2025 Silicon Valley Speech Tournament

Legacy (CA) - Feb 1, 2025 | Status: Closed | 10:40 PM Pacific

Tournament Time
10:40 PM Pacific

Thank you so much for volunteering as a Community Judge! Your investment of time for these students is MUCH appreciated! They value your feedback about their speeches.

Sign-up form: https://stoahub.org/tournament/silicon-valley-speech-tournament-2025/communityjudgeregistration

First Time Judging?

Here are some things you can expect. All of the following will take approximately three hours total.

1. Training

- NO experience is necessary! REALLY! Judges just need to be 18 or older and a high school graduate.
- You will go to a Judge Orientation room upon arrival; people will be available to answer any questions you might have before the round.
- You can watch a 20-minute orientation video before you come.

2. Getting ballots for the event you will judge

- Most Community Judges are brand new to this and don't have any preference for which event they judge. We will randomly assign judges to speech events on a first-come, first-served basis. If you would like to find out more about the 11 speech events we will offer, you can visit this link to read about them. Please note that we will not necessarily offer Impromptu at this tournament.
- There will usually be between 5 and 8 students in the room you will be judging, and you will receive a ballot for each individual.
- You will receive ballots sometime after you arrive--before, after, or during Judge Orientation.

3. Watch the round

- This is the fun part! You get to watch the speakers, take notes on their ballots, and enjoy their presentations!
- You will have 2 minutes in between speakers to make notes on their ballots.

4. Fill out ballots after the round

- You will take your ballots to the Judges’ Lounge to complete your comments to these students and include your ranking.

Notes:
- 3-3.5 hour time commitment
- Some parking spaces reserved for you.
- Coffee, tea, and snacks available for you!
- There'll be some times when you might be waiting to get a ballot or waiting for a student to come to the speech room.
- After you judge, we welcome you to judge another round if you are interested!

Time slots:

When you sign up, the time slots listed are for the students. However, you are needed before for training, and after for writing feedback. So here are the actual times when we will need you, as a judge:

Sat 2/1 8:00 am - Pattern A Round 1:	7:30 am - 10:30 am
Sat 2/1 12:00 pm - Pattern A Round 2:	11:10 am - 2:30 pm
Sat 2/1 2:00 pm - Pattern B Round 2:	1:10 pm - 4:30 pm
Sat 2/1 5:00 pm - Finals / Round 3:	4:10 pm - 7:30 pm

Enjoy snacks while you finalize your ballots!

Thank you so much for your consideration and your investment in the next generation of speakers!

Sign up here: https://stoahub.org/tournament/silicon-valley-speech-tournament-2025/communityjudgeregistration

Check-In: Parents must check in with their student between 7:00–7:25 AM. After confirming that both the competitor and parent judge are present, the student will be allowed to compete. After check-in, come to Ballot Push so that we can get the ballot pushed and start the tournament on time. When you can, please move your car to street parking to make room for community judges. See the Parking Map for suggestions about where to park.
Ballot Push: Plan to arrive at Ballot Push 40 minutes before each round to confirm if you are needed to take a ballot. Parent judges are essential to the success of this tournament—your willingness to judge is deeply appreciated!
Judging Commitment: Plan on judging at least three rounds, and more if possible. Ballot Push will let you know if additional judges are needed. Be prepared to:
- Judge alternating rounds or consecutive rounds, depending on the schedule.
- Be flexible and prioritize community judges who have volunteered their time, giving up your ballot if needed.
Greatest needs for Parent Judges: The 8:00 AM round and Finals.
Online Judge Orientation is available: Use this Google Form (https://forms.gle/fvaPqdiK4ixCFyHA8) to watch Stoa's 20-minute video before you come to the tournament. The Judge Orientation Team will be available to answer additional questions.
Meals:
- We do not have a set lunch break. Parents will need to eat when they are not judging, and students will squeeze meals between speeches.
- Snacks, coffee, and simple refreshments will be available in the Judges’ Lounge.
- So that you can stay on campus to judge, please pre-order meals during registration or bring your own food.

