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2015 NSDA National Tournament The Eastern Missouri Way! Produced by the 2014-­15 Eastern Missouri District Committee 2 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT Table of Contents Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 4 Where to Get Information ................................................................................................................. 5 Before the Tournament.................................................................................................................................5 During the Tournament ................................................................................................................................5 Eastern Missouri Methods ................................................................................................................ 6 Hotel Accommodations .................................................................................................................................6 Transportation and Mutual Supervision at the Tournament...........................................................6 Coaching and Professional Development................................................................................................7 Contact Lists ......................................................................................................................................................7 To Do: Before the Tournament....................................................................................................... 8 Shortly Following the Eastern Missouri District Tournament.........................................................8 By March 27th, 2015........................................................................................................................................8 When Online Registration Opens (Usually late March) .....................................................................8 If an Alternate gets to go…............................................................................................................................................8 By May 1st, 2015 ...............................................................................................................................................9 By May 15th, 2015 ............................................................................................................................................9 By June 1st, 2015 ..............................................................................................................................................9 Practice Opportunities ..................................................................................................................................9 To Do: During the Tournament ....................................................................................................10 Saturday, June 13th, 2015........................................................................................................................... 10 Sunday, June 14th, 2015 .............................................................................................................................. 10 On-­Site Registration .....................................................................................................................................................10 Afternoon..........................................................................................................................................................................10 Evening ..............................................................................................................................................................................10 Monday, June 15th, 2015............................................................................................................................. 11 Tuesday, June 16th, 2015............................................................................................................................ 11 Morning.............................................................................................................................................................................11 Afternoon..........................................................................................................................................................................11 Evening ..............................................................................................................................................................................11 Late Evening....................................................................................................................................................................11 Wednesday, June 17th, 2015 ..................................................................................................................... 11 Thursday, June 18th, 2015 ......................................................................................................................... 12 Morning & Afternoon ...................................................................................................................................................12 Evening ..............................................................................................................................................................................12 Friday, June 19th, 2015................................................................................................................................ 12 Saturday, June 20th, 2015........................................................................................................................... 12 To Do: After the Tournament........................................................................................................13 Explaining “Registration”................................................................................................................13 Online Registration & Pre-­Registration................................................................................................ 13 On-­Site Registration .................................................................................................................................... 14 Re-­Registration for Supplemental and Consolation Events........................................................... 14 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 3 Basic Information ..............................................................................................................................15 Transportation.............................................................................................................................................. 15 To and From Dallas, Texas.........................................................................................................................................15 Between the Hotel and Competition Sites ............................................................................................................15 Dates ................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Hotel.................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Competition Locations (Venues)............................................................................................................. 16 Special Note about the Sheraton Dallas Hotel .................................................................................... 16 Costs.................................................................................................................................................................. 