Chesapeake District Qualifier

for the 2018 National Tournament

Registration and Judging Info

Date:

February 24, 2018

Eligibility:

Schools must be registered members of the National Speech and Debate Association to enter this tournament (to register, visit www.speechanddebate.org).  Students must be paid members of the National Speech and Debate Association, have an online account at www.speechanddebate.org, and hold at least the Degree of Merit (25 points). 

Entries:

Schools may enter up to four entries in each speech or debate event, up to two entries in congress Senate, and as many congress House entries as permitted.  A school's total number of entries for the tournament, and congress House entries, are based on the school’s total NSDA degrees on record seven days before the tournament (see page 60 of the High School Manual, https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/High-School-Unified-Manual-2016-2017.pdf)

Registration:

Registration will open on the Tabroom.com web site on January 1, 2018.  Registration must be completed by Wednesday, February 21st at 8:00 PM (three days prior to the tournament). Online drops and name changes only (no adds) may be made until Friday, February 23^rd at 8:00 PM.

On the day of the tournament, all schools should bring and submit the NSDA Entry form (https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/District-School-Entry-Forms.pdf).

All students entering more than one event must complete the Single Entry Letter of Intent form (https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/District-Tournament-Single-Entry-Letter-of-Intent.pdf).  This form must be submitted at registration on the day of the tournament.

On the day of the tournament, check-in will begin by 7:30 AM and close at 8:00 AM. 

Supervision Requirement: 

ALL schools participating in the District Tournament must have a supervising adult who will be present for the duration of the tournament.  Unattended students will not be allowed to compete.  All students from a school should know who the supervising adult is, and the supervising adult should know what students from the school are in attendance, and how to contact their parents if the need arises.

Judging Requirements:

LD, PF, POLICY:  1 judge per every 2 entries (or fraction thereof)

SPEECH:  1 judge per every 4 entries (or fraction thereof)

CONGRESS:  1 judge per school

Since this tournament is the national qualifier for the NSDA National Tournament, the district committee expects that ALL judges who attend the tournament are properly trained and have prior experience judging their event.  Please do not register novice judges!

Hired judges may be purchased at the cost of $100, subject to availability.  Entries not covered by judges will automatically be billed for hired judges when registration closes on 2/21 at 8:00 PM.  No judges are available for hire on the morning of the tournament.  If you have uncovered entries at registration, you may be required to drop entries.

All judges are obligated for the duration of their respective events.  Early departures prolong the day for everyone, and are subject to a nuisance fee unless the judge is replaced.  If one of your judges can’t stay the entire day, please register an additional judge to fill in the gap (i.e. judge one works from 8:00-2:00 and judge two works from 2:00-finish).  Please make note of this when registering online.

Multiple Entry Rules:

For students in policy debate:  Triple entry is not permitted.  Double entry is permitted only with congress.

For students not in policy debate:  Triple entry is permitted only if one of the events is congress. Double entry is permitted.   A student may enter only one event in pattern A, and up to two events in pattern B. 

Pattern A:  Policy debate, public forum debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, duo interp, international extemp, domestic extemp

Pattern  B:  Original oratory, dramatic interp, humorous interp, informative speaking, program oral interp

Debate Topics:

We will use the FEBRUARY topics.

Qualification:

Speech and debate events will run according to the up/down system as described in the NSDA High School Manual, District Tournament section.  If entry numbers are adequate (at least 12 entries in individual events, and at least 10 entries in team events), the top three entries in each speech and debate event will qualify to the NSDA National Tournament.  Otherwise, if there are at least 4 entries in a speech or debate event, the top two entries will qualify.  For Congress, the top 2 entries in Senate and the top entry in House will qualify.  

Directions to Loyola Blakefield: 

Loyola Blakefield High School

500 Chestnut Ave.

Towson, MD 21204

From the Baltimore Beltway (I-695):  Take the Charles Street exit and go south.  At Chestnut, there is a light.  Make a left and then make another left into the parking lot, next to the tennis courts.  For additional parking or for bus parking, drive further down Chestnut Ave. and turn left into the main entrance.  Keep driving past Knott Hall (the clock tower building).  There are additional parking lots ahead, and down the hill.  Please do not park in the loop outside of Wheeler Hall.

From Northbound on Charles Street:  Turn right onto Chestnut Ave.  This is just north of the GBMC campus, and is the next light after the Towsontown Blvd. light.    

From I-95:  Take the I-695 exit towards Towson and follow the directions above.