National Christian Forensics and Communications Association
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 Logo | |
| Formation | 1995[1] |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Mountlake Terrace, Washington, United States[2] |
| Website | ncfca |
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.
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. For moot court, the judging pool includes parents of competitors and members of the community with experience in law (e.g. attorneys, judges). Coaches also serve as judges on a volunteer basis. The NCFCA is governed by a board and divided into fourteen regions. Each region has a regional coordinator and each state has a representative.
Regional Qualifiers and Regional Championship
Each region hosts three "regional qualifiers," open to all competitors competing in Lincoln-Douglas, Team Policy, and speeches, between January and April. Competitors who advance from prelimary rounds to elimination rounds at any regional qualifier earn a slot at the regional championship, usually between April and May. Each region is allocated a certain number of national slots for a debate or speech event, according to the number of competitors nationally and regionally in a given event. As of the 2023 - 2024 season, there were 800 slots given out nationally for speech, and 120 slots for debate.
Size
During the 2022-2023 season, there were roughly 38,000 students participating, 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.[3]
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).[4] The rules for each of these events are published in the Speech Guide each season.
Debate
The NCFCA offers three types of debate: Team Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate, and Moot court.[5] The NCFCA discourages the use of overly complicated theory and extremely fast talking (also known as "spreading"), instead encouraging effective communication of complex topics to lay judges.[6]
At tournaments, competitors speak in six rounds and are judged by one judge in preliminary 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".[7] The resolution includes input fro competitors and typically 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".[7]
See also
- Competitive debate in the United States
- National Forensic League
- National Catholic Forensic League
- Stoa USA
References
- ^ "Global Debate Blog". Debate.uvm.edu. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ^ [1] Archived April 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "NCFCA | Christian Speech & Debate League". ncfca.org. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- ^ "Competition Results". Ncfca.org. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ^ Ida Brown (9 January 2008). "Home schoolers from four states to debate at local church". Meridian Star.
- ^ [2] Archived April 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Office (2022-05-10). "2022-2023 Debate Resolutions Announced | NCFCA". ncfca.org. Retrieved 2023-03-18.