In Spring of 2024, the TCFL Executive Board voted unanimously to create a new award to recognize one outstanding judge each year as the TCFL Carol Goodman Judge of the Year. This award recognizes someone who goes above and beyond in service as a judge at our TCFL tournaments, providing helpful and thorough feedback that helps our students continue to grow.

Carol Goodman is a former assistant coach and longtime judge who worked at William S. Hart High School in Newhall. For decades, Carol judged at every single TCFL Tournament, offering consistently helpful and thorough feedback for students and their coaches. Many coaches have remarked that her ballots provided some of the most helpful advice and suggestions for their students that they have ever seen. In 2023, Carol relocated to Reno, NV, and while she is no longer regularly judging at our tournaments, her impact is still felt by students today. Many of the students who Carol provided feedback and mentorship to have gone on to become distinguished coaches in their own right, and cite her involvement in their speech and debate career as one of the most influential. She even still comes to judge at a tournament or two each year!

The TCFL considers the quality and quantity of remarks left on students' ballots, as well as the number of tournaments judged and overall value to their respective programs that judges provide, when determining the recipient for this award.