Wind River District Qualifier

for the 2021 National Tournament

Welcome to the 2021 Wind River District Tournament!

The tournament will be held March 15-20, 2021 via Zoom

We will be hosting Big Questions on Monday and Tuesday after school (and Wednesday and Thursday if necessary) 

We will be hosting Congress on Thursday during the day. 

We will be hosting all other events Friday and Saturday. 

This invitation includes information helpful for registration.

Please be sure to review current NSDA manuals and follow all the protocols outlined there. Link here Please do not rely upon your memory for the rules. Many new rules have been adopted. 

Please read this invitation carefully. 

We will be using the double down tabulation method for all main events and Big Questions debate. 

Wind River District Committee

Becca Pierson  // Lyle Wiley // Joel Kuper // Annette Thorton

Londe Gagnon: Chair : lgagnon@tcsd.org // Cell : 307-699-0537             

Registration

Registration will take place on Tabroom.com. This is also the website where you will submit piece information and register judges. 

Website: http://windriver.tabroom.com

Please sign up early to help us anticipate total numbers; you may make adjustments and changes as needed. Final registration for Big Questions Debate is due Thursday March 11. Final registration for Congress and Main Events is due Sunday March 14.

Events

Students may enter multiple events (up to 4 if one is Congress and one is Big Questions Debate). There is no doubling in 2 Debate events or in both Extemps. Students may enter two team events (e.g. CX and Duo) provided both teams have the same partners and have completed SELI Forms correctly. Events offered:

Speech - Humor, Oratory, US Extemp, International Extemp, Informative, Drama, Duo, POI

• Duo will be an asynchronous event, pre-recorded with split-screen (see Guide for help, and NSDA’s demonstration of split screen videos).

Debate - Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, Policy

•  

  • LD - Resolved: The United States ought to guarantee universal child care.

  • PF - Resolved:  On balance, the benefits of creating the United States Space Force outweigh the harms.

  • CX - Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing.

Congress - House or Senate

• Please submit your (2) bills/resolutions by Wednesday March 10, 2021 to Joel Kuper  - jkuper@bgh3.k12.wy.us.

Big Questions Debate - this event does not count toward your total entry. Each school will be allowed 4 entries for the event. Please see details about BQ here. 

• Resolved: Mathematics was discovered, not invented.

Rules

Please explore and examine the current high school unified manual:

https://www.speechanddebate.org/high-school-unified-manual/

There are three important rule changes that will apply to this year’s District tournament:

1. Interp selection

• The definition of allowed “Interp Source Material” has been expanded;

• please read details 1, 2A-D: New Pilot Rules 2021.

2. Internet use

• “If a district tournament is held online, that district must use the pilot internet rules for debate, Congress, and Extemp.”

• (NSDA Changes to District Tournaments).

• The rules for the “Use of Internet in Rounds” has been expanded; please read the details for Debate, Extemp, and Congress:

• Pilot Internet Rules for Debate.

3. Policy prep time 

• Prep time in Policy Debate has been expanded to eight minutes: New Pilot Rules 2021.

For any questions about new rules or rule changes, please contact a committee member prior to the District Tournament. In line with NSDA tradition, we ask that any challenges or protests regarding rules be made in advance of rounds where possible.

Judges

All teams will be asked to provide judges for the tournament. We ask that judges covering a team’s obligation are entered on Tabroom, but also on the Wind River Judge Sign Up:  https://forms.gle/YNi2Vj6ZnkyGK2649

• 1-7 entries* = 1 full time judge that can do most all of the events and commits to a minimum of 10 time slots in which there are events actually running. This does not mean that they will get ten rounds - we just need the flexibility of assigning the slots.

• 8-14* = 2 full time judges that can do most all of the events and each commit to a minimum of 10 time slots in which there are events actually running. This does not mean that they will get ten rounds - we just need the flexibility of assigning the slots.

• 15-21* = 3 full time judges that can do most all of the events and each commits to a minimum of 10 time slots in which there are events actually running. This does not mean that they will get ten rounds - we just need the flexibility of assigning the slots.

Judges that are fulfilling school obligations need to be available to judge a variety of events and be available for the duration of the tournament. Judges are due no later than Sunday March 14, 2021. Schools will be fined if they do not fulfill their judging obligation. 

An “outside” judge may be recruited, but a judge fulfilling a judge obligation will not be eligible to be paid. 

If you have recruited your accompanying judge quota, and you know someone who would be a good paid judge, please have them fill out this form:

Paid judges must be available for at least three of the days of the tournament with one of those days being Friday. We will pay hired judges $15 per CX Debate or flighted Debate round and $11 per Speech or Big Questions round. Paid Congress judges will receive $35 per session.

Judge Strikes:  Wind River Districts will  allow one judge strike for the final round before the first round begins on Friday morning.

Platform

We will use Zoom for the tournament. Students should become familiar with Zoom and make sure that they update to the latest version. Duo will be the only asynchronous event; links (uploaded as YouTube marked as “unlisted” or Google Drive file shared as “anyone with link can view” should be submitted on your Tabroom.com account by Tuesday, March 16).

Awards

Our plan is to conduct awards on Zoom livestream so that finalists and qualifiers can be recognized and celebrated. For this reason, we will need all competitors to complete and submit Media Release Forms. Coaches should share the Release forms in a Google Folder with Lyle Wiley: lwiley@hotsprings1.org .  Blank Media Release Form Found Here.

NSDA District Student of the Year Award: With the level of integrity, intellect, and character that is among the student population in each district, the NFL is proud to announce the implementation of the NSDA District Student of the Year Award. Each coach should nominate one student that exemplifies the leadership practices and positive qualities set forth by the National Speech and Debate Association The award will be based on coach nominations only. 