17 National Level.................................................................................................................................................................17 District Level....................................................................................................................................................................18 School Level .....................................................................................................................................................................18 NSDA Provided Information ..................................................................................................................... 18 Tournament Online Registration ............................................................................................................................18 Topics and Topic Areas ...............................................................................................................................................18 Specific Venues and Updates .....................................................................................................................................19 Explaining Events...............................................................................................................................20 Main Events .................................................................................................................................................... 20 Supplemental Events................................................................................................................................... 20 Consolation Events....................................................................................................................................... 21 How it Works: A Visual Approach ........................................................................................................... 22 Codes ......................................................................................................................................................23 Judging Assignments.........................................................................................................................23 Specific Rooms............................................................................................................................................... 23 Auditorium ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 What if I miss my assignment?................................................................................................................. 24 Good to Know Info for the Events:................................................................................................24 Extemp “Tub” Drop Off ............................................................................................................................... 24 Interpretation................................................................................................................................................ 24 Congressional Debate ................................................................................................................................. 24 Resources and Best Practices (A “Must-­Read” for coaches going to Nationals for the first time!) ............................................................................................................................................25 Specific Schedules (Previous Tournament Books) ........................................................................... 25 Disclosure ....................................................................................................................................................... 25 Source Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 25 My Students Keep Advancing!.................................................................................................................. 26 Finals ................................................................................................................................................................ 27 Hotel Safety and Behavior ......................................................................................................................... 27 Protect yourself! ........................................................................................................................................... 28 Your District Policies .................................................................................................................................. 28 Exhaustion ...................................................................................................................................................... 28 Friday Night.................................................................................................................................................... 29 Mentor.............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Addendums ..........................................................................................................................................29 Need More Help? ................................................................................................................................29 4 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT Introduction Congratulations on qualifying students to the 2015 NSDA National Tournament! This is quite the accomplishment – rough math would suggest that only ~4% of all competitors nationwide advance to this level! If you’re new to the tournament, know that this will be a very different experience from the traditional tournament. It’s massive – roughly 5,000 high school competitors, judges, and coaches will converge in different venues at different times. As a coach and judge, there is a chance that you, specifically, may not be with your specific students during parts of the tournament. A long-­‐standing tradition in Eastern Missouri is that we help each other out throughout the week. This guide will explain how. Eastern Missouri NSDA does not in any way run this tournament, but we do work together to help each other get through the week successfully. In short, we stop being different schools and, instead, compete at one giant team. I know that as a competitor, I loved having a wide variety of coaches to practice with and support me throughout the tournament. As a coach, I really appreciate being able to rely on my colleagues to take care of my students when I can’t be with them directly. I feel confident in saying that the veteran Eastern Missouri coaches agree! We also have a number of District traditions throughout the week of Nationals and in the weeks leading up to it. This packet (and potential additions later) are the product of a collaborative effort of the District Committee. Note that it may feel “out of order” at times or feel repetitive – know that not every coach will chose to read every page, and thus the order and repetitiveness is very intentional. If this is your first Nationals trip with Eastern Missouri, we strongly suggest you read the whole guide! At any time, feel free to email questions to me, Justin Seiwell. As District Chair, I will advocate for you to NSDA during Online Registration, answer your questions, and guide you through anything that may be confusing or difficult. I’ve attended Nationals as a student, chaperone, assistant coach, and head coach – I still learn new things each year! I am proud to be associated with Eastern Missouri – we have a fantastic system! Justin Seiwell District Chair Eastern Missouri District National Speech and Debate Association 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 5 Where to Get Information Before the Tournament A question about rules, events, or how the tournament operates? First check the 2015 National Tournament Operations Manual. This guide is available both at www.speechadndebate.org and on http://eastmonfl.weebly.com. A question about registration? First contact Justin Seiwell – [email protected] A question about lodging? Contact Randy Pierce [email protected] A question about topics, venues, etc. Check out: www.speechanddebate.org/nationals Need more help? Check the Nationals page on http://eastmonfl.weebly.com. OR, email Justin! During the Tournament A question about rules, potential rule violations, or a tournament complaint? Find the Ombudsman Room at any of the competition venues A question about Eastern MO stuff or something that probably doesn’t warrant a visit to the Ombudsman? Contact Justin Seiwell – 636-­‐686-­‐0577 General NSDA Updates Follow @speechanddebate on Twitter! General Eastern Missouri Updates Follow @EastMO_NFL on Twitter! 