Dear District Chair,
From my conversations with district chairs, I know that many of you are focusing on new coach engagement at your district tournament to increase or maintain your district's level. Below, I've included a couple of resources to help you involve new coaches at districts. 
Recommended Roles at the District Tournament 
Inspired by feedback from the NSDA Coaches’ Caucuses and the 2017 District Leader Survey, we have compiled a list of suggested tab staff positions broken up by recommended experience level. Offering new coaches a role at your tournament can be a great way to generate buy in and encourage them to commit to attending! This guide can serve as a resource as you strive to recruit a tab staff that represents the full range of diverse voices and viewpoints in your district. Download the guide »
Plus One Program
A Plus One Program can be a great way to use the district tournament as a recruiting method. This idea, inspired by the Time's Up Plus One Initiative and recommendations from the NSDA Coaches' Caucuses, introduces prospective members to speech and debate and helps them network with coaches from existing programs.
How it works: Identify one or two veteran coaches who are willing to lead up your Plus One Program. They are responsibile for: 
  • Inviting administrators or prospective coaches from local schools without program (see sample text below). 
  • Clearly communicating to the attendes about where to check in.
  • Personally greeting the attendees, orienting them to the event, and pairing them with someone to judge alongside or shadow observe. 
  • Thanking the attendees in person when they leave and sending a follow-up communication that expresses appreciation and welcomes questions.
  • Notifying us of an administrator’s interest if they do not have a program. We'll get in touch with them—we are here to help!
Sample Invitation Text 
Dear <Administrator/Coach Name>,
On behalf of <District name>, I wanted to personally invite you to attend our district speech and debate tournament on <Date>. This event brings together schools from <Area> including <Insert any other district schools in attendance>, as students compete to qualify for the National Speech & Debate Tournament, the largest academic competition in the world. 
Participating in speech and debate through the National Speech & Debate Association makes the following possible for your students:
  • teaches creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking
  • is a meaningful experience that assists students become college and career ready
  • provides your students to an honor society specifically for speech and debate 
I’m here to help you make speech and debate happen for your students. Better yet, there’s an entire community of educators who are willing to help mentor and support a program at <District/School Name>. (Consider listing out all schools in the area that have programs as a way of enticing them not to miss out.)
I know your district/school is committed to <Insert Details>. Here is how speech and debate can help your district/school meet that commitment: <Insert Details>. (Perhaps improve test scores, increase attendance, engage students, etc.)
I would be honored to have you see speech and debate in action as an observer or even as a judge! We will personally welcome you upon arrival and ensure that someone is available to oversee an enjoyable experience and help answer any questions you may have. 
If you are able to attend, please let me know at your earliest convenience. I know how busy your schedule is, and we can work with you to accommodate a limited availability on <Date>. Additionally, if attending our event is not feasible, I’d be happy to share other local tournament dates to see if they may better work with your schedule. 
Thank you for your consideration!  
Respectfully,
<Your Name>
Onboarding Emails 
When a coach pays their lifetime membership, we send several communications to introduce them to different aspects of our organization. As the season picks up, I know many of you are doing your own outreach to new or lapsed coaches. Feel free to borrow from or link to the messages below!
Is there another way I can help you engage new coaches at your district tournament? Email me at erik.dominguez@speechanddebate.org and let me know how.  
Sincerely,
Erik Dominguez
District Support Manager
National Speech & Debate Association
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Questions? We're here to help!  Email info@speechanddebate.org or call (920) 748-6206.
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