The Florida Forensic League, Inc., or FFL, is a speech and debate organization offered to all schools in the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. It is the governing body for local and state speech and debate competitions in Florida, with higher-level competition under the auspices of the

National Forensic League The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school and high school students in the United States. It was formed as the National Forensic League in 1925 by Bruno Er ...

and the

National Catholic Forensic League The National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) is a speech and debate league that was formed in 1951. It is organized into regions that correspond to Roman Catholic dioceses. Member schools include both public and parochial high schools. The NCFL r ...

. The league was officially incorporated by the State of Florida on November 20, 2003, and began operations on January 1, 2004, although it existed some time before then in an unorganized fashion. Competitors in the league have been extremely successful at national tournaments.

Officers

The officers of the Florida Forensic League are:https://floridaforensicleague.org/board-of-directors/ * President - Carol Cecil * Vice President, Operations - Paul Gaba * Vice President, Communications - Brian McCanich * Vice President, Middle School - Bo Lint * Treasurer - Grant Chmielewski * Secretary - Jacob Abraham * New Team Support Specialist - Justin Weaver * Region 1 Director - Ashley Carter * Region 2 Director - David Camous * Region 3 Director - TBD * Region 4 Director - Quentin Scruggs * Region 5 Director - Kate Hamm * Region 6 Director - Sarah Botsch-Mcguinn * Region 7 Director - Melissa Losure

Events Sponsored

The Florida Forensic League offers the following events: *

Policy Debate Policy debate is an American form of debate competition in which teams of two usually advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as cross-examinat ...

* Lincoln-Douglas Debate * Public Forum Debate * After Dinner Speaking *

Duo Interpretation Duo Interpretation, or often simply called Duo Interp, or just Duo, is an official speech event of Stoa USA, the National Speech and Debate Association, the National Catholic Forensics League, National Christian Forensics and Communications Associ ...

Dramatic Interpretation Dramatic Interpretation (often shortened to "Dramatic Interp," "Drama" or just "DI") is an event in National Speech and Debate Association (and NSDA-related) high school forensics competitions. In the National Christian Forensics and Communicatio ...

Humorous Interpretation Humorous Interpretation (often shortened to "HI", or "Humor") is an event in competitive middle and high school forensics leagues such as the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association and the National Speech and Debate Associat ...

* Student Congress * Original Oratory * International Extemporaneous * Domestic Extemporaneous * World Schools Debate The Florida Forensic League also offers

Group Interpretation A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

at the regional qualifying tournaments and the Varsity State Championship.

Declamation Declamation (from the Latin: ''declamatio'') is an artistic form of public speaking. It is a dramatic oration designed to express through articulation, emphasis and gesture the full sense of the text being conveyed. History In Ancient Rome, decl ...

is also offered at the Novice State Championship.

Districts

The Florida Forensic League divides the state of Florida into six regions:FFL Regional Map
/ref> * Panhandle - includes the counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton,

Holmes Holmes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Holmes (surname), a list of people and fictional characters ** Sherlock Holmes, a fictional detective * Holmes (given name), a list of people * Gordon Holmes, a penname used by Louis Trac ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

Calhoun John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia * Calhoun, Illinois *Calhoun, Kentucky * Calhoun, Louis ...

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

, Gadsden,

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, Wakulla, Jefferson,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

, Lafayette,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, Suwannee, Columbia,

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

, Union,

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, Nassau,

Duval Duval or DuVal is a surname, literally translating from French to English as "of the valley". It derives from the Norman "Devall", which has both English and French ties. Variant spellings include: Davolls, Deavall, DeVile, Devill, Deville, Div ...

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, and St. Johns. * Timacuan - includes the counties of Alachua, Putnam, Flagler,

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

, Volusia,

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, Brevard,

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

, and

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Muscogee language, Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfa ...

. * Gulf Coast - includes the counties of

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

, Gilchrist, Levy,

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough,

Manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

, Hardee, DeSoto, Charlotte, and

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

. * Macaw - includes the counties of Indian River, Okeechobee,

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

, St. Lucie,

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

, Glades, Hendry, and Palm Beach. * Art Deco - includes the counties of

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

and Dade. * Hurricane - includes the counties of Collier and Broward.

Qualifying

To compete at the Varsity State Championship, competitors must place in the qualifying range for their district. The number of qualifiers per event is determined in proportion to the membership of each region. To compete at the Novice State Championship, competitors must:{{Cite web , url=http://floridaforensics.org/ffltournaments/novice.htm , title=Novice State Tournament , access-date=2013-04-02 , archive-date=2015-03-15 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315161758/http://www.floridaforensics.org/ffltournaments/novice.htm , url-status=dead * Be in grades 6–12. * Have fewer than 25 NFL Points at the start of the current school year. * Have competed in less than three tournaments during the previous school year. * Have never competed in the Novice State Championship before.

Championship tournaments

The Florida Forensic League offers two state championships every year: a Varsity State Championship, which is open to all competitors who qualify; and a Novice State Championship, which is open only to novices. The 2019–2020 Varsity State Championship was held February 29 and March 1 at Olympia High School in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

.
The 2019–2020 Novice State Championship was scheduled to be held April 4 and April 5 at

Cypress Bay High School Cypress Bay High School is a public high school located in Weston, Florida open for students in grades 9−12. Cypress Bay is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. The school offers 33 Advanced Placement ( AP) courses, the Camb ...

but was cancelled due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
The 2020-2021 Varsity State Championship was held March 6 & 7 2021 Virtually on Speechwire.
The 2020-2021 Novice State Championship was held April 10 & 11 Virtually on Speechwire.
The 2021-2022 Varsity State Championship was held March 5 & 6 at Apopka High School
The 2021-2022 Novice State Championship was held April 9 & 10 at Cypress Bay High School
The 2022-2023 Varsity State Championship was held March 4 & 5 at Dr. Phillips High School

LD Varsity Championship Winners and runner ups

* 2017: David Min - American Heritage; Stephen Scopa - Pembroke Pines Charter High School * 2018: Julia Wu & Ari Azbel - Lake Highland Prep (Close out) * 2019: Ethan Massa - West Broward High; Elijah Pitt - Ft Lauderdale * 2020: Roberto Sosa - Cardinal Gibbons High School; Mariana Colicchio - Pembroke Pines Charter High School * 2021: Emilin Mathew - American Heritage Broward; Prateek Seela - Lake Highland Prep * 2022: Roberto Sosa - Cardinal Gibbons High School; Sebastian Frazier - NSU University School * 2023: Ayman Badawy - Lake Highland Prep; Bryce Ownby - Olympia High School * 2024: Harris Layson & Suchita Vennam - Lake Highland Prep (Close out)

References

External links

Florida Forensic League, Inc. Website
Student debating societies Organizations based in Florida