6 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT Eastern Missouri Methods Eastern Missouri is unique in the way in which we support each other before and during the tournament. This occurs in three main ways: Hotel Accommodations Eastern Missouri NSDA reserves a block of rooms roughly a year in advance. After we know our qualifiers, students will be grouped so that roughly four share a room for the week. Coaches will also partner up for the week. This system saves money and provides for additional support during the tournament. Eastern Missouri NSDA also pays for all of the rooms up front. Schools will receive an invoice from Eastern Missouri for the cost of lodging. This is usually available by the end of March. Transportation and Mutual Supervision at the Tournament On the Sunday and Tuesday evenings of the tournament, all coaches will meet in the hotel lobby (or close by) and split up the students with chaperones. For example, one coach may be judging the two preliminary days of Congressional Debate. He or she may transport the five Congress qualifiers to and from the competition venue. This is beneficial in multiple ways: • Students are supervised throughout the day in accordance to MSHSAA and most school district guidelines. • Students and coaches get a bit more sleep in the mornings, since a coach won’t have to make multiple stops to drop off students in the morning. • The chaperones can be a direct line of communication for coaches whose students may have their phones off or silenced. Realizing that most schools create their own permission forms for their students to be transported by coaches and chaperones from other schools, the Eastern Missouri NSDA is providing a standard permission form for all schools to use. The form requests basic medical information and includes a clause for the parent to authorize both the coach to seek medical attention in the event of an emergency and emergency medical personnel to treat if necessary. These forms do NOT replace the standard medical release of an individual school district. However, they will be handed to the chaperones to carry with them while with a particular student. At the end of the tournament, they will be collected and destroyed. Special thanks to James Frazier for helping create this form with his legal expertise! Special Note for 2015: Most competition will take place in the same hotel (details later). Thus, the transportation release aspect of the form may not be necessary this year. 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 7 However, we will still request their use, as the medical information is helpful AND groups of students may still be transported by various Eastern Missouri coaches for meals, sight-­‐
seeing, the Tuesday night posting party, etc. Coaching and Professional Development Following the MSHSAA State Tournament, schools are welcome to practice with each other. No conflict of interest exists – Eastern Missouri will not compete against itself at Nationals unless its in finals or, if unavoidable, semifinals. Traditionally we host a day or two of practice at various high schools the week prior to Nationals. At the tournament itself, coaches usually work with students from various schools. During this process, we as educators have a positive influence on more young lives (isn’t that our goal?!) and we learn coaching strategies from each other! This really is the best PLC you can find. Contact Lists Shortly before the tournament, each school will be asked to provide a cell phone number for each of its chaperones. These will be compiled onto one sheet and provided to each student on the trip. Why? They now have ~20 different emergency contacts! No chaperone is required to provide a cell phone, but it is in the best interests of the students. A Tip: If you don’t want your personal cell phone number out there, consider obtaining a temporary number or utilize one of the many free routing services. Your District Chair has used Google Voice for four years as the primary number he gives his students – it tracks calls in and out, can receive and send texts, and can used through your smart phone, tablet, computer, or even a standard cell phone (though the features are limited in this case). No one needs to see your personal number AND you can set the number to block incoming communication at any time. This is GREAT during the school year! Student Cell Phone Numbers will be compiled through the Medical Release forms. These will be placed on one spreadsheet. All medical forms and contact lists will be available through a password protected Google Folder and on paper in a sealed envelope provided at the beginning of the tournament. This is to provide coaches ample access to information while simultaneously protecting the privacy of students. 8 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT To Do: Before the Tournament Shortly Following the Eastern Missouri District Tournament 1. Confirm with your students that they can attend the National Tournament. Notify Justin Seiwell ASAP if they cannot or if they’re “teetering” between Nats and something else. a. If they know they can’t attend, we’ll notify the coach of the next-­‐in-­‐line and have them start getting their student(s) ready. b. If they’re teetering and still unsure, we’ll notify the coach but not the student that’s next-­‐in-­‐line so they can consider different situations for lodging costs and transportation logistics. 2. Talk to your qualifiers about Supplemental and Consolation Events. 3. You’ll get an email when qualifiers are “confirmed” by NSDA (they are the one’s that officially finalize the results of the tournament) and then another when NSDA opens registration. 4. Start arranging transportation and funding. By March 27th, 2015 1. Officially confirm to Justin Seiwell that your qualifiers are attending and which coaches/chaperones will be attending. This allows us to get your lodging invoices out faster. 2. Notify Justin Seiwell if your school does not plan to lodge in the Eastern Missouri block. When Online Registration Opens (Usually late March) 1. Register your students online completely. Instructions will be sent to you. In 2015, because all competition is in one venue, the NSDA is encouraging you to also pre-­order box lunches during registration! This will make obtaining food MUCH faster for you and your students! 2. Register your judges online completely. 3. Obtain your NSDA Entry Fee invoice from NSDA and process for payment (or pay online). 4. Download the signature packets (photo release and principal signature), obtain signatures, and mail to NSDA. Postmark deadline: May 1st, 2015. 5. If paying NSDA by check, that should be sent with your materials and postmarked by May 1st, 2015. If an Alternate gets to go… NSDA will, eventually, automatically notify the District Chair and the next-­‐in-­‐line coach. YOU HAVE SEVEN DAYS TO CONFIRM THE ALTERNATE. If you do not confirm within 7 days, NSDA will automatically move on to the next alternate. 