How to Qualify for the Texas State Speech & Debate Tournament

How does Texas Speech & Debate Circuit Work?

The Texas Speech & Debate Circuit is known publicly as the Texas Forensic Association (TFA). The TFA circuit has a set of competitive tournaments that they host every year, which you can find on the TFA website. 

When and Where are TFA Tournaments?

TFA local tournaments typically occur on the weekends (occasionally including Friday) from late August through the middle of February and occur all throughout the state at venues, such as the University of Texas, Austin, Plano West High School, and Seven Lakes High School. 

What competitive events does the Texas Speech & Debate State Tournament offer?

The Texas Speech & Debate State Tournament offers the following events for competition: Congressional Debate, Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, Domestic & International Extemporaneous Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Duet Acting, Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Informative Speaking, Original Oratory, Program Oral Interpretation, Prose, and World Schools Debate.

How to Qualify for the TFA State Tournament for Each Event?

Contrary to other state Speech & Debate circuits, the qualification process for each event offered at the TFA State Tournament is the same. To qualify for the TFA State Tournament, one needs to earn twelve (12) TFA points in each event that they intend to compete at the TFA State Tournament for. 

How to Earn TFA Points

To earn TFA points, one must compete at TFA-sanctioned tournaments (linked above) and reach elimination rounds successfully to earn such points. You can find the list of points that are offered based on the tournament here. If you are competing in a Speech event, you should reference the points structure that are listed under “Individual events” as a category. As you can see, the amount of points that are offered vary from event to event, so it is important to be aware of the structure based on the tournament that you are competing at. It is also important to understand that the amount of points offered at each tournament is dependent on the amount of entries at each tournament as well, so it is important to ensure that you are planning out your competitive schedule with these considerations in mind. 

How to Prepare 

If you’ve read all the way until here, you have started to wonder: how do I prepare? There are multiple ways to do so, from running practice rounds with your teammates and other members of your community to spending countless hours revising your scripts to ensure that they are ready for competition. What’s important is that you remain consistent! 

Outside of working with your peers, receiving consistent coaching is key to success. A great option can be programs like Civic Debate Academy’s National Debate Club, which provides access to a team of students with similar goals, robust coaching, preparation materials, and practice rounds. If you want to learn more, click here!