Sister Maureen Lawrence McDermott, I.H.M., died Wednesday, Nov. 17. She was 65.

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Here is the Agenda for the NCFL 2021 Fall Meeting.

The Fall Meeting will take place via a Zoom meeting on Saturday, September 25, 2021, beginning at Noon EDT.

We hope that all League Moderators will attend as we chart a course which will lead us to Washington DC next May.

Stay stong and stay safe!

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It is with tremendous sadness we share the news that Mr. Charles Donovan passed away on Saturday, September 11. Charles was diagnosed with a tumor in his lungs in 2016. In the years since, he has bravely battled through a series of treatments with the goal to not only get healthy, but to ensure he was back at Loyola with us as soon as he could. Charles served as Moderator for the Baltimore Diocese and hosted nationals in Baltimore in 2021. Please keep him and the Loyola-Blakefield community in your prayers.

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Now that Nationals 2021 is in the books, we can look forward to next year's tournament in Washington DC. Our DC hosts have been working hard to get the city ready for our arrival.

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Thanks to all that made the 2021 NCFL Grand National Tournament a great success. We would like to thank all speakers, coaches, and judges. Thanks to our Tab Staff and all of our Tab Chairs for working so hard over the weekend. We will see you in DC next year.

Dear Diocesan Director:

Normally we send you all your NCFL Nationals Registration materials this week. However, as you can imagine, the shift to a virtual tournament has required us to modify our schedules and procedures. We are working to have everything sent to you by Tuesday, March 23.

We can tell you that the tournament will take place from Friday, May 28 through Sunday, May 30. We are using NSDA Campus, so all registered judges and competitors MUST have linked accounts on TABROOM.com. All events will be synchronous and we expect that all events will begin on Friday night, tentatively at 6pm EDT. There simply isn't enough time in 2 days to schedule all the rounds that need to run considering the different time zones. The first elimination rounds will be held Saturday evening with the remainder of the elimination rounds through the course of the day on Sunday.

Please keep the Friday night start in mind as you begin to fill your judge quotas. Single flighting in debate events requires an increase to a 1.5 to 1 judge ratio in all debate events (LD, PF, and Policy). The speech judge ratio remains at 1 for 2. Congress judge requirements change to 1 for every 3 entries. If your league requires more than 1 congress judge, then one of the judges registered must be a qualified parliamentarian.

As we move forward, here are some important dates:

• Registration Dates
• Registration Materials Distributed to Diocesan Directors - March 23
• Diocesan Registration Due on tabroom.com - April 23
• Fees and Signature Forms must be mailed to NCFL Treasurer & postmarked - April 23
• Late Registration Deadline, or Last Day to add entries (with late fees) - April 30
• Last day to change judge pools or assignments, without a fee - May 1
• Last day to drop judges without replacement, regardless of student drops - May 14
• Last day to change competitor and judge names - May 21

Topic Submission/Release Approximate Dates
• Lincoln Douglas topic released - March 31
• Congress Legislation Due to congress@ncfl.org - April 2
• Extemp Question Submissions Due to extemp@ncfl.org - April 15
• Public Forum topic released - April 15
• Congress Legislation released - April 25
• Congress Chambers released - May 28

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We were all hoping that by May we could meet in person for NCFL Nationals in Minneapolis. However, it is clear that safety and practicality, along with local and federal guidelines, make this impossible.

The NCFL is grateful for the efforts of our Minneapolis hosts, Jason Meyer and Travis Rother, and the entire Minneapolis-St. Paul & Winona CFL Team of coaches, volunteers, and students. We are also grateful to the City of Minneapolis, the Meet Minneapolis Team, and our Convention Center and Hotel Partners for their help in fighting against the odds to try to hold an in-person event. We look forward to working with them as they prepare for NCFL 2027 in Minneapolis.

Over the next month we will be reaching out to Diocesan Moderators with changes in procedures that will allow us to create a unique, enjoyable, and competitive online National Tournament experience.

Please check the NCFL website for a preview of some of the proposed changes. The site will be updated with additional information as it becomes available,

Mike Colletti will be contacting league directors with increases to quotas. Local leagues will have the ability to use those additional allocated slots as they see fit.