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 9 By May 1st, 2015 TOPICS ARE RELEASED TODAY! (Except legislation – May 10th for that!) 1. Have your registration materials (including signatures) postmarked. 2. Have your NSDA payment postmarked (if paying by check). By May 15th, 2015 1. Have sent payment to Eastern Missouri NFL for lodging (if staying in the block). 2. If this payment cannot arrive by this date, please email Randy with “proof” that you’ve submitted the invoice for payment. Randy has placed all the rooms on his personal credit card! Obviously if you’re not staying in the Eastern Missouri block, this does not apply. Also note that we won’t have the invoices for this until late March. By June 1st, 2015 Please submit (electronically) the Standard Medical / Health Release form for each of your students to Justin Seiwell. If you must snail mail, please have this in the mail by May 20th. Justin Seiwell [email protected] Clayton HS Office: 314-­‐854-­‐6881 1 Mark Twain Circle Cell: 636-­‐686-­‐0577 St. Louis, MO 63105 Fax: 314-­‐854-­‐6794 (not recommended) If snail mailing after May 20th, please send to: Justin Seiwell 4537 Swan Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110 (please ensure that this arrives no later than June 1st!) Practice Opportunities After the completion of the State Tournament, it’s perfectly permissible for Eastern Missouri qualifiers to practice with each other despite being from different schools. Eastern Missouri qualifiers will not compete against each other at Nationals until Finals (or semifinals if unavoidable)… and at that point, who cares if they know each other’s materials/cases?! 10 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT To Do: During the Tournament Broken down day-­‐by-­‐day: Saturday, June 13th, 2015 Most schools will elect to travel to Dallas, TX on this day and check into the hotel. Please text Justin Seiwell when you have checked in or if you have any problems. 636-­‐686-­‐0577 Expect a delay – after all, he’s probably driving his students or on a plane! Sunday, June 14th, 2015 On-­‐Site Registration Take your team to the Registration and Vender Expo sometime during the day (earlier is better). Your students can explore the Vender Expo while you go through registration. This can take some time, be prepared! You and your students will each receive a Tournament “Book” which will be huge. You will notice a number of pages with black edges – those will contain vital information for the tournament including round schedules, instructions should your students advance, locations and maps to venues, and Ombudsman locations should you have a problem at any time. A tip: You will receive schedules for all of your qualifiers (main events only). Check them with your students at the expo! Make sure they can find their code under each of the six preliminary rounds (all events except Congress). If you detect a problem, head to the aptly named “Problem Table.” Afternoon This is a really good time to explore the city and find the venues. Also, look for great places to eat! Evening While the students practice, all chaperones will meet in the hotel lobby. Bring your judging schedules and where your students will be going on Monday and Tuesday. We will have a conversation to put students into cars with chaperones/coaches who have common sites on Monday and Tuesday of the week. After the meeting, we’ll spend the evening practicing with students! 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 11 Monday, June 15th, 2015 Main event competition begins! Congress will have a full day of competition; all other events will have four preliminary rounds. Tuesday, June 16th, 2015 Morning Main event competition continues/concludes with their remaining preliminary rounds. Afternoon In speech and debate events, breaks to rounds 7 and 8 will be posted. Rounds 7 and 8 will be held this afternoon. Congress will complete its final preliminary session. From this point forward, don’t be shy if your students advance! Please text success to Justin at 636-­686-­0577 We’ll cheer you on (and Tweet it!) and it may help make our “logistics meetings” faster or even unnecessary! Evening NSDA will host a “party” for the students. At this party, students will learn who advances to Main Event competition on Wednesday. Those that do not advance will do a final registration for Supplemental Events (they can enter up to two so long as you pre-­‐registered them during online registration). Late Evening The Eastern Missouri coaches will meet again, albeit very informally, to figure out transportation for Wednesday. Wednesday, June 17th, 2015 Main Event rounds continue for those that are still “in.” Supplemental Events competition will begin. You will start getting information about our District Dinner (a Friday tradition) sometime today. This is explained later in this document. If students are eliminated from Main Events or Supplemental Events any time today, they can register for one Consolation event so long as you pre-­registered them during online registration. 12 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT Thursday, June 18th, 2015 Morning & Afternoon Main Events continue, Supplemental Events Continue, and Consolation Events begin. Evening The three Interpretation Final Rounds will occur. Attendance at this is totally optional, but if you do want to go -­‐-­‐ GET THERE EARLY! These fill up fast and quickly become standing-­‐room-­‐only! Fun fact: Over 60,000 independent computers and/or tablets were watching the LIVE STREAM of these events at the 2014 Nationals! The Diamond Ceremony to recognize coaches will also be held this evening. Friday, June 19th, 2015 All remaining Final Rounds will be held throughout the day on two stages – one for Main Events and one for Supplemental and Consolation events. Again, totally optional to attend. The National Awards Ceremony will start DON’T FORGET! around 6:00 p.m. NSDA has done a pretty good At some point during the day, make job in recent years keeping it to two hours. sure you retrieve your judge bond! While optional, you may seriously want to Explained on page 16. attend. For one, an Eastern Missouri student may be on stage! Second, they do random drawings for scholarships based on seat locations – but you must be present to win! In the evening we will have our traditional Eastern Missouri Dinner. This is the one time that literally every one in our “Delegation” will come together for a meal. It’s a special moment, especially for graduates. AND, since we’ve shared the same hotel space for a week straight, it’s a swell conclusion to a week that spawned many new friendships among the students! Sorry, the District does not pay for this – each school handles it in their own way. A tip: Consider using your judge bond money to pay for your students. ☺ (Obviously only if your school district allows it.) Saturday, June 20th, 2015 Schools will head back home at their leisure! Good to know: Your District Chair (Seiwell) has, for the past few years, tried to be one of the last to leave if his students’ schedules allow for it. If something gets left behind, call him! 636-­‐686-­‐0577 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 13 To Do: After the Tournament 1. Make sure you submit any receipts for expenses to your budget office ASAP. Don’t let them take it out of next year’s budget! 2. You’ll get an email when the points for Nationals are available to be applied to coaches on the Point Application. 3. Send any comments, questions, complaints to Justin Seiwell. While there is no Summer Leadership Conference this year, there will be some form of District Chair “check-­‐in” meeting where he can voice your comments or concerns. The NSDA really DOES listen to us! 4. Relax and enjoy your summer! Explaining “Registration” The term “registration” at the National level is pretty confusing. Lot’s of “registration” happens! Hopefully this can help: Online Registration & Pre-­‐Registration This process occurs through the NSDA / NFL Point Application in late March. This is where you’ll register (or decline) students for Main Event Competition. You’ll also “pre-­register” them for Supplemental and Consolation Events. Note: Students do not need to compete in the events that they’re pre-­‐registered for, but they must be pre-­‐registered to compete in the Supplemental or Consolation Event(s). Students can be pre-­‐
