Affiliate for the Season
Join the NCFCA Community
Annual affiliation with NCFCA Christian Speech & Debate establishes your family as part of our league. It allows you to register for tournaments, receive league communications, and fully join in our mission to equip confident communicators and critical thinkers.
We're ready to welcome you!
We are known for our atmosphere of encouragement and support. We provide a safe place for students to make friends, express ideas, learn from mistakes, and conquer fears.
There's only one thing missing: YOU!
Join NCFCA today and unlock your own potential. Discover the transformative power of speech and debate for yourself.
Competition is such a great catalyst to learn to win graciously, to learn to lose graciously, to manage emotions—such an invaluable part of the process.
I was so impressed with the kids presenting that I came back to my wife. I said to her that we are going to do this. Not sure how we're going to do it, but we're going to try to go to every tournament because I'm so impressed with these kids.
It's not just the skills, but it's character: what do you do? How do you deal with disappointment? How do you win ethically and how do you congratulate your opponent? How do you stay friends with an opponent that really worked hard against you?
Affiliation FAQs
Who can affiliate with NCFCA?
NCFCA invites like-minded individuals, families, schools, and organizations to partner with us in achieving our mission.
How do I start or join a local club?
Local independent Speech & Debate clubs and classes invite students into a collaborative learning adventure where they can refine their ideas and hone their communication skills. By fostering community, you will provide consistency, accountability, and encouragement for your students.
Contact the NCFCA Club Support Manager for guidance and assistance in starting a club.
What credits can I award for speech and debate?
In their article, “Evaluation of High School Credits,” our friends at HSLDA write, “A one credit course typically requires one school year to complete…For courses that do not use a standard high school-level textbook, log the hours that your child spends completing the course work. One credit is approximately 120-180 hours of work…when evaluating credit, a good rule of thumb is 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 36 weeks, for a one-credit course.”
Remember to take your state requirements into account. You have several options when classifying Speech & Debate. Some may lend themselves to a particular year’s resolution:
- Physical Science (a non-lab science course, focused on a specific area of research)
- Politics and Policy (an elective course, focused on a certain policy)
- Research (an English course focused on the process of acquiring knowledge)
- Rhetoric (an English course focused on the art of persuasion)
- Debate (an elective course focused on research, logic, and rhetoric skills)
- Speech (an elective course focused on the communication of ideas)
If your student has enough credits, consider including Speech & Debate as extracurricular activities, documenting the approximate hours of participation and the skills acquired.
What are the eligibility requirements to compete?
A competitor eligible for qualifying competition must:
- Be an NCFCA Affiliate and read and abide by the NCFCA Participant Code of Conduct.
- Be no younger than 12 years old on January 1, but no older than 18 years old on September 1st, of the current competition season. Moot Court competitors who shall be no younger than 15 years old and no older than 18 years old on September 1st of the competitive season.
- Not have earned a high school diploma.
Are students with special needs able to compete?
Yes. Students with special needs or learning disabilities are encouraged to compete; however, no exceptions to tournament rules may be made.
Are students with physical limitations eligible to compete?
Yes. Students with physical limitations are eligible to compete. NCFCA will make accommodations when practical, but as NCFCA does not own its tournament locations, those accommodations may vary from tournament to tournament.
Requests for special arrangements that may affect competition must be made in advance by sending a detailed explanation of the situation to the Director of Forensics.
Must a student be homeschooled to participate?
No. A student is eligible for NCFCA competition regardless of educational method so long as all eligibility requirements are met and tournament policies and procedures are understood and affirmed. A student may take classes at a local community college, participate in a dual enrollment program, or attend a school.
May a student accumulate college credit and still be eligible?
Yes. A student is eligible for NCFCA competition regardless of educational plan so long as all eligibility requirements are met. A student may accumulate college credit through dual enrollment, CLEP-style tests, and AP courses.
May a student graduate from high school and be eligible?
No. A student who has earned a high school diploma is no longer a high school student in terms of NCFCA competition and is ineligible to compete in NCFCA tournaments.
League Policies
Understand the guidelines and regulations that govern NCFCA competitions and events. Familiarize yourself with our policies to ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for all participants.
