Central Minnesota District Tournament

2023 — MN/US

Central Minnesota District Qualifier

for the 2024 National Tournament
Congress
Robbinsdale Cooper HS
Minneapolis/Robbinsdale, MN
Fri 11/17 Sat 11/18 HSE SEN
Debate (LD, PF, Policy)
East Ridge High School
Virtual/Woodbury/St. Paul, MN
Fri 12/8 Sat 12/9 LD CX PF
Big Questions
NSDA Campus
Virtual, MN
Wed 2/7 Thu 2/8 BQ
Speech
Eagan High School
Woodbury/Eagan, MN
Fri 3/8 Fri 3/8 DI DUO HI INF IX OO POI USX

LD/PF Debate Information

2023 Central MN NSDA District LD/PF Debate Tournament
  December 8-9, 2023
East Ridge High School

 

All Central Minnesota NSDA Schools are invited to participate in the Central Minnesota NSDA District Debate Tournament to be held December 8-9, 2023.  The top three entries in Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum Debate will qualify to compete at the NSDA National Tournament (June, 2023) in Des Moines, Iowa.

The NSDA has many important procedures in registering for the tournament that can seem daunting, especially for schools participating for the first time.  Please make sure to thoroughly review the instructions on this site so that you are following each procedure.  If at any time you have questions or need assistance in the registration process, do not hesitate to contact Zach Prax at zachary.prax@district196.org.

The phone number for tournament headquarters is 952-201-0201.  

 

Before the tournament:

1.       Register on tabroom.com by Friday, December 1st at the latest. No new entries will be allowed after this date, but you will be allowed to make changes to your registration.  NOTE:  You will only be allowed to register if you have paid your national dues and your chapter is in good standing.

 
2.       Be sure that you have paid all outstanding bills for new members. If you have not paid, you will need to pay these fees at tournament registration (this is true of all new members even if they are not competing). In addition, all students competing at the district qualifier must be registered, paid members of the NSDA.  Tabroom.com will not allow non-members to be registered.

 
To Submit at Registration:
 
1.      A check to cover entry fees and local dues. There is a $25 entry fee for each entry (each public forum team counts as one entry). There is a $100 fee for each hired judge. If you have 4 entries in a single event, you must pay for one hired judge (so, two hired judges if you are bringing 4 LD debaters and 4 PF teams). There is also a $50 fee for local dues (which covers congress, debate, and speech for the year...this may have already been paid by your school at the Congressional Debate qualifier). THE CHECK FOR ALL ENTRY/JUDGE FEES AND LOCAL DUES SHOULD BE PAYABLE TO

 
    
  Minnesota Debate Teachers Association
       c/o Zach Prax
      6200 140th Street W
      Apple Valley, MN 55124
                                              
        
 
2.       A separate check for any outstanding NSDA membership fees (if applicable).  I will email you any amount due to the NSDA office one week prior to the tournament date. THE CHECK FOR ALL OUTSTANDING NSDA FEES SHOULD BE PAYABLE TO 


                                                                 National Speech and Debate Association
                                                                             6600 Westown Parkway
                                                                                        Suite 270
                                                                            West Des Moines, IA 50266
 
 
3.  IF APPLICABLE, any student that previously competed at the District Congress MUST fill out their intent in case of double qualification.  This is done on tabroom.com; no paper copies need to be turned in.  This must be done even if the student did not qualify in a previous event, and must be completed prior to registration on Friday afternoon.
 
2023 Site Information:
 
The Central Minnesota Debate District LD/PF Tournament will be held in-person both days at East Ridge High School.   Preliminary rounds 1-2 will be held on Friday, December 8; preliminary rounds 3-4 and all elimination rounds will be held Saturday, December 9.  East Ridge High School is located at 4200 Pioneer Drive, Woodbury MN 55129.
 
East Ridge will provide a few options for student concessions for cash sale.  There will be a modest judge lounge provided throughout the day.
 
 
Topics:

November/December LD Topic - Resolved: The United States ought to prohibit the extraction of fossil fuels from federal public lands and waters.
 
November/December PF Topic - Resolved: The United States federal government should forgive all federal student loan debt.

 
Qualification to Nationals:
 
During the 2022-2023 school year, the Central Minnesota NSDA District met criteria to maintain its Level Three Qualifier Status.  This means is that we are guaranteed three entries to attend the NSDA National Tournament this year in each speech and debate event (except Congress, Big Questions, and World Schools Debates, which have separate procedures).  This bonus is conditional on a requirement that we meet the original criteria for qualifying two contestants in each event we want to have the bonus in.  THANK YOU TO ALL SCHOOLS that helped us achieve this goal by consistently entering NSDA points for your students - please keep up this great work.