registered for up to four Supplemental Events and up to two Consolation Events. This gives them some choice later. Supplemental Event Notes: Students may pre-­‐register for up to four Supplemental Events during online registration. At they tournament, they can only “re-­‐register” (or “enter”) two of the events (and only ONE if it’s Extemp Debate). Additionally, a student will only enter Supplemental Events if they’re knocked out of Main Event competition on Tuesday. You are HIGHLY encouraged to enter them into a Supplemental Event! For one, Nationals is a TOUGH break – only the top 60 out of hundreds in each event advance. Second, the events are a lot of fun and very educational. Third, the students are then kept busy for the rest of the week! Consolation Event Notes: Students may pre-­‐register for up to two Consolation Events during online registration. At the tournament hey can only “re-­‐register” (or “enter”) one of the events. They will only enter Consolation Events if they’re knocked out of Main Event competition or Supplemental Event competition on Wednesday. Supplemental and Consolation Events are explained later in this document. 14 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT On-­‐Site Registration On Sunday, June 14th, 2015, you will officially register (or “check in”) your team at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel. You can go and register any time between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Some tips: • Get there early! If you’re lucky, the line will be short and you can get through in a matter of minutes. However, the line can also back up and it can take upwards of an hour to move through it all. Plan accordingly. • Take your team with you! You, your judges, and your students should go to the registration site. o Your students can explore the vender expo during registration. o You and any additional adults your bringing should go through registration. (Explanation below) • Follow the signs. They usually have two lines based on where your school name falls in the alphabet. The signs will guide you. (I’ve personally waited in the wrong line of people before because I didn’t see the signs!) • You’ll receive a packet of information which will include: o ID badges for all coaches o ID badges for all Congress competitors o A schematic of your student and judge codes o A schedule for each of your judges. • As you move through the line, you’ll also receive: o Fancy ribbons for you, your judges, your guests, and your students to wear. You will see that most people wear these throughout the entirety of the tournament. o Preliminary schedules for I.E.’s and Debate. o The option to purchase the interp catalogue for the tournament. o Some gift for students (and sometimes coaches) from one of the Association’s sponsors. o A tournament book for each person – you, your judges, and your students. • AFTER YOU COMPLETE REGISTRATION: 1. Pull your team together somewhere out of the way. 2. Hand them their schedules. 3. Have them identify their code under each preliminary round of Main Event Competition. 4. If you notice any problems, go directly to the “Problem Table” and be very friendly, patient, and calm as you talk to the NSDA Staff Member that will help you. Re-­‐Registration for Supplemental and Consolation Events If your student is eliminated from competition and still has the ability to enter Supplemental and/or Consolation Events, they need to locate the “Re-­‐Registration” table at whatever competition site they’re at or at the posting party on Tuesday. 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 15 Basic Information Transportation To and From Dallas, Texas Each school will be responsible for transporting its students to and from Dallas, TX. Between the Hotel and Competition Sites Eastern Missouri has traditionally “grouped” students with coaches that need to go to the same location for the day. We work this out on Sunday and Tuesday evenings. Dates The tournament itself runs from June 14th – 19th, 2015. Most Eastern Missouri schools will travel to Dallas on June 13th and return home on June 20th. This is HIGHLY encouraged! The extra “arrival day” gives you plenty of time to handle travel problems and the “departure day” allows you to avoid overnight travel back. Also, be aware, the exhaustion at this tournament is VERY real! Don’t hurt yourself by trying to travel and complete on-­site registration on the same day! Hotel The Eastern Missouri block is at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Dallas – Market Center. Each room will have a wide range of amenities, including a full refrigerator! The hotel also has a very nice free breakfast every morning and a free dinner Monday – Thursday. Homewood Suites by Hilton Dallas-­‐Market Center Phone: 214-­‐819-­‐9700 2747 N. Stemmons Freeway Fax: 214-­‐819-­‐9701 Dallas, TX 75207 A tip: After checking into the hotel, take your students grocery shopping so they can stock up on provisions for the week! Healthy food is the way to go! Don’t forget! Text Justin after you’ve checked in so we know of any hotel problems early! 636-­686-­0577 16 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT Competition Locations (Venues) These venues will be used (specific details available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals): Sheraton Dallas Hotel Crowne Plaza Hotel Gilley’s Dallas Downtown Registration (Sunday) All Main Event Rounds (Monday -­‐ Friday) All Supplemental Speech Event Rounds (Wednesday – Friday) All Consolation Event Rounds (Thursday & Friday) Awards Ceremony (Friday) World Schools Debate (Monday – Thursday) Extemporaneous Debate Rounds (Wednesday & Thursday) Posting Party / Supplemental Event Re-­‐Registration (Tuesday evening) Special Note about the Sheraton Dallas Hotel Five years ago, NSDA used this same hotel complex to host the entirety of the National Tournament. This hotel is MASSIVE, but so is the tournament. While it was very nice (and rare) to have our entire team at the same venue, please be aware that it’s VERY crowded. Give yourself plenty of time to get to the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in the mornings – traffic and parking can be a challenge. NSDA also encourages the use of the DART public transportation system, but be aware that Eastern Missouri coaches had some trouble with this the last time we were in Dallas. The intention of NSDA is to avoid anyone having to rent a car. Honest advice: Rent a car! This gives you and your team a lot more flexibility in dinners out and sight-­‐seeing, and makes the morning commute less stressful if you “miss the train.” If you’re curious, yes, NSDA is encouraging that all participants room in this same hotel (remember, that’s some 5,000 people… it really is that big). Eastern Missouri reserved a different hotel. Why? For one, it’ll be a lot easier to monitor our students when they’re not combined with thousands of others at night. Second, just think of all of those individuals looking for breakfast, dinner, elevators, etc. all at the same time each morning and evening! 