If no one in your event had three firsts, the top scorer in the event gets a trophy. Manuscripts may be used at novice tournaments. Judges at these tournament are varsity speakers. A varsity tournament is open to all speakers. Speeches must be memorized.
Judges are college student and adults.
This system ensures that students have a chance to compete against people with similar amount of speech experience. Sign up with your coach before the announced deadline. If you are college bound, you will be applying for admission and scholarships. They are looking for students who have won interscholastic awards, who have initiative and who were active in high school. This means more than just signing up for as many clubs as you have lunches to fill.