Student of the Year - https://www.speechanddebate.org/student-of-the-year-nomination-form/

Please email a letter expressing the reasons for your nomination for any of these awards: 

Coach of the Year

Volunteer of the Year

Alum of the Year

Communicator of the Year

Administrator of the Year

New Coach of the Year

Assistant Coach of the Year

Please submit nominations by March 17 to Lyle Wiley- lwiley@hotsprings1.org

New This Year

Message from the NSDA: 

After months of careful consideration, we have made the decision to host the 2021 National Speech & Debate Tournament online for middle school and high school students due to the ongoing pandemic.

We understand that your district’s team recruitment, online tournament scheduling, and participation numbers have been impacted this year. To help alleviate concerns over entry numbers and ensure your students can be represented at the National Tournament, the entry requirements for earning qualifiers to the online 2021 National Tournament have changed. Districts will stay at their current level for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.

For 2020-2021 district tournaments ONLY, the following revised scale will apply:

Level 1 districts:

• 4 entries = 2 qualifiers

• 16 entries = 3 qualifiers

• 32 entries and up = 4 entries

Level 2 districts:

• 4 entries = 2 qualifiers

• 10 entries = 3 qualifiers

• 20 entries and up = 4 qualifiers 

Level 3 districts:

• 4 entries = 2 qualifiers

• 10 entries and up = 4 qualifiers

Expanded Access to National Tournament Supplemental Events:

For the 2021 National Tournament only, the NSDA Board of Directors has decided to expand competition opportunities to more member students and schools by implementing the following change to supplemental events. Every member school that participates in the district tournament series will have the opportunity to enter up to two non-qualifying students in supplemental events at the online 2021 National Tournament. These students must have attended the district tournament but not earned qualification in any event. This applies to every school that participated in the district tournament, regardless of whether they qualified other students to the National Tournament, and it only applies to the 2021 National Tournament.

Wind River is a Level 2 District 

Schedule

Schedule Link Here. The schedule is tentative and may change depending on entry numbers. Saturday’s schedule remains particularly fluid. 

Congress

Please thoroughly read pages 77-78 of the unified manual to make sure you understand the rules regarding Congress- including chamber sizes, length of sessions, and number of qualifiers. Link here

Sources

Scripts: This is part of the wording found in the District Manual:

The original published source of any selection used in Dramatic, Humorous, or Duo must be immediately available at the tournament as well as a complete script of the cutting used. A complete script of the cutting would include:

• A photo copy of every page from which any line of the source is taken; pages are to be in the order in which they are performed.

• All words used from the script should be highlighted. (Any words/lines not used should be left unmarked.)

• Any word changes (to eliminate inappropriate language/content) and/or additions (for transition) must be indicated clearly in ink.

 It is the affirmative duty of each coach and each student entered in Interpretation contests to determine absolutely that the cutting being performed meets all rules for material. Interp source material must be available at all district tournament contests in the event of a protest. More Information can be found starting on page 45 of the unified manual.

Informatives and Oratories:  Please be certain that scripts meet all the NSDA formatting rules - see page 44 & 45 in the Unified Manual for details. These must be in the District Committee's possession before registration. Please include them with your registration. 

World Schools Debate

Note: For the 2021 National Tournament only, districts are allowed to qualify up to THREE teams of three to five students using the procedure outlined below. 

The Wind River District will invite alternates to be on the team. 

To provide an objective method of selecting the team members, the Wind River District will do the following: 

• Invite the highest point earners that are senior, 1st alternates to serve on the team. 

• If a student turns down the opportunity, we will go to the next name on the list of senior, 1st alternates by merit points. 

• If we get through all senior, 1st alternates, then we will go to senior, 2nd alternates by merit points. 

• We will then keep working through the senior alternates (3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.). If there are no seniors left, we will go to junior, 1st alternates by merit points, then sophomores, and then freshmen.

Single Entry Letters of Intent 

Please thoroughly read pages 67-68 of the unified manual to make sure you understand the rules regarding the SELI. Link here

Coach Checklist

• Read the Full Invite on Tabroom.com 

• Read the NSDA HS Unified Manual

• By Wednesday March 10, submit congress legislation to Joel Kuper:

jkuper@bgh3.k12.wy.us

• By Wednesday, March 10, submit preliminary registration on Tabroom.com.

• By Thursday, March 11, finalize Big Questions Debate Registration

• By Sunday, March 14, finalize registration on Tabroom.com, including interpretation and oratory/informative titles.

• By Sunday, March 14, sign up judges on Tabroom.com, and have all judges fill out the WR Judge Form.

• By Tuesday, March 16, share the following forms in a Google Folder

• with Londe Gagnon: lgagnon@tcsd.org

• (Please contact me for help with Google Sharing).

• School Consent Form (link)

• Speech Entry Form (link)

• Debate Entry Form (link)

• Congress Entry Form (link)

• Interpretation Bibliography Forms (link)

• Script Verification Cover Sheets (link)

• Single Entry Letter of Intent (SELI) Forms (link)

• Bonus Entry Form (link)

• Manuscripts of Interpretation, Oratory, and Informative entries

• Highlighted copies of original scripts for Interpretation entries

• Media Release Form (link)

• By Tuesday, March 16, submit Duo links, and send a check to cover your entry fees:

Wind River District Chair

C/O Londe Gagnon

PO Box 14941

Jackson, WY 83002

• By Wednesday, March 17, submit award nominations to Lyle Wiley- lwiley@hotsprings1.org