2023 Spelling Bee Guide & Rules

TOURNAMENT RULES - COMMUNITY, REGIONAL & STATE

1. A minimum of two judges will be required for each local spelling contest.

2. The spelling contest will consist of 15 rounds.

3. Each team will write down their answer to each word and assign a point value (1-15). Each point value can only be used once.

4. The teams will be allowed two minutes to spell out the word, assign a point value, and write out the word. During the two minutes, teams may ask the judges for the word's part of speech and definition.

5. After two minutes, the team must slide the answer sheet to the front of the table and put down their pencils/pens.

6. A judge will come around and collect the answer sheets and read the answers aloud.

7. If the team answers correctly, they earn the allotted points. If the team does not answer correctly, they will not earn the points.

8. Repeat this process for 15 rounds. The team with the most points at the end of 15 rounds is the winning team. No team is eliminated until the 15 rounds are concluded.

9. If at the end of 15 rounds there is a tie for first, the match will become a single-elimination tournament. The teams that answer correctly in each round will move on to the next round. The teams that do not answer correctly will not move on to the next round. The last team remaining is the winning team. You must complete each round before a team is eliminated.

10. The words will be selected randomly from the provided lists by the judges.

11. The winning team from each community will advance to the regional competition in September.

12. If the winning team does not wish to advance, the second place team will advance to the regional competition.