Region Assignment
Affiliates must be associated with a region and, in some cases, a district for competition. Regions and districts are geographically assigned based on the billing address used for affiliation. Region reassignment is available for those who wish to compete in a region different than the one they are assigned. Please email the NCFCA office (Office@NCFCA.org) for region reassignment or for any questions about the process. Reassignment must be processed prior to November 1 or prior to registering for any qualifying competition. Reassignment after initial qualifying competition will not be approved.
Good-Standing Status
We resolutely assume the best in all situations regarding our affiliates, even when corrective action becomes necessary or when penalties must be enforced in competition. Generally, we are able to resolve rule violations and behavioral issues swiftly and graciously and move on without any impact on the good-standing status of our valued participants.
However, in the unlikely event that it becomes necessary, NCFCA maintains the right to revoke an affiliate’s good-standing status. The National Adjudication Team will determine when this action is warranted based on their assessment of any situation reported to them for review. The Adjudication Team may revoke an affiliate’s good-standing status for a specific period of time or permanently. Affiliation fees are not refunded for an affiliate who loses good-standing status.
An affiliate who has lost good standing status may appeal the revocation by sending a written explanation of the situation and outlining the case for appeal to the Executive Director who will confer with the National Adjudication Team and other relevant members of NCFCA leadership before rendering a final decision. The NCFCA Board of Directors may choose to review any final revocation of good standing status by its own motion or by request of the Executive Director.
In the rare event that a dispute is not able to be resolved via the aforementioned process, NCFCA and all affiliates agree that any claim or dispute arising from or related to participating in NCFCA activities shall be settled by mediation and, if necessary, legally binding arbitration in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Peacemaker® Ministries. (Complete text is available at www.Peacemaker.net.) Judgment upon an arbitration decision may be entered in any court otherwise having jurisdiction. NCFCA and all affiliates understand that these methods shall be the sole remedy for any controversy or claim arising out of this agreement and expressly waive their right to file a lawsuit in any civil court against one another for such disputes, except to enforce an arbitration decision.
Affiliating for Each Season
The primary adult who will oversee affiliation should visit the NCFCA Shop.
The process will require new and returning affiliates to agree with the following terms and conditions:
- NCFCA’s Foundational Beliefs, including
- affirming the Nicene Creed
- indicating the family’s faith tradition as protestant, catholic, orthodox, or other
- affirming our position on Scriptural Inerrancy
- affirming our statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality
- Policies and Procedures outlined in League Policies
- Participation Expectation outlined in our League Policies
- Minor Model Release Agreement
- NCFCA’s Foundational Beliefs, including
Individual Account Profiles Required
Every individual who will participate in an NCFCA event must have an individual profile with a unique and verifiable email address.
Information on how to make add and update account profiles is available on the tournament prep page.
Receiving League Communications
We have several ways of sharing league updates and important information with affiliates.
Affiliate Dashboard: When affiliates log in to the NCFCA website, they will land on the affiliate dashboard where they can view and register for competitive opportunities and access necessary affiliate-only information through the Resource Library.
Email: We regularly communicate important information, opportunities, and deadlines by email. Affiliate account holders can customize their email preferences using the Email Preferences Tab in the Manage Account screen. We use three types of email messages.
- Transactional Emails come from NCFCA.org, and at least one adult in each family must be designated to receive these emails. These messages contain regional event reminders and all information for events for which you’ve registered like payment reminders, check-in notifications, etc.
- First Party Emails will come from NCFCANews.org, and contain informational communication about national tournament opportunities, upcoming educational events, resource launches and blog articles from NCFCA leadership.
- Third Party Emails will come from NCFCAConnect.org and they contain information about opportunities offered by missionally aligned organizations like our sponsors, judging opportunities for future tournaments, and details regarding NCFCA’s presence at conventions and conferences.
Text: We send text messages, especially just before and during tournaments, with crucial and time-sensitive notifications. Please ensure the accuracy of phone numbers in all family account profiles.
Website: www.NCFCA.org. The resources page on our website includes informational articles and news about events, opportunities, and resources.