The Christian Speech & Debate League, also known as the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, is a

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

and

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

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 preliminary 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 3,000 students participating, making the NCFCA the third largest national high school speech and debate league after the

National Speech and Debate Association The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic Individual events (speech), speech and Competitive debate in the United States, debate organization serving middle school and high school students in the United State ...

and the National Catholic Forensic League.

Speech

The NCFCA offers ten

individual events Individual events in speech include public speaking, limited preparation, acting and interpretation are a part of forensics competitions. These events do not include the several different forms of debate offered by many tournaments. These 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). The rules for each of these events are published in the Speech Guide each season.

Debate and Moot Court

The NCFCA offers two types of debate: Team Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate, as well as

Moot Court Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In many countries, the phrase ...

. 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.
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 2024–25 season centers around reforming U.S. foreign policy towards Central America. The resolution includes input from 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 2024 - 2025 is "in combat, the use of automation ought to be valued above the use of military personnel."

References

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External links

Official NCFCA websiteOfficial NCFCA Hall of Fame
Student debating societies Homeschooling in the United States Youth organizations based in Washington (state)