To be clear, NCFL 2021 will be held over Memorial Day Weekend, just in a different format. Hope to 'see' many of you then.

Please stay safe.

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With the NCFL qualifying tournament season upon us, we want to be clear that there will be an NCFL National Tournament in May, 2021. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly clear that an in person tournament may not be viable in Minneapolis by May 2021. As such, we will most likely hold our 2021 NCFL National Tournament online using NSDA Campus and Tabroom.com. We have begun to consider changes to our usual rules and procedures that might be needed should the tournament move to an online environment. As some of these potential changes may affect your planning, we want to give you a "heads up" to enable schools and leagues to prepare accordingly.

• Qualifiers:
• Recognizing the fact that we cancelled our NCFL 2020 Tournament, if we move NCFL 2021 online, we will increase quotas to maximize opportunities for students. If the tournament is held online, then Local Leagues will have 1.5 times their usual quotas (rounding up for leagues that have an odd number of slots). Local Leagues can award those extra qualifications as they'd like. If a Local League wants to award some qualifiers to students who qualified last year, they must still meet the rules for 2021: all students must be in high school in spring of 2021; in DEC, all students must be in 9th or 10th grade in spring of 2021; pieces used in a previous academic year in any of the speech events must not be used this year; etc.
• Judge Ratios:
• To enable single flighting in LD & PF, and manageable chamber sizes in Congress, we would need to increase the judge ratios.
• Schedule:
• Rounds would start on Friday evening so that we can fit everything into the weekend, and still have Awards on Sunday evening.
• Online Platform Requirements:
• Students and judges will need Tabroom.com accounts and the ability to run the Chrome browser.

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It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce Sister Mary Patricia Plumb, SNJM A '55 completed her earthly journey this evening and has joined members of her family and other Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in heaven.

Sister was the Diocesan Director for the Diocese of Saint Petersburg since the late 1970's. She will be missed by all and will always have special place in the NCFL Community.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to Sister's family and the entire Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Community.

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Today the NCFL mourns the passing of Ron Steinhorst. Words cannot describe the loss to our League and all of those touched by this great man.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Steinhorst's family.

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The history of violence and racism that targets the Black Community has plagued our Nation for too long. Our hearts are heavy as we acknowledge and denounce the tragic, racist violence that has claimed the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others. The National Catholic Forensic League is in solidarity with all of those who suffer injustice and discrimination. We condemn anyone who acts out of hatred, bias and ignorance. We stand with those effecting change by exercising their First Amendment right to assemble and speak freely.

Our mission as a League is to provide a forum for anyone - regardless of race, color, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression - to advocate for necessary changes to promote peace, equity and justice.

American journalist Ida B. Wells wrote: "The way to right wrongs is to shine the light of truth upon them." Students and coaches must seek the truths of kindness, compassion and love. Each of us has a responsibility to speak out to encourage these values. We must use our voice to provide 'leadership through speech.'

Students and coaches can learn more about how to be a part of truth by:

EDUCATE
• Discussing Race, Racism, and Other Difficult Topics with Students
• Talking about Race
• How We Can Make Racism A Solvable Problem and Improve Policing
SUPPORT
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• The Equal Justice Initiative
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• The Leadership Conference Education Fund
SPEAK
• Sign Amnesty International's Letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
• Contact your US Senator, US Representative, and Governor
• Register to Vote

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Today as the NCFL honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S, military, our thoughts are also with those affected by COVID-19. We remember those we have lost, those that are sick, and those whose lives have been forever changed.

We are grateful to eveyone who has put their lives on the line to make life possible for the rest of us.

Our prayers will forever be with all of you and your families.

We will come through this stronger.

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While we were looking forward to greeting all of you today, Chicago 2020 was not meant to be. In fact, Illinois is still in the early stages of reopening and even modest gatherings are prohibited. We will sincerely miss seeing all of you!!

We are happy to announce that we have agreed with Mike & Bernadette Colletti, the Chicago CFL Host Committee, the Hilton Hotel group, and Conference Direct, to host NCFL Nationals in Chicago in 2024, in addition to the previously scheduled 2025. We appreciate everyone's flexibility.

