• Setup:

  This status is used while the tournament is still being setup.

• Open:

  This status means tournament registration is open. Families can register for the tournament.

• Drops Only:

  This status means only registration drops are allowed. There are no new entries allowed but families can drop entries.

• Closed:

  This status means registration is currently closed for the tournament. There are no adds or drops allowed. Please contact the tournament director with any questions.

• Completed:

  This status means the tournament is completed.

Before you try to register for this tournament, PLEASE READ THIS:

Its important to remember 2 things;

For students to be able to register for a tournament, their parent must create their family profile and add their students.

Then, they need to request and be granted membership into an official Stoa club. If someone’s club does not exist in StoaHub, the club director needs to create it. 

Second, the family account must complete and pay for their Stoa annual registration. 

Once a student has joined a club, and paid for registration, they are eligible to register for tournaments.  THIS CAN AND SHOULD BE DONE PRIOR TO YOUR REGISTRATION OPENING. 

Students and parents WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REGISTER if they do not do this.

(We had a few parents try and sign up for another tournament last week and they wondered why they couldn’t enter their students. It was because a)they didn’t belong to a club, or b)they didn’t pay their annual registration. As a result, they ended up on the waitlist because they had to go back and do those things.  If you are contacted saying someone can’t register, 99% it’s because of one of those two things.)

Tournament Location

West County Assembly of God
13431 N Outer 40 Rd,
Town and Country, MO 63017

Tournament Dress Code

It is the desire of Stoa and ARCH Speech and Debate Club, hosts of this Tournament, to promote professionalism and modesty in behavior and dress for our tournaments.

Some of the specifics of Stoa's and ARCH's Big Muddy Bash Tournament Dress Code are also below:

For the duration of the tournament students must dress and remain dressed modestly, neatly, and cleanly in their tournament attire.

Competition: During competition, students must dress in professional business attire.

Gentlemen: Suits; slacks and a sports coat, with a shirt and tie, and dress shoes.

Ladies: Skirt or pant suits; slacks, skirts or dresses with jackets, and professional dress shoes. Hemlines are to be at least to the knee. Nylons are not required.

Awards Ceremony: Students must attend the awards ceremony in full competition attire.

Violations: If the competitor’s attire at any time during the tournament is deemed a violation of the dress code, the competitor will be asked to come into compliance with the dress code.

A student will not be allowed to participate in competition or awards without compliance.

Picture of Junior Dress Code Requirements

--No jacket required for Junior Boys, although they are free to wear on if they want.
--A nice dress will suffice for Junior Girls.

A Greeting from the ARCH Clubs...

We are thrilled to host the Big Muddy Bash this fall and would love for you to join us, October 10-12, 2024.

Why are our clubs named ARCH?
Obviously, we chose ARCH because of the famous landmark here in St. Louis which is the symbol of our beloved city.

ARCH also serves as an acronym and reminder of who we want to be as a Stoa Club, and who we want to be as young people in the world today:
Always
Representing
Christ
Honorably

HONOR is a core value of ours, and something we emphasize at ARCH.

Honor is a diminshing value and virtue in this world.  In ARCH we we want to uphold Honor, and specifically in the world of Speech & Debate. 

Finally, we would love to have the HONOR of your presence at our tournament!

Since this is an early tournament with many newer competitors and competitors trying new events, we are stating the categories for Apologetics and Mars Hill ahead of time.  This will limit amount of preparation a student would normally need to do to be prepared for a tournament with all categories possible.

Apologetics will be using the questions from:

• Categories 1, 2, and 3.  

Mars Hill will be using topics from:

• Current Film and Television  (last 5 years)
• Current Music
• Classic Music

Apologetics & Mars Hill questions & topics can be found - HERE

JUNIOR DEBATE GUIDELINES 2024-25

Resolved:  In U.S. History, Benjamin Franklin was more important than Thomas Jefferson.

Debate Format:
1st Affirmative Constructive - 3 minutes
CX - 1 minute (2nd Negative Speaker cross-exams 1st Affirmative Speaker)
1st Negative Constructive - 3 minutes
CX - 1 minute (1st Affirmative Speaker cross-exams 1st Negative Speaker)
2nd Affirmative Constructive - 3 minutes
CX - 1 minute (1st Negative Speaker cross-exams 2nd Affirmative Speaker)
2nd Negative Constructive - 3 minutes
CX - 1 minute (2nd Affirmative Speaker cross-exams 2nd Negative Speaker)
1st Negative Rebuttal - 3 minutes
1st Affirmative Rebuttal - 3 minutes
2nd Negative Rebuttal - 3 minutes
2nd Affirmative Rebuttal - 3 minutes
Each Team will have a total of 5 minutes of Prep time 

Rules
1. A team consists of two junior competitors. The team must not switch partners during the tournament.
2. There is an affirmative team and a negative team. The affirmative must uphold the resolution. The negative may negate the resolution and/or the affirmative's case.
3. Each team has a total budget of 5 minutes of preparation time which may be used or discarded as desired by the teams. The five minutes cover both partners of the team (i.e. if the 1st negative speaker uses all 5 minutes for his/her 1st negative constructive, then no prep time is available for any other negative speech). A debater may take prep time before any speech except the 1st Affirmative Constructive. A debater may not take prep time before a cross examination.
4. Evidence from a source must be publicly available. The evidence must be physically present on
paper and be available to the opposing team and to the judge if requested.
5. Debaters may not display props or visual aids to the judge.
6. The judge will fill out a ballot that will be given to the junior debaters after the awards
ceremony. On the ballot will be the decision about which team won the round as well as specific
feedback for each speaker.
7. No new arguments are allowed in the rebuttal speeches (see helpful hints #3).

