This year, there will not be a significant shake up in the Extemp Central National Points Race, which is heading into its fourth year.  The five different tiers will remain and while new tournaments have been added and some have been shifted around, the points that are offered at the tournament will not be adjusted.  Except for the case of a tournament that was just moved into the second tier, the same points structure that existed last year will remain intact.

The only major change is going to occur in how the National Team Points Race is tabulated.  In the past, it was possible for one competitor to win the National Team Points Race for their squad.  The most notable example of this is when Stacey Chen helped North Allegheny Senior High School defeat Bellarmine College Prep during the inaugural year of the National Points Race.  This year, in an attempt to make the race more of a “team” event, an extemper’s top three finishes during a season will count towards their team total.  Any finishes beyond this will not count toward their school.  For example, if an extemper were to win NFL, MBA, GMU, Yale, and Wake Forest, their finishes at NFL, MBA, and GMU would be the only ones counted because those would be their top three finishes relative to the points they earn in the National Points Race.

Here is a quick overview of the tournaments in this year’s National Points Race.

First Tier:  NFL Nationals

Second Tier: The MBA Round Robin & the Harvard National High School Invitational Forensic Tournament
Justification: Harvard is the largest extemporaneous speaking invitational of the year. Due to the size of its participation, as well as how it attracts most of the top extemp names in the country, it has been promoted into the second tier. The points structure for Harvard will be as follows:

1st         150
2nd       125
3rd        100
4th          70
5th          61
6th          50
Semi-Finalists: 35
Quarter-Finalists: 20
Octo-Finalists: 10

Third Tier: CFL Nationals, The Glenbrooks, the George Mason University Patriot Games, and the Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions
Justification: The Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions attracted more of the top extempers in the country last year. This year will see if they can keep that same level of participation intact and remain in this new spot in the National Points Race.

Fourth Tier: Yale Invitational, the Barkley Forum, and the California Invitational
Justification: Due to its size, the California Invitational will move into the fourth tier. If more schools flock back to the California Invitational that are not from California, it is possible that it could move into the third tier next year or in the near future.

Fifth Tier: The Wake Forest National Early Bird, the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational, the Florida Blue Key, the James Logan MLK Invitational, and the Schwan’s Speech Spectacular.
Justification: The addition of three new tournaments, Florida Blue Key, the James Logan MLK Invitational, and the Schwan’s Speech Spectular, offer three different geographic opportunities for extempers to earn points. All of these tournaments have a decent degree of national recognition and their turnout will determine if they remain in the National Points Race for next season.