East Iowa District Qualifier

for the 2018 National Tournament

Congress Requirements

The District Congress tournament is an important event for our District, as it is another chance to qualify students to attend the National tournament.  

In order to participate, a few guidelines must be met.  I have broken down these requirements by category: school, student, and entry guidelines.

 School Requirements (Same as District IE/Debate)

 Each school must meet specific requirements to be able to compete at the District Congress tournament.  Here is a list of the most important items:

 1.  School Registration – Each school must register with the National Speech and Debate Association.  You can register by clicking on this link:

 http://points.speechanddebate.org/points_application/applyschool.php

 2.  School Fees – All school fees and outstanding invoices must be paid prior to the beginning of the tournament.  If outstanding fees are not paid prior to the state of the context, the school and its students are ineligible to participate. 

  3.  Tournament Registration – All tournament registration must be completed a minimum of seven days (168 hours) prior to the beginning of the tournament through the Joy of Tournaments website.  This includes downloading and printing the official form and obtaining all necessary signatures on each form.  All registration material must be turned into the District Chair.  If registration materials are incomplete at the start of the District Tournament, the affected students will be ineligible to participate.

Student Requirements (Same as District IE/Debate)

 Most of the student requirements will be handled by the head coach, but some steps may require student participation.  Here is a list of the most important items:

 1.  Members Only – Students must be a member of the National Speech and Debate Association to compete, which requires a minimum of 25 NFL points.  NSDA points are obtained through competitive speech/debate tournaments, as well as other speaking engagements.  For a complete list of eligible activities, click on the following link:

https://www.speechanddebate.org/competition-events/

 2.  High School Students Only – Students may not have attended a secondary school more than 9 semesters and must meet the age/eligibility requirements of his/her state activities association. 

 3.  Online Registration – All students  must complete the online registration or they cannot compete at the District tournament.  Students can do so by going to the following link:

https://www.speechanddebate.org/join/

  Students should follow all on-screen guidelines and continue through the process until they are registered.  Until students complete register, they will not be allowed to compete at the District Congress tournament and student degrees will not help increase the school’s degree strength.  

 Entry Guidelines

 Now that schools and students are registered and eligible to compete, there are some additional guidelines on what you can enter at the District Congress tournament.  Here are the most important points:

 1.  Single Entry Intent Form – No student may double enter at the National Tournament.  Therefore, each student must submit a Single Entry Letter of Intent to the District Chair.  This form must be on file by the start of the District Tournament.  You can download the form here:

https://www.speechanddebate.org/rules-forms-manuals/#districts

  This form requires the student signature, parent/guardian, coach, and principal.  Please ensure this is completed prior to the District Congress tournament date.  

2.  Entry Limts– Each event is capped at 2 entries per school in the Senate and a certain number of entries in the House.  A school may enter as many entries as they can, based on their degree strength.  You can verify how many entries you are allowed by visiting:

http://points.speechanddebate.org/points_application/reports.php

 Click on "District" and select "East Iowa."  You can verify how many House/Senate "slots" are available for your entry. 

3.  Congress Specific Rules - Everything listed above is important, but it should be old news...the exact same information was presented at the District Speech/Debate tournament.  Here are some additional, Congress specific details:

A.  Legislation - Each school is asked to send in at least 2 bills or resolutions.  Each bill/resolution must be formatted properly.  Templates for legislation can be found at:

http://www.congressionaldebate.org

 On the rigth-hand side, just click on the "Templates" link for help with formatting.  For more information regarding legislation, see the "Legislation" tab above.

B.  Time Allowances and Sessions - For a one-day tournament, District Congress must allow for seven hours of debate, which includes two sessions, breaks, and meals.  Each session is three hours in length.

C.  Judges - All judges are required to be unaffiliated.  As such, schools will not be providing judges for this event.  Each chamber will have 2 judges per session.  In addition, each chamber will have a Parliamentiarian who is not scoring - however, they are there to keep the chamber running smoothly.  

D.  Senate Guidelines - In order to hold a Senate, where 2 students from the chamber qualify for Nationals, 8 schools are required to be present and active.  If there are not 8 schools present and active at the tournament, a Senate cannot be held.  If a Senate is held, 2 qualifiers will attend Nationals.

E.  House Guidelines - Each District can hold as many Houses as their entry count justifies.  In each House, 16-29 students in the chamber qualify one student.  When you have more than 29 entries, you hold 2 Houses, with each qualifying a student.  NOTE: Each House must have a minimum of 16 students to qualify a student to Nationals.

If you still have questions regarding District Congress, you may download the complete District Tournament Manual at the following link:

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

 The full text of the rulebook is 54 pages and goes into every possible scenario for the District Tournaments.  The NSDA has taken great efforts to ensure all schools are given an equal chance at qualify students to the National tournament.