February 2016 |A monthly publication of the National Speech & Debate Association
Dear District Leader,
Check out our World Schools Debate updates this month. Be sure to remind your coaches about Student of the Year nominations, and tell us about any specialty awards your district plans to give out this year!
WHAT'S HAPPENING
World Schools Debate District Team »All districts are allowed to qualify ONE team of three to five students to the 2016 USA World Schools Debate Invitational using the procedures outlined in the High School Chapter, Rules, and Tournament Operations Manual. The deadline for the district chair to officially name a team is May 2, 2016. Visit www.speechanddebate.org/USAinvitational to access the online form. The entry fee is $50 per student on the team. Important notes about the event this year:
Each district must provide a full-time judge available for the entirety of the competition. Districts that do not provide a full-time judge will not be permitted to enter.
This year, students do not have to be a non-qualifying entry from districts to be selected to compete for the World Schools Debate district team—any student participating at districts is eligible.
Students who attend the district tournament and qualify in a main event for the 2016 National Tournament may forgo their qualification and participate in World Schools Debate instead, if they are selected for the team by their district and have preferred it on the Single Letter of Intent form prior to the District Tournament Series. Refer to the Single Entry Letter of Intent regarding preferences in partnership events.
GET INVOLVED
Does Your District Have Our Next National Student of the Year? »Each year, six National Student of the Year finalists are chosen from the graduating seniors nominated by each district. Announce this opportunity to your coaches to recognize their amazing students by selecting a District Student of the Year! To make the process easier for you, please use the updated Student of the Year Nomination Form.
District Specialty Awards » Notifying the national office about your other district specialty award winners is easy with this simple online form. Be sure to let us know who your District Student of the Year is by April 15 to make them eligible for the national award. (P.S. It's not too late to order specialty awards for your district. Use this form to request your FREE awards today!)
DISTRICT TOURNAMENT REMINDERS
Single Entry Letter of Intent »Please remind your coaches to use the Single Entry Letter of Intent form, which clarifies double entry rules pertaining to double qualification by partners in team events.
Auto-Qualification » Each entry (individual contestant or team/pair) must indicate acceptance of auto-qualification through theSingle Entry Letter of Intent: Auto-Qualifersform prior to the entry's district competition. Accepted auto-qualifiers do NOT count against a district's quota or bonus in determining the number of national qualifiers in an event. District chairs should collect and include auto-qualifier forms when reporting district results to the national office.
Dues and Fees Collection » Schools cannot compete in the district tournament if they have an outstanding balance. Please continue to remind coaches that all invoices must be paid before the tournament. Our finance team will send district chairs balances owed two days prior to the district tournament. If a chair would like to know estimated balances due earlier than that, please emailcarol.zanto@speechanddebate.org. All schools are reminded of any outstanding balances via weekly emails. Coaches may also check their account by clicking the red dot or green dollar sign icon on their School Profile page in the Points Application. Also, please remember, any fees collected by the district chair should be remitted to the national office within 48 hours of the end of the tournament.