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 17 Costs You’ll have three different payments to consider. National Level The NSDA sets the cost of entry in each event. This information can be found in the 2015 National Tournament Operations Manual. The 2015 TOM indicates these costs: Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Duo Interpretation $120 per entry Lincoln-­‐Douglas Debate, International Extemp, US Extemp, Humorous Interp, Dramatic Interp, Oratory, Congress $60 per entry Supplemental Events (Extemp Debate, Extemp Commentary, Expository, Prose, Poetry) $20 per entry Consolation Events (Impromptu, Storytelling) $10 per entry You will have a judging obligation to meet. When you register online, you will sign yourself up for judging, along with any other coaches/chaperones you are bringing. NSDA will also charge you a $200 “Judge Bond.” This is NSDA’s way of incentivizing judging. If you (and any additional judges from your school) show up for every round you are assigned throughout the week, you will be able to pick up this bond on the Friday of the tournament (at the Convention Center). If you or any of your judges fail to show up for a round, your school forfeits this bond (and may incur other fines). Note: If, after online registration, you have not filled your judging obligation, your school will automatically be charged an additional $10 for each uncovered round. For most, it’s cheaper to pay this than to bring another person. Locally, we call this “buying out” your rounds. This is in no way connected to your Judge Bond. Your school is bonded to provide the judges you pledge during online registration only. For those of you with Policy or Public Forum entries… You will HAVE to provide eight rounds of judging for each of your qualifiers. You cannot “buy out” those obligations. All of these costs go directly to the National Speech and Debate Association. NSDA will request that you have this in the mail by May 1st, 2015. You ARE able to pay these fees online! 18 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT District Level If you’re staying in the Eastern Missouri “block” of rooms (highly recommended as it can save you money), you’ll receive an invoice for the costs associated for those rooms per student and coach. Eastern Missouri pays this up front and each participating school will then pay the District back. If you’re not staying in the Eastern Missouri block, you will need to work out lodging yourself. You will owe nothing to the district. Except… Don’t forget your District Tournament Entry Fees! These monies are due to the Eastern Missouri District. We request that we receive it or, at the very least, receive documentation that it’s being processed by your School District by May 15th, 2015. Please don’t skirt this responsibility; the District does not have a fund balance to cover this cost for long! School Level Each school is responsible for arranging and covering the costs of traveling to and from the host city, rental vehicles, meals for your students and coaches/chaperones, any incidental costs that you or your students place on the rooms, etc. NSDA Provided Information Tournament Online Registration Registration will open on the NSDA Points Application sometime in late March. You will need to complete the process for your school as soon as possible and mail the registration materials to NSDA by May 1st, 2015. If you encounter snags along the way, please report these to Justin Seiwell ([email protected]) -­‐ he has the contact line for tech support. Topics and Topic Areas Topics for LD and PUF will be released by the National Speech and Debate Association by May 1st, 2015. Topic Areas for IX, DX, Extemp Commentary, and the Storytelling Theme will be released May 1st, as well. Legislation for Congressional Debate will be released by May 10th, 2015. You’ll be able to find them on both the Eastern Missouri website (http://eastmonfl.weebly.com) and the National website at http://www.speechanddebate.org/nationals. 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 19 Specific Venues and Updates When you register at the tournament on Sunday, you will get a very large packet of information which will include schedules for your students, schedules for your judges, and the specific venues. A tip: Go find the venues on Sunday! NSDA will update their Nationals website frequently. They also do a lot of updates during the tournament using Twitter -­‐ @speechanddebate. Your District Chair will email with various updates as often as possible. You can know WAY in advance which building will house each event (just not the specific rooms of your students) by checking out the “Venues” page at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals. Note for 2015: Almost all competition takes place in the same venue this year – the Sheraton Dallas Hotel. 20 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT Explaining Events Nationals offers THREE different categories of events: Main Events, Supplemental Events, and Consolation Events. The purpose of these categories is to keep students competing as long as possible during the tournament, even if they do not advance in their Main Events. Main Events These are the events your student(s) qualified to directly from the District Tournament. So, you’ll probably recognize these: • Humorous Interp • Dramatic Interp • Duo Interp • United States Extemp • International Extemp • Oratory • Policy Debate • Lincoln-­‐Douglas Debate • Public Forum Debate • Congressional Debate Preliminary rounds of these tournaments occur on Monday and Tuesday morning of the tournament. Supplemental Events If your students do not advance to Wednesday competition in their main event, they have the option to enter up to TWO* Supplemental Events. Each of these events follows a “double-­‐elimination” format much like the District Tournament – “Two Downs and You’re Out.” These rounds begin IMPORTANT NOTE: Wednesday morning. When you register for the tournament online, you will “pre-­‐
register” your students for Supplemental Events. You can pre-­‐
The Supplemental Events are: register them for up to FOUR of the events. This allows them to finalize their decisions later, if they wish. • Extemp Debate* • Extemp Commentary Your students do “re-­‐registration” (which means they enter the • Expository Address competition) for up to two* events at the actual tournament on • Prose Tuesday evening at the posting party. • Poetry *Note that if a student enters Extemp Debate, they cannot enter another Supplemental Event. Descriptions for each event are available on www.speechanddebate.org and in the Tournament Operations Manual. 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 21 Consolation Events If your students don’t advance past Wednesday in their Main Event, or don’t advance past Wednesday in either Supplemental Event, then they can enter ONE Consolation Event. Each of these events follows a “Single-­‐Elimination” format in which students are out after one down. (Yes, they eliminate 50% of the competition after IMPORTANT NOTE: When you register for the tournament online, you will “pre-­‐
EACH round!) register” your students for Consolation Events. You can pre-­‐
register them for both of the events, but they can only enter one The Consolation Events are: at the tournament itself. • Impromptu • Storytelling Your students do “re-­‐registration” at any tournament site on Wednesday evening at the tournament. Note that Storytelling has an assigned theme each year! It will be released May 1st. Descriptions for each event are available on www.speechanddebate.org and in the Tournament Operations Manual. 22 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT How it Works: A Visual Approach