Congratulations to all of your teams, especially the graduating class of 2020, and the coaches. I know this isn't the way you wanted to celebrate the end of the year, but thank you all for your efforts all year long.

Finally, a huge thank you to Barbara Fontenot for her eight years of service on the NCFL Board. We will miss honoring her in Chicago this weekend.

We hope to see all of you in Minneapolis for NCFL 2021 on May 29-30, 2021.

Please stay safe and enjoy the summer as best you can.

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After careful deliberation, the NCFL is forced to announce the cancellation of the 2020 Chicago NCFL Grand National Tournament.

As you can imagine, this is not a decision made lightly. We have been carefully watching the updated recommendations from federal, state and local authorities. What matters most is the health and well-being of our event attendees. Given the fast-changing events and most recent recommendations, it has become clear that we cannot safely hold our event on Memorial Day weekend.

We recognize for many of our coaches and students, this tournament is the culmination of countless hours of hard work and dedication. We are grateful for the efforts of our Chicago hosts, Michael and Bernadette Colletti, and the entire Chicago CFL Team of coaches, volunteers, and students. They have worked hard to have everything in place and were looking forward to seeing all of you. However, current restrictions on travel, large group gatherings, and the concerns from our competition sites made it impossible to work out a viable tournament plan. We are also grateful to the staff of the Chicago Hilton and the Palmer House Hilton for their partnership in fighting against the odds to try to put this tournament together. Ultimately, this proved impossible.

We share the disappointment felt by those who have already qualified for the tournament or have had their local qualifiers for the Grand National Tournament cancelled. We sympathize with those who will not have the chance to be recognized as a National Participant, Finalist, or Champion. We also recognize the impact on members of the Class of 2020, whose forensic careers may end in a manner unforseen just a few weeks ago. But we must acknowledge the gravity and reality of the current situation.

As we work through the ramifications of this decision, we have every expectation that the Grand National Tournament will return in 2021 to Minneapolis, MN. Planning for that tournament continues. While we cannot make up for the loss of this year's tournament, our goal is to make next year's tournament a celebration not only of Speech and Debate excellence, but of our resilience as a community. We remain committed to our inclusion and diversity initiatives and our motto of "Leadership Through Speech." We look forward to seeing you there.

The Grand National Tournament was already scheduled to return to Chicago for 2025. Since we couldn't make it to Chicago in 2020, we are working with our local hosts to return again in 2024 as well.

We also hope you will consider making an online donation to the 2020 service project recipient, Elyssa's Mission at http://elyssasmission.org and to support their efforts to provide help, support and suicide prevention programs to prevent teen suicide. Our mission to leave our host cities better than we found them is still our goal for Chicago, even without a tournament this year.

Since 1951, the NCFL has existed to offer high school students an opportunity to articulate leadership, and to seek the truth spoken in charity. This mission has not and will not change; our focus has always and will always be what is best for our students.

We pray for the safety of our students, our coaches, all their families and our nation during this crisis. Please know all of you are and will continue to be in our thoughts.

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NCFL Coaches & Directors,

While plans are still in process to host NCFL Nationals in Chicago, given the severity of the situation and latest CDC guidelines, we are adjusting our registration procedures and deadlines to conform to the most current recommendations.

We will send out the revised tournament registration and hotel reservation procedures as soon as we are able.

The NCFL recognizes the difficulty our members are experiencing, and hope you are all safe and healthy during this unprecedented event.

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NCFL Coaches & Directors,

We are keenly aware that you are following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates being sent to you from your school districts and government officials, and are wondering what the remainder of the school year holds for your team. While the status and directives in regards to COVID-19 are changing hourly, we do want to do our best to keep you apprised of the current state of affairs for NCFL 2020.

At this time, The National Catholic Forensic League 2020 Grand National Tournament will proceed as scheduled over Memorial Day weekend in May. The State of Illinois has asked all event organizers to move their meetings to May, and our usual schedule is in compliance with that order. We are hoping that the school travel restrictions are lifted by early May and we can proceed with everyone attending. That said, we are closely monitoring Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the State of Illinois, and the City of Chicago, and will continue to provide updates as the situation evolves.

