FAQ
Students should dress conservatively and professionally. Think of it as going to a high-level job interview and not going out clubbing. One of the goals of our programs is to teach young people not only how to dress professionally, but to feel comfortable in the attire. At first, students may complain, but they do begin to understand over time.
Students should not take the opportunity to go buy a whole new wardrobe. We encourage students to borrow or wear the best that they have. How they look does matter and when they look well put together they begin to take on a new attitude. The suit is their team uniform. You wouldn’t want a basketball team to have the starters wearing tennis shoes and the reserves to be in flip-flops.
How Long Do Tournaments Last?
The Calendar of Events lists APPROXIMATE beginning and ending times of the meets.
Why Do Tournaments Last So Long?
With so many students competing in the various events, they must give their speeches two or three times in the preliminary rounds. Then, there must be semi and final rounds to determine the overall winners of the events. With one round having seven students each give a 10 minute speech, each round takes almost two hours to run. You must also factor in the scoring room figuring the ranks and paneling the rounds. Finally, we must run an awards ceremony (which is open to all parents to come and watch) to pass out all the trophies to the winners of the various events. Every effort is made to run the tournaments as quickly as possible and the team does NOT go out to eat together after tournaments and our overnight trips do NOT include trips to amusement parks or other “fun” non-speech events. Trust us, coaches don’t want to be at tournaments any longer than we have to.
How Do Students Get To Tournaments?
For tournaments in the San Gabriel Valley Area, students will need to drive themselves there or get a ride from a parent. Students drivers can NOT drive other students. For tournaments out of the area, we will generally take a bus to and from the tournament.
Can I Come and Watch My Student?
Tournaments are always open for friends and families to come and watch their students perform. All we ask is that if you watch, please stay for the entire round, watch all the students perform in the round and support them all equally, regardless of their school affiliation. It takes a lot of guts for anyone to get up and give a speech. They appreciate your support.
Why Doesn’t My Child Win More Trophies?
Each tournament might hand out anywhere between 2 and 10 trophies in each of the events. Our team alone has between 15 and 35 students in each of the events. If you add our numbers with those of the other 20 to 60 schools that compete in these tournaments, you will see that there just isn’t enough trophies to go around. In any given event, there will be students who have done speech for four years and have given thousands of speeches competing against first year competitors. It’s a tough mountain to climb. Success isn’t measured in the trophies, its measured in the progress that each individual student makes. Your students are gaining more experience and knowledge at each meet that would never be able to fit inside of some trophy. The trophies end up in a box in the attic or garage, but the experience gained will last a lifetime.