The heart of the speech season is participation in invitational tournaments. These events are held on Saturdays in February and March. Meets typically start at 8:30 a.m. (we leave Simley at 7:00 a.m.) and end between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. Our team usually competes in up to eight meets around the metro area. At most tournaments there are thirty schools competing, with about forty speakers in each of the thirteen categories. Speakers in the various categories are divided into groups of eight or less representing different schools. The competitors give their memorized presentations to three different judges at three different times usually in three different rooms. The judges rank the speakers in terms of the quality of their performance. A tournament will offer either three rounds of competition with no final round or three rounds and then select top-ranked individuals to compete in a fourth and final round. At the conclusion of the day, ribbons, medals or trophies are awarded to outstanding speakers. Our sub-section and section meets are after school. State competition is all day on either a Friday or Saturday in mid-April. Speech is a Minnesota State High School League sponsored activity.