Become a Member

This is what 2025-26 was like, and we expect 2026-27 will be substantially similar.              3:45 pm: Gather              4:00 pm: Prayer, devotional, announcements              4:15 pm: Main topic (alternate speech or debate weekly)              5:45 pm: Potluck dinner              6:45 pm: Secondary topic (alternate debate or speech, weekly) 7:15 pm: Clean up Fall semester During the Fall Semester, we focus on instruction on speech and debate. For speech, we cover the different types of speeches students can compete with and how to prepare. For debate, our club offers both Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas (value) debate. We help the students decide which type of debate, then split into two groups to learn how to debate.             By about the end of October, students have speeches ready to practice – whether they are still in the development stage or already polishing. Meetings then will shift to having time to practice and receive feedback. Spring Semester             Spring semester is tournament season. Our meetings are scheduled around tournaments. We end up meeting 2-3 times per month since we do not meet the week of a tournament. During club meetings, time is mostly focused on practicing speeches and receiving feedback (or watching fellow club members’ speeches and giving feedback).

We require high school age students to learn debate, ie sit in on the debate classes. We encourage them to debate at tournaments, but that is not required. If you have questions or concerns about this for your particular student, please discuss it with the Parent Board. Junior high age students can decide if they would like to learn debate. We have a room for speech-only students during debate time.

NCFCA stands for National Christian Forensics & Communication Association. NCFCA exists to challenge and equip ambassadors for Christ to communicate truth with integrity and grace. It is a Christian speech and debate league that has historically been a homeschool league. As the face of homeschooling has changed to include hybrid and online schools, the league includes basically anyone that can participate in the tournaments. Learn more about the Statement of Faith and membership here.             For our local Club members, we require that you affiliate (and pay dues) with NCFCA and participate in at least 2 tournaments per competitive season (or school year).

Most tournaments take place in the Spring Semester with a couple of opportunities added to late Fall semester. NCFCA has partitioned the nation into regions. We belong to Region 12 which is Texas south of D/FW. Region 12 typically has 3 Regional Qualifier tournaments. For competitive season 2026, there were: 1) Brenham – January 4-6, 2026, 2) San Antonio – February 19-21, 2026; and 3) Georgetown – March 26-28, 2026. In the past, other locations have been in Huntsville, Nacogdoches, and Austin. Tournaments typically run from Thursday – Saturday, 7:15am-9:30pm. Typically, the tournament schedule is not known until October.             There are also National Opens which competitors from any region can attend. We typically have one relatively near us during the week of Spring Break. Recently, they have been in Longview and Fort Worth. You can check out the opportunities throughout the nation – if you like to travel or if you have family and friends you can visit! Additionally, there are online National Opens, in case traveling is difficult.             If students advance (or “break”) at any of these qualifying tournaments, they are invited to attend the Regional Championship tournament! This year's event is in Cypress on April 30-May2, 2026.             Students can earn an invitation to the National Championship at Regionals (and a couple of other ways)! This year’s Nationals will take place in Minneapolis on June 7-13, 2026.

At first glance, 12 year olds competing against 19 year olds can seem unfair. However, the community of BVRC locally and NCFCA both regionally and nationally provides a safe place for students to develop their skills. They start out as novices and watch and learn from the older students. They are motivated to attain those skills! And, as their skills develop, they know they have to keep developing in order to win against their peers, even as the tournament season progresses. They’ve seen the other speeches and know what it takes. “Iron sharpens iron.” ~ Proverbs 27: 17             At the same time, the community is supportive of students as they grow, providing a safe place to explore new ways to communicate and even to mess up.

We often joke that it’s either the parents being dragged into this kicking and screaming by very vocal, outgoing, talkative kids, or the students being dragged into this by their parents. Studies show that people have been scared of public speaking… and parents know that it’s a skill that is helpful throughout all of life!             We encourage individual goals for each student. Some students’ goals have been that they go into the room -- and successfully give their speech using a script! That is a huge win! We have had a member with Down syndrome with unreliable speech successfully give a Duo Interpretation with his brother.             As the initial goals are met, then we gently encourage the next steps. And, the environment of our BVRC club is encouraging and supportive! It usually doesn’t take long before shy students are participating in activities.

Fall semester:              National Affiliation with NCFCA: $150              BVRC dues: $_____ Tournament Season:              To participate in BVRC, we require that senior competitors (ages 12-18)  participate in at least two tournaments.              Tournament costs vary, depending on tournament registration and travel costs. To decrease the budget, you can choose tournaments that don’t require hotel stays, either they’re drivable from home or you have friends or family to stay with – or an online tournament.              Tournament Fee schedule for 2026:              Ex. Registration for 1 student with debate and two speeches: $____

To join BVRC, fill out our membership application.             At the beginning of the school year, parents and students will each need to sign a Code of Conduct. Here’s the 2025-26 version. We expect 2026-27 will be substantially similar.             You will also need to sign a liability waiver, as per our organization’s insurance policy.

Senior competitors: Historically, this is the population our club has served. Basically, this includes anyone who can participate in NCFCA competitions, ages 12 (as of January 1, 2027) to 18 (as of September 1, 2026).             Junior Competitors: We have added a full Juniors club to our meetings. This serves ages 6-11. Younger siblings: We recognize that families often have kids with wide ranging ages! We can provide a nursery. We will design it around the families that need it in the coming school year.

BVRC is student led and parent guided. We are guided by the Parent Board of Directors (PBD). We also have a student Executive Leadership Team (ELT). We endeavor to have the students run the meetings. This provides the students with opportunities to grow in leadership skills.             Experienced students do much of the teaching, overseen by parents. We have adult leaders who coach debate. Occasionally, we have alumni competitors visit and teach or give feedback.

Emphatically, yes! BVRC is not a drop-off activity. One parent per family is required to attend club meetings.* Parents learn alongside their students – and are needed to chaperone the different rooms as we break into smaller groups. As the year progresses, parents provide valuable feedback to students as they develop their speeches.             Sometimes parents are intimidated about giving feedback, but the goal of our league and our club is to help our students develop real-world communication skills so that they can talk to real people.             Additionally, at least one parent (or designated adult) per family must attend tournaments. Tournaments function on volunteer power. Parents, especially beginners, are judges for speech and debate rounds. * An adult sibling, grandparent, or another designated adult can substitute for a parent with Parent Board approval.

NCFCA             We practice the “more than two” rule. There will be at least two adults in each room we are using for club activities.

There is no question that speech and debate takes time. And, you and your student can put as much or as little into it as fits your goals for your student. You can do the minimum to participate, or you can go all in and do 6+ tournaments a season. You can do all the research or just enough to be functional. For homeschool families, sometimes it helps to understand that the skills and content that your students will be undertaking apply to a variety of subjects and academic credits. Therefore, less time can be spent on those subjects in other contexts.