Evidence Guidelines
• Evidence may be an article, quote, or paragraph from a book, newspaper, or online source.
• You must include the entire paragraph that your evidence is found in to make sure appropriate context is included. However, you do not have to read the entire paragraph.
• NO MANIPULATION of the evidence (cutting out or adding words or moving around sentences) is allowed.
• The source (along with credentials) and date of when the evidence was published must be included in your citation and read aloud to judge and opponents when presenting the evidence.

Helpful Hints & Explanations
1. Debate is a competition between 2 teams, each supporting their side of the resolution.  Affirmative is affirming the resolution (yes, the resolution is true). The negative team negates the resolution (no, the resolution isn’t true).
2. Constructive Speech Purpose: Constructive speeches are used to introduce and build arguments in the round and/or to respond to previous speakers.
3. Rebuttal Speech Purpose: Rebuttal speeches are used to respond to and extend existing lines of argumentation and to emphasize the most important issues in the round. No new arguments
may be presented in rebuttal speeches. New evidence, examples, analysis, analogies, etc. that support previously introduced lines of argumentation, are permitted in rebuttal speeches.
4. There will be two rounds of debate providing each team the opportunity to debate the resolution on both the Affirmative and Negative positions.
5. An older student will be present with each team to make sure the junior competitors speak in the correct order.
6. Each debate team member should bring 5-8 “cards” of evidence for both Affirmative and Negative sides of the resolutions.

a. “Tag lines” are helpful titles for each piece of evidence to sum up what the main argument or point of the evidence is.
b. Practice reading the evidence before the tournament to make sure you know how to pronounce the tricky words and understand what they mean

7. Pens, notebooks/flowpads, sticky-notes, evidence, water, and copy of these rules are allowed in the round.
8. HAVE FUN! This is a learning experience for everyone and so make sure to relax and have fun! 

Update: We recently updated the Junior Apol Questions and replaced most (9) of them with senior level Apol questions.

• We chose many of the more basic and simple Apol questions.
• This way Junior students can graduate into Seniors with some Apol Cards already completed.
• The corresponding Apol category & question number is in parenthesis at the end of each question.

Who were Jesus' disciples and why are they important?
What are the fruits of the Holy Spirit and why are they important?
What does it mean that Jesus Christ is the Messiah? Why is this important? (Cat-1/Q-9)
What does it mean to be holy? Why is this important? (Cat-4/Q-2)
What is the importance of prayer? (Cat-2/Q-10)
What are the Ten Commandments and why are they important?
What is the Gospel, and why is it the core of the Christian faith? (Cat-3/Q-6)
Can a person do enough good in their life to get into heaven? (Cat-4/Q-11)
What does it mean to forgive? Why is this important? (Cat-2/Q-5)
What is the importance of the resurrection of Jesus? (Cat-2/Q-13)
What does the inspiration of Scripture mean? Why is this important? (Cat-3/Q-3)
What does it mean that God is omnipresent? Why is this important? (Cat-1/Q-3)

Guidelines for Junior Apologetics 

In Apologetics speaking, the speaker is given two minutes to prepare a speech which defends a tenet of the Christian faith.  Apologetics should motivate students to study and articulate the core issues of their faith.

 Preparation Rules:

1.       Students prepare for Apologetics through Bible study, research, and topic organization.

2.       Each competitor should create a card file with Scripture, definitions, quotations, and any other material deemed to be helpful.

3.      Students may work together on boxes prior to the tournament, but students may not share boxes during competition. 

Presentation Rules:

1.       At least one judge in each room will be given instructions and the envelope of topics to distribute to the student.

2.       In the room, the speaker will receive three single topics from the judge, choose one, and return the other two topics before leaving the room. 

3.      A two-minute preparation time begins as soon as the student receives the topic choices.

4.      The speech must be the original work of the speaker.

5.    During prep time, the speaker may use a Bible, access card files, and write additional notes on note cards.

6.      During the speech, the speaker should use only note cards.

7.      All questions/topics will be posted on the tournament site upon registration.

8.      Apologetics judges should be sympathetic to the ideals of Stoa.

9.      Speeches should not exceed five (5) minutes. However, no student will be penalized for going over the suggested time, and there is no minimum speaking time.

