Rule 3 in the Speech Contest Rulebook for 2024-2025, on page 9, gives Districts permission to make slight adjustments to which contestants advance at the Area and Division levels, based on how many clubs are in each Area, or based on how many Areas are in each Division. This has been true for many years.
District 53’s District Executive Committee (DEC) makes this determination annually at its August meeting. These rules interpretations should be applied consistently across all Divisions and Areas throughout the 2024-2025 contest season.
Here are this year’s interpretations.
Area Contests (Rule 3.B, page 9)
If an Area has four or fewer clubs, each club in that Area can send two (2) contestants for each contest to the Area Contest.
- As of this writing, this rule applies to:
- In Division A
- Area 11
- Area 12
- Area 13
- Area 15
- In Division B
- Area 21
- Area 22
- Area 23
- Area 24
- In Division C
- Area 31
- Area 34
- In Division D
- Area 41
- Area 42
- Area 43
- In Division E
- Area 55
- In Division A
If a new club charters in an Area with only four clubs in it prior to the Area Contest, the clubs in that Area are still allowed to send two contestants to the Area Contest.
Division Contests (Rule 3.B.2, p. 9)
If a Division has four or fewer Areas, each Area in that Division can send two (2) contestants for each contest to the Division Contest.
- As of this writing this rule applies to
- Division C
- Division D
In any case, only one (1) contestant in each contest will advance from each Division Contest to the District Contest.