Upcoming Tournament:

Some of you may remember Mary Beth Baker. Mary Beth served as a coach at Loch Raven High School and previously at Loyola-Blakefield, as well as serving as our league’s Assistant Director of Speech for several years. Mary Beth served in the Speech and Debate community for many, many years.

Mary Beth died on Labor Day after a short period of time in hospice care.  Please see her obituary: https://www.ruckfuneraltowson.com/obituary/mary-beth-baker.

The Fall 2025 Coaches Meeting was held virtually on 8/21/2025.  Please find the meeting minutes attached: minutes-BCFL-August-20-2025-Coach-meeting.docx (1480 downloads ) .

As your teams prepare for competition, you should be aware of the following:

• We put into practice years ago that paired events (DUO, POL, and PF) become considered for eligibility to compete at Metros upon completion of two tournaments. All other events require three.
• JV Lincoln Douglas Debate does not use the Novice topic that is posted on speechanddebate.org. All LD debaters prepare for the current resolution found here: https://www.speechanddebate.org/topics/ but not the Novice Topic.
• Tech use policies: Since we follow the rules of the NCFL, see attached the NCFL Tech Use policies:[ download id=”681″] . Use the attached policies for any questions about what is permissible.
• The NSDA and the NCFL have different rules for each event. While the NSDA (website https://www.speechanddebate.org/ has many learning resources, the resources do not necessarily reflect the rules and formats of the NCFL events. When preparing for an event for BCFLs, be sure to read the NCFL rules, which are found here: https://www.ncfl.org/uploads/7/3/2/8/7328308/ncfl_bylaws_2024_after_fall_meeting2024_for_ncfl2025.pdf. In particular, Speech Events Definitions start on page 4, Debate Definitions start on page 9, and Student Congress is on page 12.

Invitations to each tournament will be sent by email about 3 weeks before the tournament to all coaches/sponsors. All registration takes place on Tabroom: https://www.tabroom.com/.

Lynn Banker Hanon passed away from ALS on September 24, 2023. Lynn founded the Speech and Debate Team at Marriott’s Ridge High School in 2010. Her children, Rachel and Alex, both competed in BCFL, NCFL, and NSDA tournaments around the country. Lynn is remembered as a dynamic coach who built a highly successful program from scratch. Her work as a parent-coach is legendary in BCFL, and she set the standard for program development. She retired from coaching and moved to New York after Alex graduated. She is survived by her children and her husband, Steve Hanon, and her legacy is honored by the continued success of the Marriott’s Ridge Team.

The Fall 2023 Diocesan Director Meeting was held 9/29-9/30 in Pittsburgh, PA.

AGENDAFALL2023

2023 NCFL Finance Committee Report

The 2023 Fall Coaches meeting was held (virtually) on August 24th.  See the Meeting minutes here.

The 2023 Spring Coaches meeting was held (virtually) on June 22nd.  See the Meeting minutes here.

The 2022 Fall Coaches meeting was held (virtually) on August 24th.  See the Meeting minutes here.

The Fall Coach’s meeting was held virtually on Zoom on August 24th.  See the meeting minutes here!

The Spring Coach’s meeting was held virtually on Zoom on June 10.  See the meeting minutes here!