Please email zachary.prax@district196.org with any questions or if you need assistance registering for the tournament.  

Sincerely,

Zach Prax
District Chair, Central Minnesota NSDA
 
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TOURNAMENT PROCEDURES  (Effective 2021-2022)
 
Districts were required to implement new pilot rules for district tournament qualification during the 2021-2022 school year.  District committees were given autonomy to decide several important elements of the tournament, but are still grounded by the rules found in the Unified District Tournament Manual.  Each coach should read the most updated manual for a full description of how the tournament will be run; the notes below reflect the decisions that the Central Minnesota District Committee made based on district coach feedback.
 
1. Each entry will debate four preliminary rounds.  Preliminary rounds will be judged by a single judge; that judge will assign each entry a win/loss and speaker points (30-point scale, half-points only).
 
2. All winning records (3-1 or better) will clear to elimination rounds.  Elimination rounds will be paired and national qualifiers identified using the Double Elimination Bracket method.  
 
3. Alternates will be determined based on preliminary round seed.
 
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JUDGE REQUIREMENTS

Judge Coverage Rules for Lincoln-Douglas Debate:

  1. Head Coach (covers 1st & 2nd entry)
  2. Assistant Coach or Hired by tournament (covers 3rd entry)
  3. Hired by tournament (covers 4th entry)
Judges must be in at least their third year out of high school to cover your obligation. Judges who are not yet in their 3rd year out may be used as supplemental judges, but they are a free strike for any school and do not cover your obligation. 
 
 
Judge Coverage Rules for Public Forum Debate:
  1. Head Coach (covers 1st & 2nd entry)
  2. Assistant Coach, Experienced Judge or Hired by tournament (covers 3rd entry)
  3. Hired by tournament (covers 4th entry)
In PF debate, your second judge does not have to be on your coaching staff. However, any judge that you bring to cover your obligation should be experienced and qualified. Although public forum debate was designed to cater to the “community judge”, we want to ensure that our district tournament is adjudicated by the best judges we can find. We also want to be sure that these judges understand the spirit of public forum debate.   Judges must be in at least their third year out of high school to cover your obligation. Judges who are not yet in their 3rd year out may be used as supplemental judges, but they are a free strike for any school and do not cover your obligation. 
 
Note that these are requirements PER EVENT.  For instance, if you have one LD entry and three PF entries, you are obligated one LD judge and two PF judges.  The same judge may not be used to fulfill obligations in multiple events.
 
***In each debate format, your judges are obligated through one round past the elimination of your entry in that format.  All judges are obligated for the first elimination round.
 
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WE WILL HAVE OUR NORMAL LD/PF COACH MEETING ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5 AT 7:00 P.M. CST. ON ZOOM.  I DO NOT ANTICIPATE A LONG MEETING.  I WOULD LIKE TO USE THIS TIME TO CLARIFY (1) OUR TOURNAMENT PROCEDURES, (2) OUR STRIKE PROCEDURES, AND (3) ANSWERS TO ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THE TOURNAMENT.
 
SCHEDULE - Friday, December 8
 
Registration                3:15 - 3:45 PM
Prelim Round 1          4:15 PM (LD Debate)
Prelim Round 1          4:30 PM (PF Debate)
Prelim Round 2          5:45 PM
 
SCHEDULE - Saturday, December 9
 
Pairing Released       8:00 AM
Prelim Round 3          8:30 AM
Prelim Round 4          10:00 AM
Announcements         11:30 AM (elimination round participants will be announced during this time)
Elim Round 1             12:00 PM
Elim Round 2             1:30 PM
Elim Round 3             3:00 PM
Elim Round 4             4:30 PM
Elim Round 5             6:00 PM (if needed)
 
 
 
All preliminary rounds will be judged by a single judge.  All elimination rounds will be assigned a panel of five judges in the judge scheduling procedure, and each school will have the opportunity to strike one judge so that each round is ultimately judged by a panel of three judges.  Brackets are not broken when entries from the same school meet; coaches can choose to have a debate or can select an entry to win the round.
 
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The rules found on this page are not exhaustive. All students and coaches should consult the NSDA Competition Events Guide to ensure they are meeting NSDA requirements. This page merely highlights important guidelines. If you need clarification on any rule, please contact Zach Prax at zachary.prax@district196.org PRIOR to the first day of competition.

Some applicable rules: 

1. Eligibility. To participate in the NSDA District Speech/Debate Tournament Series and/or the District Student Congress, a person must (1) be a member of the NSDA at a school in good standing (coaches must verify that all of their entries were members of NSDA seven days prior to the tournament), (2) have not attended a secondary school more than 9 semesters, and (3) meet the age and eligibility requirements of his/her State Activities Association.

