STAR Forensics students must compete in both speech and debate, for a minimum of two (3 day) qualifying tournaments. In order to be eligible to compete in NCFCA sanctioned qualifying tournaments, a competitor must be 12-18 years of age on or before January 1st of the school year in which they compete. In addition, the student must be taught at home by their parent(s) or legal guardian a minimum of 51 percent of the time. Competitors who have graduated from twelfth grade or have enrolled in a college-level degree program are not eligible; no more than 49 percent of a competitor’s education may consist of college level courses.

These students will learn the various types of speeches offered in NCFCA sanctioned competitions. Each student is required to participate in apologetics during weekly speech time.. In addition, the club requires that each student compete in one speech event of their choice, as we believe it greatly enhances debating skills. Students will be separated into breakout groups according to the event in which they are participating for the purpose of coaching and critiquing in the areas of basic presentation style, content, and organization.

Debate students will choose one form of debate to compete in for the entire season: either Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate (LD) or Team Policy Debate (TP). All students must pass the Debate Assessment Test as a prerequisite to participating in STAR Forensics. These students will learn intermediate and advanced argumentation and debate theory, develop public speaking skills, apply elementary logic, utilize research skills, and study topical information related to the current NCFCA resolution. This track will be involved in roundtable discussions, in-house debates, and critiquing sessions, and students will be separated into breakout groups according to academic understanding at various points throughout the course of the season. STAR Forensics practice rounds, brainstorming sessions and various workshops are highly recommended to encourage success at tournaments.