Texas Forensic Association

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Company type
Non Profit Organization
Founded1972
HeadquartersTexas
Key people
Gay Hollis, Perry Beard, Wendi Brandenburg, Jason Warren, Davy Holmes
Texas Forensic Association
Company type
Non Profit Organization
Founded1972
HeadquartersTexas
Key people
Gay Hollis, Perry Beard, Wendi Brandenburg, Jason Warren, Davy Holmes
Websitetexasforensicassociation.com

The Texas Forensic Association (TFA) is an organization that provides and regulates competition in speech and debate (forensics) for Texas high school students. The association authorizes forensics competitions nearly every weekend in Texas for the duration of the forensics season, which lasts from early August until the end of February, with the State competition typically in the first or second week of March.

The Texas Forensic Association states that its goals are:

  • to foster cooperation between the worlds of speech and theatre
  • to show the importance of speech and theatre education to the public
  • to create a forum to collaborate and solve common problems in the speech and theatre fields
  • to forward the standards of the speech and theatre activities
  • to promote cooperation and friendship among students and teachers in the organization[1]

Regions

TFA divides Texas into five regions for administrative purposes; there are no regional championship tournaments or limit on number of schools or students to qualify to the state tournament from each region. The regions are divided by area code, and there is a region representative from each region to coordinate the region's activities with the state association.

  • Region 1 covers the Texas panhandle, area code 806. The Region 1 representative is Kelsey Vincent of Bushland High School.
  • Region 2 covers Northeast Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. The area codes included are 214, 254, 469, 682, 817, 903, 940, and 972. The Region 2 representative is Reggie Chapman of Plano West Senior High School.
  • Region 3 covers South Texas, including the San Antonio and Austin metro areas. The area codes included are 210, 361, 512, 830, and 956. The Region 3 representative is Preston Stolte of Winston Churchill High School.
  • Region 4 covers East Texas. It is the smallest region and mainly encompasses the Houston metro area. The area codes included are 281, 409, 713, 832, 936, and 979. The Region 4 representative is Ian Etheridge of Jersey Village High School.
  • Region 5 covers West Texas, area code 915, 432, and part of 325. It is the largest geographical region, spanning close to 550 miles across. The Region 5 representative is Yolanda Silva of Franklin High School.[2][3]

Events offered

State qualifying events

  • Policy Debate (Cross-Examination, CX, Policy): Debate between two teams of two students on a question of policy, which remains the same for the competitive season
  • Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD, Value Debate): Debate between two students on a question of values or morality, which changes every two months
  • Public Forum Debate (PF, Ted Turner Debate, Puff, PoFo): Debate between two teams of two students in which each team accepts or rejects a position
  • Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking (Foreign Extemp, FX): A 7-minute extemporaneous speech on a foreign current events topic
  • Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking (Domestic Extemp, DX): A 7-minute extemporaneous speech on a domestic current events topic
  • Original Oratory (Oratory, OO): A 10-minute memorized speech on a topic of the student's choosing
  • Informative Speaking (Informative, INFO, INF): A 10-minute memorized speech on a topic of the students choosing with the help of non-electric visual aids
  • Humorous Interpretation (Humorous, Humor, HI): A 10-minute memorized humorous presentation of a published work
  • Dramatic Interpretation (Dramatic, DI): A 10-minute memorized dramatic presentation of a published work
  • Duet Acting (Duet, DA): A 10-minute scene from a published work, presented by a team of two students
  • Duo Interpretation (Duo): A 10-minute memorized presentation of a published work, presented by a team of two students
  • Congressional Debate (Congress, Student Congress): A mock congress session where students make speeches and motions on a set of given legislation[4]
  • World Schools Debate (WS, WSD): A style of debate popular in Australia and Asia, where teams of 3-5 debate upon a set of given motions, which center around principled value and practicality

Non-qualifying events

These events are held during the TFA State Consolation Rounds.

In addition to the events that can qualify a student to the State Tournament, some tournaments also offer:

  • Prose Interpretation: A 7-minute non-memorized presentation of a published piece of prose
  • Poetry Interpretation: A 7-minute non-memorized presentation of a published piece of poetry
  • Impromptu Speaking: A 5-minute impromptu speech on one of three topics, usually including pop culture references/ more lighthearted options that the other speaking events.

State Tournament

References

External links

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