League Policies

1. In any competitive event, boundaries must exist in order to create a level playing field. These are rules that are in place to avoid a competitive advantage of any competitor over another. A confirmed violation of these rules will result in a penalty.

   1. Tournament Administration will apply a four-rank penalty to the judges’ final ranks for any competitor who has a script or notes within their view during their speech at any tournament other than a Regional or National Championship. Online competitors must announce the script use before the speech begins.
   2. A pre-show is not permitted. A pre-show refers to rehearsed blocking, synchronized movement, or additional performance prior to the beginning of the timed speech.
   3. Only feet are permitted to intentionally touch the floor at any time.
   4. Gymnastics are not permitted. Gymnastics include acrobatic-type blocking such as flips, cartwheels, leaping over people or objects, etc.
   5. Costumes are not permitted. Costumes include any item(s) worn in addition to the competitor’s tournament attire. This rule does not apply to the required visual aid(s) that may be worn during a Biblical presentation.
   6. Competitors must present their speeches center stage (or within the camera frame for online tournaments) and must not infringe on the judges’ table or personal space.
   7. Requesting verbal or physical participation (e.g., raising hand, clapping, verbal responses, closing eyes) from audience members, including judges, is not permitted.
   8. In online tournaments:
      1. Other individuals may be present during the speech but must not be intentionally visible on screen.
      2. A single, stationary camera must be used (i.e., no zooming or panning is permitted).
      3. Only audio presented live from the competitor is permitted (i.e., audio that is computer-generated, recorded, generated by a third-party, etc. is not permitted).
   9. One or more visual aid(s) of the competitor’s choice must be used during the speech.
      1. The visual aid(s) must be able to fit into a lidded box with overall dimensions (length + width + height) of up to 35 inches. The box is not required to be in the competition room but must be present at the tournament.
      2. The visual aid(s) may not be live animals, weapons (real or perceived as dangerous), electronics or battery-operated items, hazardous materials (including open flames), or substances that could be spilled and/or left behind on the floor (e.g., poured liquids, glitter, sand, etc.).
   10. All visual aids must be in the box or held in hand(s) and visible to the judges until the beginning of the speech.
   11. Singing may comprise up to 150 words of the speech.
   12. Three (3) or more single literature selections including Scripture, plays, prose, songs, or poetry must be explored to develop a biblical theme.
       1. “Single literature selection” indicates that only one selection may be used, even when published in one volume or written by the same author (e.g., a single short story or poem from a collection, an individual book of the Bible, etc.).
       2. Each selection must be separate, not woven together.
       3. Published songs from another source are only permitted if the author has included a reference to the song. (Reminder: No words may be added to a literature selection.)
   13. A minimum of one (1) selection of Scripture must be presented:
       1. A selection of Scripture is defined as one continuous biblical passage. It may span more than one book of the Bible, provided that the books are consecutive (e.g., the last verses of Titus and the first verses of Philemon may be considered one selection as they are consecutive books).
       2. Scripture selection(s) must remain unaltered. Chapter headings, commentary, and other words added by the publisher are not considered to be Scripture and must not be included in the selection(s) of Scripture.
       3. Only traditional Bibles may be used (i.e., chronological or topical Bibles may not be used).
       4. Only KJV, NKJV, ESV, NIV, or NASB translations may be used.
   14. One or more non-original, published literature selection(s) may be presented which are not Scripture.
       1. “Non-original” indicates that the literature selection is not written by the speaker.
       2. “Published” indicates a work of an author which is available to the public. Published does not include material from blogs, social media, or transcription services for audio or video recordings, radio, TV, or movies (e.g., dailyscript.com, simplyscripts.com, etc.).
   15. When cutting a non-original, published literature selection, single words from separate sentences may not be strung together to create new sentences.
   16. When cutting a non-original, published literature selection, an author’s words may not be changed except for
       1. combining phrases from several nearby sentences.
       2. repeating an author’s words even when the author does not do so.
       3. adding a single word from a nearby sentence for transition or character identification.
       4. pronoun substitution and verb tense.
   17. When cutting a non-original, published literature selection, reassigning one character’s lines to another existing character from the literature selection is permitted, but creating new characters (including changing the name and/or gender of an existing character) is not permitted.
   18. A maximum of one original selection may be presented. “Original” indicates that the selection is scripted word-for-word by the competitor.
   19. Within the original selection, published songs are permitted. A verbal citation is not required but the source of the published song must be included on the Works Cited page.
   20. Narrative sections are added to verbally mention the literature references and to allow development and cohesiveness of the theme.
       1. Up to 350 total words may be added as introduction, conclusion, and/or transitional sections. Teasers are not permitted.
       2. Scripture and literature references must be verbally mentioned immediately before the selections.
          1. Verbal references of Scripture must include the book and the appropriate range of chapter(s), and/or verse(s).
          2. Verbal references of other literature should include both title and author.
       3. Clear distinction must be made between the narrative sections and the literature selections.
       4. Original dialogue must not be assigned to characters from non-original literature.
   Share This Page