| ||||
|
4 things you need for Friday, Feb 17th: 1. Entries for both speech and debate entered online! National Forensic League January 24, 2012 To: Nebraska South Speech & Debate Coaches The Nebraska South District Qualifying Tournament for speech and will be held February 24th and 25th at Bellevue West High School, and the debate qualifier will be held at Norfolk High School on March 2-3. Below are links to the official registration sheets. Please make sure to type or print your students' names exactly as they appear on their membership card or on your official roster. This makes things easier for our committee as we fill out the NFL forms in preparation for the tournament. We're also going to use the Joy of Tournaments program to tab this year, as they have a special program set up to do NFL quals. As such, online entry will be available, but you'll still need to have the official registration sheets as well. It's also important to note who's eligible. Any student who has their NFL Degree of Merit by Friday, February 17th at midnight would be eligible. I'll check proof of membership online. Please make sure students appear as members on your roster by February 17th. Students can double enter, but that includes speech AND debate – so a student who double enters in speech cannot enter in any type of debate excluding Congress). You can enter up to 4 of any event, as long as your entry quota supports it. The number of entries you receive is based on how many members and degrees you have. If you look at the 'Membership Reports' tab on your point entry page, you can find your quotas. I strongly encourage you to fill all your slots, as we are perpetually in danger of dipping into "red status," which threatens our number of qualifiers and, indeed, our district's existence. Does that mean it's okay to bring novices to fill all your slots? Absolutely! I usually bring anyone and everyone who's eligible to fill the slots. Just remember to make sure all students you enter are members! Also – and I can't say this enough – enter your NFL points NOW! I gotta tell you, folks, it's problematic when teams don't enter their points until the last minute, and then we have to sort out who's a member and who sent what check where. I hate to put it this bluntly, but we will NOT allow teams to compete if fees are unpaid. We WILL ask for personal checks from coaches to cover outstanding fees, and we WILL cash them. On a related note, at first fees for the NFL tournament seem pretty high compared to regular season tournaments. Please remember that the district pays the judges, and these judges judge more rounds than a regular season tournament. You won't have to pay a judge to cover slots – we pay them. (Just make sure you bring them . . .) Also, please remember that coaches are required to judge a minimum of 3 rounds, and that we may need you to return on Saturday, even if your students have been eliminated. Please bring lots of judges! If you haven't had all your judges fill out a form to judge, please do so ASAP! Please have your judges complete the form online ASAP!!! The link is: JUDGE REGISTRATION. Registration Items Official entry form for BOTH Speech and Debate – Due to me Friday, February 17th (I will pick them up at Lincoln East on the 17th, if you have them completed). I'd like them on the same form, folks. We're professionals, here – sit down with your speech/debate coach long enough to figure out the entries. We have far fewer mistakes when they are both on the same form. Here's what you will need to bring with you: 1. The original registration forms – NOTE: You may download a "pre-populated" registration sheet (green sheet) from the [Entries] page of this website once you've registered your team. Don't forget signatures, titles for interp, and alternates. Just in case, here's a link to the NFL page where you can print an original: Blank Registration form. 2. Oratory copies – signed by both students and coach (max. 10% or fewer quoted words). 3. Double entry forms – filled out for anyone double entered in SOLO events. (Those who are doubled in one team event MUST attend Nationals in the team event in the event they qualify both). Here's a link to the NFL page where you can print an original. When in doubt, fill it out!: Single entry intent form. 4. All fees due. Late registration requires an extra fee of $5 for each day late or $5 per entry, whichever is smaller. No entries will be accepted after Tuesday, February 21st for speech, and Tuesday, February 28th for debate. Fees: Registration (judges' lounge) – $30/school for Speech or Debate (or $60 for both); $15 for Congress Please make sure you have reviewed the District Tournament Manual concerning entries and rules. The newest version can be accessed from the NFL website <www.nflonline.org>. Specifically look at the rules for interpretation about what you must posses at the tournament for scripts – don't risk disqualification! Schedule: Specific schedules and times for arrival will follow soon, although we currently anticipate 3:00 registration for speech with rounds beginning at 4:00. It will likely be the same for debate. I will send an update via e-mail once I've confirmed with the host schools. Counts: Please send estimates for ALL events (both speech and debate) ASAP! There are some instances where if we are close to a cutoff number, we can fill someone in to get the next higher number of qualifiers – but – we have to know about it in advance. Please try to fill as many team slots as possible – it keeps the district healthy! Teams again count as one entry this year. Judges: Remember, you do not hire your own judges for this tournament – they are hired by the district. That's why entry fees are higher for this tournament than regular season tournaments. HOWEVER, you need to find as many judges as possible and send their names to us to get hired. WE MUST HAVE MORE JUDGES! NFL Fines: If you have any outstanding fines from the NFL office they will not let you compete. Please make sure all degrees and anything you may have ordered are taken care of. They will find you! Round Setting: The committee will meet the week of the speech tournament (at a time and location to be announced) to set all preliminary rounds. If any coaches would like to help, you are welcome to attend. Extemp Topics: We are asking that each school contribute questions to a master list. The questions will be compiled and prepared both committees. You will receive an e-mail with the topic areas, and we'd like it if you would submit at least five questions. If you're gung ho, write more. We will take all we can get. Lodging: You'll receive an e-mail with a list of accommodations for both the speech and debate contest. I always encourage people to get their hotels asap! Student Congress: Congress will be Saturday, March 17th at Lincoln North Star. Bill due-dates and voting information will follow soon. In addition, judging rules for Congress HAVE CHANGED this year, and will require us all to bring judges! More on that soon. I'll have more information about arrival, parking, concessions, etc. as the tournament approaches. If you have any questions, please contact me. My e-mail is becca.hier@gmail.com. | ||||