Due to COVID-19 precautions, we have created a revised registration deadline, and a new refund policy for our 2020 Grand National Tournament. We hope the extra time gives you space you might need to determine Qualifiers, and get permission from schools to attend. And with the new refund policy you can register without financial risk. We will, as always, allow name changes up until the day of the tournament so you can juggle your attendees as needed.

For NCFL 2020, the following deadlines and refund guidelines will apply:

• Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - Preferred NCFL 2020 Registration Deadline
• Friday, April 24, 2020 - NCFL 2020 Late Registration Deadline - NO PENALTIES WILL APPLY
• Friday, May 1, 2020 - Last day to cancel NCFL 2020 registration with a FULL REFUND
• Friday, May 8, 2020 - Last day to cancel NCFL 2020 registration with a 50% REFUND

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The National Catholic Forensic League has been carefully following the latest updates regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

At this time, based on the latest posted CDC travel recommendations, the NCFL Grand National Tournament will be held in Chicago as scheduled. We continue to monitor updates from the CDC and federal, state, and local health organizations and will post updates on this and all other important tournament matters on NCFL.org and NCFLNationals.org.

We encourage you to check the CDC guidelines and updates at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov and follow all personal care, travel, and safety recommendations. Be well. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago in May.

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Reservations are can be made for individuals or groups through Conference Direct.

See NCFLNationals.org for more information.

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The minutes from the 2019 NCFL Fall Meeting have been posted.

2019 NCFL Fall Meeting Minutes

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As a result of rules changes from the fall meeting, the following documents have been updated on this website.

Master Ballot - Duo (2019)
Master Ballot - Dec (2019)
Master Ballot - PF (2019)
NCFL Bylaws (2019)
NCFL Constitution (2019)
NCFL Congress Manual

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Chicago, IL

This year, our hosts in the Chicago Diocese have selected Elyssa's Mission e beneficiary of the NCFL's annual service project.

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Now that Nationals 2019 is in the books, we can look forward to next year's tournament in Chicago. Our Chicago hosts have been working hard to get the city ready for our arrival. They put together the following preliminary information for the tournament.


Click here to see the presentation.

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Thanks to all that made the 2019 NCFL Grand National Tournament a great success. We would like to thank all speakers, coaches, and judges. Thanks to our Tab Staff and all of our Tab Chairs for working so hard over the weekend. Thanks to our hosts in Milwaukee for putting together an amazing weekend. Thanks to Steve Sexton and all the work he did to make Milwaukee a reality. He is missed. We will see you in Chicago next year.

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The NCFL is saddened by the loss of Steve Sexton. Steve served as the Diocesan Director of the Milwaukee League. He and his team have been working to welcome us to Milwaukee over Memorial Day Weekend. He will be greatly missed and the thoughts and prayers of the entire NCFL are with him and his family.

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Milwaukee, WI

This year, our hosts in the Milwaukee Diocese have selected Pathfinders Milwaukee to be the beneficiary of the NCFL's annual service project.

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This document covers the Internet Connectivity rules that will be in place and enforced at the 2019 NCFL Grand National Tournament in Milwaukee.

These rules supercede any rules posted elsewhere.

2019 NCFL Connectivity Guidelines

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The topic areas for the 2019 NCFL Milwaukee Grand National Tournament are as follows:

• US Legal & Constitutional Issues
• US Foreign Policy
• US Economic Policy
• Journalistic Integrity & Social Media
• Medicine, Environment, Science, Tech
• Societal Values & Ethical Issues
• International Conflict & Civil Unrest
• Foreign Economics
• Leaders of Developing Countries

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Start looking out for NCFLNationals.org. Information for Milwaukee will be available there starting on Monday, January 22nd.

Site Locations and Hotel Information will be available there, along with links to the Conference Direct Hotel Reservation Pages.

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The minutes from the 2018 NCFL Fall Meeting have been posted. We are sorry for the slight delay.

2018 NCFL Fall Meeting Minutes

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As a result of rules changes from the fall meeting, the following documents have been updated on this website.