 Tips:

1.       Consider a personal story, statistics, or quote to introduce your speech.

2.       Be sure and answer the specific question asked.

3.      Know what your cards say, so as not to read the entire time. 

4.      This allows for making eye contact with the judge.

Junior Impromptu

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Speaking Time: Up to 3 minute

Round 1 Topics: Questions About Food

• What is your favorite thing to put ketchup on and why?
• If you could be a food, what kind of food would you be and why?
• What is the grossest food you’ve ever tasted and
• What kind of food would you like to take a bath in?
• If you had to pick one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
• What is the best kind of food for a food fight and why?
• If you could choose any restaurant to go to, where would you go and why?
• What is the best thing you have ever eaten and why did you like it?
• Tell me about your perfect pizza.
• Where does food come from?
• Describe your perfect ice cream sundae.
• Why do you think healthier food often does not taste so good?
• Why do you think unhealthy food often does taste so good?
• What is the prettiest type of food to look at and why?

Round 2 Topics: Types of Transportation

• ·         Bicycles
• ·         Camel
• ·         Train
• ·         Skateboard
• ·         Airplane
• ·         Golf Cart
• ·         Sailboat
• ·         Dog Sled
• ·         Car
• ·         Helicopter
• ·         Truck
• ·         Speedboat
• ·         Four Wheeler
• ·         Wagon

Rules for Junior Impromptu

1.       Judges will lay out all topics on the table face down. Competitors pick three of the topics and must choose one of the selected topics on which to base their speech. After the speech, the competitor will return the two unused topics to the table and take or toss their selected topic strip, so that it is not chosen again by another competitor.

2.       Preparation time is two minutes in length and begins when competitors take the topic strips from the table.

3.      Competitors may write notes during prep time, but competitors cannot use the notes during their speaking time.

4.      No visual aids or props may be used, other than the topic strip.

5.      Competitors must state their name and topic somewhere near the beginning of their speech.

6.      Each speech should adhere to the chosen topic, while demonstrating originality and creativity.

7.      Impromptu competitors may not watch any other competitor that speaks before them. However, once they’ve competed their impromptu speech, they may watch other impromptu competitors.

8.      Speeches should not exceed three (3) minutes. However, no student will be penalized for going over the suggested time, and there is no minimum speaking time.

TO MAXIMIZE PERFORMANCE, COMPETITORS SHOULD:

1.       Try to choose a topic quickly so as not to waste any preparation time.

2.       After a competitor has figured out what they’re going to say during their speech, he/she should use the rest of their preparation time to further think about the topic and how it will be presented.

3.      Structure should be something like this: Introduction, points or ideas, and conclusion.

4.      Use Scriptures, quotes, or stories to enrich the Impromptu performance.

Time: Up to 5 minutes
Story: Published. The book must be read by the student (although student encouraged to hold it up to show pictures--think of Library Story Time!)
Rules:
1. Student will introduce the Title and Author before beginning to read.
2. Students will hold the book as they read.
3. Students may skip pages, paragraphs, etc. in order to trim a story down to the five minute time limit.
4. Students should NOT memorize the piece, but are encouraged to practice expressive reading with their voice and face conveying the message.
5. Students may sit or stand to deliver their story.
6. Does not need to be a picture book, although picture books are highly recommended.

Junior Bible Story Impromptu

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Speaking Time: Up to 3 minutes

Topics:
1. Healing of Naaman in the Jordan River
2. Tower of Babel in Genesis
3. Fall of the city of Jericho
4. The birth of Christ in the Gospels
5. Jesus turns water into wine.
6. Stephen is stoned in the book of Acts
7. Moses and the burning bush
8. The disciples arrive at Jesus's empty tomb.
9. Jesus walks on water
10. Elijah on Mt. Carmel with the priests of Baal
11. Daniel in the lions' den
12. A young Saumel (the Prophet) hears from God.

Junior Bible Story Impromptu Presentation Rules

Bible Story Impromptu allows students to learn Bible stories and give a brief, but knowledgeable summary. They will also explain why the story is important and what we can learn from it.

RULES:

1. The speaker may use a prepared note card during preparation time, but he may not use or refer to the notes during his speech. 

2. The speaker may prepare note cards in advance about the topic and bring those cards into the competition room to use during prep time. Bibles may not be used during prep time.

3. The speaker may approach the topic in any way he chooses, but the topic must be the central theme of the speech and not peripheral to it.

4. In the room, the speaker will receive three single topics from the judge, choose one, and return the other two topics before leaving the room.

5. The speaker may refer to his topic slip when announcing his topic during the speech. He/she may not write notes on the topic slip.

6. Each speech should be a fresh, original presentation, developed from one of the topics given and prepared on the spot.

7. The speaker must state his topic early in the speech and adhere to the chosen topic.

8. No audio or visual aids or props may be used.

9. No computers, Kindles, iPods, cell phones, or other electronic media devices may be used for Junior Bible Story Impromptu preparation or presentation.

10. The student must not listen to other Junior Bible Story Impromptu competitors speaking before him. The competitor may stay after he has given his speech to listen to subsequent speakers.

Preparation time – two (2) minutes.  Speaking time – three (3) minutes. No minimum time.

No student will be penalized for going over or under the suggested time.