2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 23 Codes You may find this helpful… Unless NSDA’s system has changed since last year, codes will be an alpha-­‐numeric combination that incorporates the competitor’s state, event, and individual identifier. It will look something like this: 04J100 Here’s the breakdown: “04” refers to the STATE No guarantee that Missouri will be “04” again. “J” refers to the EVENT. Each event has it’s own letter; these will be noted during online registration and onsite registration. The letter “J” is used to identify judges. “100” refers to the INDIVIDUAL In other words “X224” and “X225” are two different people. “X224” and “K224” are two different people, too. Worth Understanding… • Frequently, the state identifier is left off of schedules and conversation. In the past they’ve simply used it to ensure that competitors would not meet people from the same state and would not be judged by people from the same state. • When an event is the only event occurring at a specific venue, it’s also common for the tournament hosts to leave off the event identifier as well and simply refer to judges or competitors as “224” rather than “X224.” None of that is vital information, but may explain or help clarify what’s going on. Judging Assignments When you pick up your judging assignments at On-­‐Site Registration, you’ll notice that you’re either scheduled in specific rooms or in an auditorium. You could also get a purple slip of paper… that indicates that you’re in the “pool” for a semifinals or finals round! Specific Rooms If your judging schedule has specific room assignments, then you are guaranteed to be judging those rounds. You should arrive at those rounds approximately 10 24 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT minutes prior to the scheduled start time and heed any instructions for ballot pick up. You’ll also want to pay close attention to where you’re supposed to drop off your ballots. In most cases, the tournament wants you and any other judges on that panel to return your ballots at the same time. Auditorium If you’re assigned to an auditorium, it means you’re in a judge pool. This will largely occur for elimination rounds. This is where they’ll call out codes on a room-­‐by-­‐
room basis. Bring a book, this can be a slow process! Again, you’ll want to arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled time. They will likely call attendance first before they start assigning judges. Do not leave the room until the tournament official has officially released you or given you a judging assignment. What if I miss my assignment? Your school will forfeit the $200 judging bond you paid during online registration. If you miss additional assignments, your school is subject to additional fines. Yup – not really worth it. Good to Know Info for the Events: Extemp “Tub” Drop Off The draw room for IX and USX will be open on Sunday. Pre-­‐laptop days, students were invited to drop all of their tubs off at this location so that they didn’t have to lug them around on Monday morning (when we’re running late and battling traffic on the road and in the hallways). In the digital age, this is probably less necessary. However, your students may want to bring a tub of something to drop off at the draw room to sort of “claim” their seat for Monday and Tuesday. Interpretation Don’t forget to have the original sources (highlighted and marked) – if your students advance to semifinals, you’ll be required to turn it in at a designated location! Congressional Debate Since this portion of the tournament doesn’t fit a specific schedule, students should plan to wear a watch. No, not a cell phone – they’ll ask those to stay off! 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 25 Resources and Best Practices (A “Must-­‐Read” for coaches going to Nationals for the first time!) If this is your first National Tournament, you may want to peruse these suggestions provided by other coaches. After the tournament, your District Chair will ask you to reflect and provide a list of “What I wish I had known…” statements – this is all part of our on-­‐
going project to provide helpful resources to coaches. Experienced coaches… did we miss something that should be here? Email it to Justin! This is only the second year we’ve created this guide – there’s bound to be something we left off! REMEMBER – WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! Specific Schedules (Previous Tournament Books) We know now where the various competition sites will be in Dallas. But what we DON’T know are the exact times for each round. We do have a pretty good idea by using previous Tournament Books. If you’d like to see one, please contact Justin. This may be able to help you plan dinners, team outings, etc. Obviously the schedules change from year to year, and thus it’ll be important for YOU as the coach to review the Tournament Book on Sunday, June 14th. You’ll want to focus on the “black edged” pages. Nonetheless, previous books can give you a good idea of what to expect. Disclosure All preliminary rounds of Main Events are tabbed in a closed tab-­‐room. However, starting in elimination rounds of debate, the decisions will be disclosed immediately after the rounds by the judges. This is designed to “speed up” the tournament. Results are also posted online. Prepare your students for this. Supplemental and Consolation Events are always non-­‐disclosure. Source Materials For Oratory and Interpretation, you will be uploading scripts during registration. NSDA allows you to change this at any time prior to June 10th! Tip: Bring the source material (e.g. the book) with you to Nationals! If your students advance to semifinals, you’ll have to turn it in. Fair warning: Justin didn’t get his book back after semifinals of Duo last year! However, NSDA doesn’t require you to upload anything for Prose, Poetry, or Storytelling. Bring the original sources – prepare these just as you would for a main event either at NSDA Nationals or Eastern Missouri Districts! If you have students advance to semifinals in these events, the tournament may ask you to turn in the source material. 26 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT In Main Events, Supplemental Events, and Consolation Events, some students and coaches from all over the nation get pretty competitive towards the end. Challenges happen. Don’t let that frighten you – NSDA does a VERY GOOD JOB of handling challenges with regard to source material. But, do yourself a favor and be prepared! It’d be terrible for a student to be disqualified after sems just because they didn’t have the book their interpretation came from! My Students Keep Advancing! Awesome! Some things to know: • NSDA keeps track of a wide variety of data throughout the tournament; many schools earn awards that aren’t well-­‐known or well-­‐advertised to those of us new to the National Tournament. For example, if you have significant success in, say, debate, your school might be in the running for a “School of Excellence in Debate” award. • Students advancing to finals will have mic checks at specific times since they’ll be on the big stage. • Students who advance to semifinals (but not finals) will be recognized on stage following each final round of the event. For example, after the final round of Policy Debate, the semifinalists of Policy Debate will be called to the stage to receive their recognition. • Finalists receive their recognition at the National Award Ceremony. • If you have debaters that land somewhere in the Top 16 but don’t advance to finals, check Ombusdmen Rooms or postings around the Sheraton to discover if they need to be dressed and available on stage on Friday to receive their semifinalist recognition. Since the tournament follows the “double elimination” format (after the end of preliminary rounds), semifinalists will not be easily identified (this is just like the District Tournament). Check postings and signs! The tournament book will have instructions for you throughout the tournament. However, it’s easy to lose track of everything. The tournament can be a little hit-­‐or-­‐miss in their ability to communicate information throughout the week. (Last year they did a LOT through Twitter – we suggest following @speechanddebate!) Please, really, do NOT be shy about any successes your team has. Text Justin any time you have a student advance (especially in main events!) – he’ll do what he can to keep track of it all and can offer advice. 