Master Ballot - DP (2018)
Master Ballot - DUO (2018)
Master Ballot - Ext (2018)
Master Ballot - Dec (2018)
Master Ballot - OO (2018)
NCFL Bylaws (2018)
Extemp Prep Room Rules

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Once again, the NCFL is saddened by the devastation of the latest storm.

The collective thoughts and prayers of the NCFL are with all of our friends that were affected by Hurricane Michael.

Please let us know what we can do to help.

Many thanks to Steve Sexton and the Milwaukee group for the work they are doing to get everything ready for NCFL Nationals in 2019. We are confident that this tournament will be an amazing experience for all competitors, coaches, and judges.

This is the power point presentation that Steve presented at the NCFL Fall Moderators' meeting.

We are posting it here and will mirror it on the NCFLNationals website as we get closer to the tournament.

Click here to see the presentation.

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The 2019 — 2020 list of Policy Resolutions has been released.

The NCFL moderators have been asked to cast their vote and the league will then cast their vote for the topic.

NCFL Diocesan directors should have a link to survey monkey to cast the vote for their league. If they cannot access the link, they can simply email charlie4n6@gmail.com to get a copy of the link.

Here are the five topics (in no particular order)

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce Direct Commercial Sales and/or Foreign Military Sales of arms from the United States.

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its development and/or military assistance to the Republic of India.

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its constructive engagement with one or more of the following: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria.

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially change its nuclear weapons strategy.

Resolved: The United States federal government should ratify or accede to, and implement, one or more of the following: Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Trans-Pacific Partnership, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

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The collective thoughts and prayers of the NCFL are with all of our friends in the path of Florence.

We hope all remain safe. Please let us know what we can do to help.

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The 2018 Fall Meeting for NCFL Moderators will be held at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center, Friday-Saturday, Sept 28-29, 2018. Start time and agendas will be posted as they become available.

You may book rooms through this link: Hilton NCFL Fall Meeting Booking

Please send agenda items to Mike Colletti (bigmike4n6@aol.com) as soon as possible.


The meeting will run from 4:30 until 6:00 on Friday. Saturday times will be decided on Friday night.

Steve Sexton and the folks from Milwaukee have put together a number of incredible opportunities. Please see the attached PDF for a list of available activities.

Fall Meeting Activities

Payment may be made by check or credit card. Please click: http://ncflnationals.org/NCFL2019/fallmoderatorsform.html.

We look forward to seeing you in Milwaukee.

The following article should get you and your leagues excited about why Milwaukee is a great destination: WHY MILWAUKEE.

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Thanks to all that made the 2018 NCFL Grand National Tournament a great success. We would like to thank all speakers, coaches, and judges. Thanks to our Tab Staff and all of our Tab Chairs for working so hard over the weekend. Thanks to our hosts in Washington and Arlington for putting together an amazing weekend. We will see you all in Milwaukee next year.

Now that Nationals 2018 is in the books, we can look forward to next year's tournament in Milwaukee. Our Milwaukee hosts have been working hard to get the city ready for our arrival. They put together the following preliminary information for the tournament. Click here to see the presentation.

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The NSDA hopes you will join them July 28-31, 2018, for the second annual National Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. They are excited to offer a range of sessions that support their theme of Radiant Voices: Empowerment through Speech and Debate.

This year's conference will feature an NSDA Leadership Track!

There are reduced rates for NSDA and NCFL Members.

Click here for more information.

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The NCFL is saddened by the loss of Br. George Zehnle, S.M. Many of you will remember him as the coach of Chaminade High School in N.Y. He served as President of the NCFL from 1986 - 1988. He will be missed by all. Please keep him and the Chaminade community in your prayers.

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Congratulations to Past-President Catherine Luhr who recently received the Richard Gaudette Award, who through her time with the NCFL promoted service and "leadership through speech" at either a local, state or national level. Miss Luhr was honored for instituting a service project to benefit the cities where the NCFL National Tournament. She said "I started the service project and with the help of many other coaches from around the country. There are close to 5,000 people at the national championship who contributed money, food, baby items, gift cards and toiletries. The idea is to leave our national host city better than we found it."

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