpretation became a standard event for the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 seasons but was retired in July 2011, and became a standard event again for the 2013–2014 season.
  • From 2007 to 2012, there were no new Wildcard events.
  • The 2013–2014 Wildcard was After-Dinner Speaking, a sort of humorous, persuasive or informative speech.[11]
  • The 2018–2019 wildcard event was Biblical Thematic. Competitors select several pieces of literature, including one biblical selection exceeding 300 words, and weave them around a common theme. Biblical interpretation became a standard event for the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 season.
  • The 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 wildcard event was Humorous Interpretation. Similar to Open Interpretation in both speech structure in execution, Humorous Interp. requires competitors to interpret a published literary selection with elements of humor, and allows for a self-authored introduction or conclusion.
  • The 2023-2024 wildcard was the reintroduction of Original Interpretation and the removal of After Dinner Speeches.

Debate

The NCFCA offers three types of debate: Team Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate, and Moot court.[12] The NCFCA discourages the use of overly complicated theory and extremely fast talking (also known as "spreading"), instead encouraging effective communication of complex topics.[13]

At tournaments, competitors speak in six rounds and are judged by one judge in prelimary rounds. In elimination rounds, competitors are judged by three judges and are judged by five judges in the qualifier tournament final.

  • Team Policy (TP): A policy-centered debate, with rounds typically lasting 90 minutes. Two teams of two competitors form the 'Affirmative' and 'Negative' sides to the debate, with the Affirmative arguing for a reform to the system and the Negative arguing against it. The debate is set by a resolution that is published before a season starts. The resolution for the 2023 - 2024 season states that "the United States Federal Government shall significantly reform its domestic transportation policy implemented by the Department of Transportation".[14] The resolution is voted on by competitors and alternates between domestic and international policy
  • Lincoln-Douglas (LD): A value-centered debate, with rounds lasting around 45 minutes. Two competitors form the 'Affirmative' and 'Negative' sides to the debate, with the Affirmative affirming the validity of the resolution and the Negative negating it. As in Team Policy, the debate is governed by a resolution affirming one value above another. The resolution for the 2023 - 2024 season states that "rationalism should be valued above empiricism".[14]

National Championship locations

See also

References
  1. "Global Debate Blog". Debate.uvm.edu. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  2. Archived April 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Rosa, Natalia (2020-09-09). "NCFCA Christian Speech & Debate League". ncfca.org. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  4. "Rhetoric team to participate in Texas National Open Tournament". Huntsville Item. 2 March 2008.
  5. Archived November 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Past Seasons' Results". NCFCA. Archived from the original on 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  7. "National Christian Forensics and Communications Association - NCFCA N…". archive.ph. 2014-08-19. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  8. "Current Season's Results". NCFCA. Archived from the original on 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  9. "NCFCA | Christian Speech & Debate League". ncfca.org. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  10. "Competition Results". Ncfca.org. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  11. "Speech and Debate Competition". Ncfca.org. Archived from the original on 2014-07-29. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  12. Ida Brown (9 January 2008). "Home schoolers from four states to debate at local church". Meridian Star.
  13. Archived April 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  14. Office (2022-05-10). "2022-2023 Debate Resolutions Announced | NCFCA". ncfca.org. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  15. "NCFCA Season Cancellation Notice". National Catholic Forensic League. March 21, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.

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