Judging Policies

If necessary, during preliminary rounds, parents may judge students from their own club under these conditions:
1. The parent has not actively coached that speech.
2. The parent does not have a personal conflict with the competitor (e.g., the competitor is their child’s close friend).
3. The parent can remain impartial throughout the round.
We strive to have three judges per preliminary round and trust parents to honestly assess their ability to judge impartially.
Final Rounds: Parents may not judge students from their own club in Final Rounds.
Judging Events: To ensure fairness and variety, parents should judge each event only once during the tournament (e.g., judge Apologetics one time, not multiple rounds).

Thank You!

Parents, your willingness to serve as judges is what makes this tournament possible. Thank you for helping us run smoothly and ensuring every student receives the feedback they need to grow!

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6

Event Details:

Date: Saturday, February 1, 2025
Location: Crosswalk Community Church, 445 S Mary Ave, Sunnyvale, CA
Parking:
- Use this Google map link for parking at the lot on Valencia Ave.
- Please note: The parking lot does not have enough spaces for both community judges and parents.
- After judge check-in and ballot push, we request that at least 1/2 of the parents move their cars to nearby streets to make room for community judges.
This is a qualifying Stoa speech tournament, hosted by Legacy Speech Club. All competitors must meet Stoa Eligibility Rules and be members of Stoa.

Postings will be here.

Student Lounge:

There will be outdoor and indoor areas available for the student lounge. Please bring awnings and camping chairs for an outdoor hangout space!

Registration:

Before registering, read info tabs on this website, including Script Submission.

Opens: Thursday, January 2, 2025 (8:00 am PT)
Closes: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 (9:00 pm PT)
Fees: $30 per speech event
- Beginning Jan. 14 at 9 am, late fees of $10 for late registration payments
- Beginning Jan. 14 at 9 am, a fee of $20 if an event is dropped, and there will be no refunds for drops.
- No refunds starting Jan. 14 at 9 am.
Meal orders due Monday Jan. 20.

Students will speak to Community and Alumni Judges:

We are actively recruiting around 100 community judges so that students have the chance to make an impact on people outside of the Stoa community. We want the tournament to run on time so that these valued volunteers aren't waiting around for rounds to start.

Please invite anyone who can serve as a judge! Judges can sign up by clicking "Community and Alumni Judges" on this website or go here: https://stoahub.org/tournament/silicon-valley-speech-tournament-2025/communityjudgeregistration

Please help our tournament run on time!

Students

Check in with a parent or responsible adult who will judge: 7-7:25 am. After 7:25 am, students risk forfeiting the first round. If you are going to be late or need to drop last minute, please text Sarah Hong at this number: (650) 996-8721‬
Get to your rooms and deliver your speeches promptly to avoid delays and keep rounds running efficiently! Don't keep judges waiting.

Parents:

Come to Ballot Push 40 minutes before rounds start, and be ready to judge at least 3 rounds! Your availability will help us start rounds on time.
Please wait at Ballot Push, because we will prioritize giving ballots to Community Judges first. We will especially need parents for the first round, when there will be fewer community judges.

Waitlists

If an event shows as waitlist-only, please register under the waitlist, and we will notify you via email if space becomes available.
We have a limited number of rooms, and will work to shuffle rooms and events based on how many students want to compete in the event.

Patterns

Students are responsible for getting to events on time. Judges will not wait more than 10 minutes for the last speech in the room.

Pattern A (updated 1/9)

Extemporaneous
Humorous Interpretation
Mars Hill
Original Oratory
Slam Poetry

Pattern B (updated 1/9)

Duo Interpretation
Expository
Open Interpretation
Persuasive
Apologetics
Dramatic Interpretation

Note: Impromptu will not be offered.

Questions:

For registration questions, email Sarah Hong legacyregistrar@gmail.com.

For other questions, email Tenny Calhoun tournament@legacyspeechclub.com.
For last minute drops or late arrivals, text Sarah Hong at (650) 996-8721‬.

Thank you!
Legacy Tournament Team