636-­686-­0577 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 27 Finals Even if you don’t have a finalist, many coaches and students (especially non-­‐graduating students) find watching the final rounds to be a very educational experience. It’s not required by any means, but you may want to consider it. Hotel Safety and Behavior All chaperones and coaches will need to be aware of activity in the hotel. We won’t be the only group staying there; there will likely be other speech and debate teams and there will certainly be guests not at all affiliated with the tournament. This is no different than any other overnight. Also, we need to make sure our students don’t get themselves into any trouble! Additionally… We all have different methods when it comes to coaching (something many of us LOVE because we share methods at Nationals). We also all have different ways of managing our teams during overnights. And, all of our students have different needs. Some can easily burn through the night while others need to get full nights of sleep. When we all share the same space for a week, sometimes student needs and coach decisions on student management can clash. (For some students, this is a FANTASTIC real-­‐
life learning environment right before they go off to that lovely experience that is sharing a college dorm room!) We, as coaches, need to help each other out. Talk to your students well in advance of what your expectations are as far as hotel behavior, what the hotel staff expects, and remind them that they need to be very respectful of what other coaches ask them to do and expect of their own students. Personal Example: I have yet to have any major disciplinary or behavior problem with my students at Nationals (hope I just didn’t jinx it!). So, I don’t give them specific curfews. In fact, my students have “earned” the ability to have a LOT of freedom. Four years running at Clayton, the students that I’ve had qualify aren’t ones I “worry” about. Thus, I talk to them in advance about how much I trust them, how they’ve earned my trust, and that I would be really disappointed if they ever broke that trust. My school district’s policies allow me to give students a lot of freedom. Your school district may not. Thus… I talk to my students about how to act in a hotel and remind them that we won’t be the only group staying there. I tell them we have to be so impressive that the hotel begs us to come back the next year. Four years in a row – they’ve received this very well. 28 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT I then explain that other coaches may have different ways of doing things and that that’s totally okay. It’s a different situation for every group. Once again, they’ve always received this very well. I tell them that if they are asked by a coach to quiet down or anything of they sort, they should comply. I also tell them that they need to be respectful of their roommates; if the individual students or their coach require curfews, lights-­out, etc., that they should respect that. I then provide them alternatives – “If you really want to work late and one of your roommates wants to sleep, then move to the lobby.” I remind them that they don’t just represent Clayton any more; they represent Eastern Missouri, Speech and Debate students in general, and teenagers in general everywhere. I challenge them to break the stereotype of the “typical teen” as portrayed in the news. Fingers crossed – this has worked pretty well! Coaches will need to communicate effectively with each other. Remember that we’re one group now and need to ensure that all students are complying with any instructions from coaches or hotel staff. Protect yourself! This should go without saying – coaches should never be in a room alone with a student. Yes, we practice in hotel rooms. Invite fellow students or coaches to view practices, prop doors open, prep (but don’t practice, please) in the lobby. It’s a fun week, but remember that our hotel will have plenty of other patrons throughout the week – be aware of how things look; especially to those that don’t know speech and debate. This is even more important in light of recent events that gathered National media attention. There isn’t an experienced coach in this group that would say “No” to helping be a second adult in a room. Your District Policies Know them in and out. NSDA has policies, Eastern Missouri has “agreements” for this tournament, but nothing is more important than you knowing what your district allows and doesn’t allow. If your district has policies that conflict with anything from NSDA or Eastern Missouri NSDA, please let Justin know. We work them out; your district policies come first. Exhaustion It’s a LONG week. Students will become exhausted; so will coaches. There’s so much to keep track of, so much going on, and so many PEOPLE everywhere. Clayton assistant Jonathan Smith says it best – “You do not realize how much the sheer noise of thousands of conversations in the cafeteria wears you out.” 2015 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT 29 Rest, eat healthy, drink water, and laugh. Virtually every night people will “unwind” in the hotel – and the conversations that develop in the hotel lobbies and rooms are memorable for both coaches and students. Don’t be afraid to ask another coach for help. Yes, it’s a long week, but it can also be a very fun week for students and coaches alike! Friday Night Competition is over, the district dinner is over, and there’s nothing left to do but pack up, sleep, and depart the next morning. The students will want to stay up late and, for the most part, we let them (reasonably). ☺ Coaches – expect to stay up a while, too. Not only do we need to make sure the kids aren’t getting out of line, we also may want some downtime with colleagues as well! This is usually a very special night, as for many students it’s the last time they’ll be part of their high school teams. Mentor You’ll probably have a lot of questions during the National Tournament. There’s a lot to keep track of and a lot of nuances that can’t be clearly articulated or fully anticipated (after all, things do change from year-­‐to-­‐year). If you’d like a “mentor coach” to touch base with throughout the tournament, please let Justin Seiwell know. It’ll be a lot easier this year since all of us will, for the most part, be in the same competition venue! Addendums This is only the second year we’ve published this guide. The “Addendums” that were released right before Nationals in 2014 have now been included in this document. Nevertheless, we’re still building resources, and we may have missed something. If you’re a new coach and have questions or if you’re an experienced coach and noticed an omission or noticed something inaccurate, please email Justin! We’ll publish “addendums” around June 7th with any information that comes up between the March 20th publication of this guide and the National Tournament. Need More Help? Email Justin Seiwell ([email protected]) at any time!