Dear Coach,

It's peak district tournament season, so read on to learn more about the qualification process and make sure your team is ready to compete! High school students who compete at the district tournament, also referred to as districts, national qualifiers, or quals, are attempting to qualify for a chance to compete at our National Speech & Debate Tournament in their main event. The National Tournament is held every June and is the largest academic competition in the world. 
HOW DOES THE DISTRICT TOURNAMENT WORK?
What is the district tournament? » The district tournament series is unique from many tournament experiences. It is called a series because many districts hold qualifying tournaments for different events on different dates. This allows students to easily participate in multiple events, which increases their chance of qualifying to Nationals. 
When is the district tournament? » Each district sets their own tournament dates and reports them to us in the fall. A district tournament calendar is available on Tabroom.com. 
Who runs the tournament? » The tournament series is run by your District Committee, which is a group of up to six individuals elected by the members of your district, and led by your district chair. Lean on your committee for guidance to help make sense of the process! To find out who's on your District Committee and access their contact information, log in to your Account page and then select this link to visit the Leadership Directory.
Who is eligible to compete? » Only member students from NSDA schools are eligible to compete. Unlike other tournaments throughout the year, students may not compete in the tournament without being NSDA members with an account and the Degree of Merit (at least 25 points in the Honor Society). Students who are currently eligible will have a check mark in that column on your team roster. 
How many students can I bring? » The number of entries (students/teams competing) afforded a school at the district tournament is limited based upon the school’s overall strength
How does strength work? A school’s total strength is equal to the top 3 active, paid coach degrees plus ALL the active, paid student degrees. Only members with an email address attached to their account can contribute to a school’s strength, so make sure your members provide an email address! An email address can be entered by a student when they sign up for an account or it can be added by an advisor or a coach with permissions when creating an account from the student roster. For an example of strength, please visit this illustrated guide

You can check your school's strength on your Account page. To determine your allotted entries based on your strength, see the chart on page 66 of the High School Unified Manual
WHAT ARE THE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS?
Students can only participate in one event at the National Tournament, which we refer to as single entry. For that reason, if a student elects to compete in multiple events in the district tournament series to increase their chances of qualifying to Nationals, they must indicate the event they would prefer to compete in at Nationals prior to the start of the district qualifying tournament. This preference is indicated on the Single Entry Letter of Intent, required as part of the registration process. 
Partnered events always take precedence; i.e., you may not leave your partner behind. If students qualify in a partner event, that event must be taken to Nationals unless both students qualify in another event. If students are double entered in two partner events (e.g., Public Forum and Duo) students must have the same partner in both events. If one partner is not able to attend the National Tournament, other partners may not be substituted, and the remaining student cannot take the other event–the partnership event will be dropped entirely.
HOW DO I PREPARE TO REGISTER? 
You'll locate your district tournament using the calendar on Tabroom.com and register as usual for a tournament. If your students aren't showing up as eligible on Tabroom.com, check the previously mentioned eligibility requirements, then please follow these steps to sych Tabroom with your NSDA Account:
  1. When logged in to Tabroom.com, select your school under Institutions from the menu on the right. If you do not see Institutions on the right, select your email at the top of the page.
  2. Next, select the Competitors tab.
  3. From the menu on the right (under NSDA Points), select Import NSDA Competitor Roster.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Import Students.
  5. Your NSDA Roster is now synced with Tabroom.com. Any time a change or add is done on the NSDA side, you must follow these steps again in order to “sync” again. Need a visual? Watch a video demonstration!
IS QUALIFYING THE ONLY WAY TO ATTEND NATIONALS?
No! There are multiple pathways. Students who do not qualify through districts can try again for their main event at the Last-Chance Qualifier or take one of their school's two allotted spots for supplementals at Nationals. Middle school requires no qualification. 
WHO CAN I ASK FOR HELP? 
We want to ensure your district tournament experience goes smoothly! Both your District Committee and the NSDA staff are available to help you navigate the tournament. If you have questions, reach out to your district chair or contact us by replying to this email or calling (920) 748-6206. 
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