2. Formula for Determining the Number of Entries from the Members and Degrees (Chapter Strength) on Record (note - these entries are exclusive of additional entries allowed in Congressional Debate; there is a separate formula for that entry total).
 
1 - 15 members and degrees 4 entry
16 - 20 members and degrees 6 entries
21 - 30 members and degrees 10 entries
31 - 40 members and degrees 12 entries
41 - 50 members and degrees 15 entries
51 - 60 members and degrees 16 entries
61 - 70 members and degrees 18 entries
71 - 80 members and degrees 21 entries
81 - 90 members and degrees 23 entries
91 - 100 members and degrees 24 entries
101-120 members and degrees 27 entries
121-140 members and degrees 29 entries
141-160 members and degrees 32 entries
161-180 members and degrees 33 entries
181-200 members and degrees 34 entries
201-230 members and degrees 35 entries
231-260 members and degrees 37 entries
261-300 members and degrees 38 entries
301-350 members and degrees 39 entries
351-400 members and degrees 40 entries
401-500 members and degrees 42 entries
501-600 members and degrees 43 entries
601+ members and degrees 44 entries
  
3. Double-entry: The NSDA does not allow double-entry in debate events. Each competitor may choose only one debate event. Competition in debate does not affect the ability of a competitor to register in a single speech event and/or congress. 
 
4. Central MN NSDA Judge Strike Policy.  In preliminary rounds (in which single judges are used), each entry will be able to strike three judges from the main list and an unlimited number from the supplemental list. In elimination rounds, each entry will be able to strike one judge from the main list and an unlimited number from the supplemental list. Additionally in elimination rounds, each entry may strike one judge from a panel of five potential judges (leaving a panel of three judges). The head coach or a designated representative will be allowed to make the strike. If no representative of a school is present, the option to strike is forfeited. The district committee reserves the right to limit the number of strikes permitted if this strike policy makes the placement of judges impossible; prior to preliminary rounds, schools will be asked to rank their three strikes (top strike, second top strike, third top strike).  If placement of judges is impossible, the third top strike will be removed and the committee will reschedule with the top two strikes in place.
 
5. Central NSDA Tab Room Policy.  The Central Minnesota NSDA Tournament Headquarters is open to all head and assistant coaches.  Coaches may be present to observe the pairing of rounds, the assignment of judges, and the tabulation of results.  If a coach is in the tournament headquarters once a pairing of a round has begun, that coach must remain in the room until that pairing is released by the tab room to the entire tournament, and MUST NOT COMMUNICATE INFORMATION TO TEAMS OR OTHER COACHES (pairings, judges assignments, etc.) until the district committee has specifically given the "go-ahead" to do so.  In accordance with NSDA audit policies, ballots and results will be released to coaches (not entries) at the conclusion of each round.
 
6. NSDA Rules of Evidence.  In all rounds of LD and Public Forum Debate, debaters should, at a minimum, the authors name and year of publication. In all rounds of debate, complete citations for each piece of evidence introduced in the round must be available in the round. Written citations must include name of the author, qualifications, complete title of source (E.G. title of book, not chapter; title of journal, not article), and complete date. Online sources must also include the title of the site, database, or access point, the date accessed, and the web address. The additional citation required for online sources must appear on all evidence, but is not required to be read. Should two or more quotations be used from the same source, the author and title need be given orally only for the first piece of evidence from that source. In the subsequent oral citation, only the author’s name is required.  

7.  Computer Use.  The Central MN District Committee has ruled that laptops will be permitted in all district debate competition.  In addition, the Committee has opted to utilize the new Internet Pilot rules for ALL forms of debate and extemporaneous speaking for the 2019-2020 school year and beyond.  PLEASE REVIEW THE PILOT INTERNET RULES APPEAR IN THE UNIFIED RULES MANUAL. Per the NSDA, use of computers subjects all entries to the following conditions.

A. Availability of Evidence: Contestants electing to use computers shall have the responsibility to promptly provide a copy of any evidence read in a speech for inspection by the judge or opponent. Printers may be used. Evidence may be printed in the round or produced electronically, but must be provided in a format readable by the opposing team and the judge.
 
B. Contestants electing to use computers are responsible for providing their own computers, batteries, extension cords and all other necessary accessories. Tournament hosts shall not be responsible for providing computers, printers, software, paper, or extension cords for contestants.
 
C. Because public speaking decorum remains an important element of debate, all debaters are expected to stand at the front of the room facing the judge while speaking.
 
D. Contestants choosing to use laptop computers and related equipment accept the risk of equipment failure. No special consideration or accommodations, including no additional prep time or speech time, will be given by judges or contest directors should equipment failure occur.