Chesapeake District Qualifier

for the 2021 National Tournament

Dear Coaches:  

Happy new year!  The District Committee looks forward to welcoming you and your team to the Chesapeake District Tournament, the qualifying tournament for the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament in June.  The District Tournament will be held completely virtually this year.

The tournament features competition in speech, debate, and congress events. 

Policy debate, public forum debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, international extemporaneous speaking and United States extemporaneous speaking will be held live on Saturday February 21st.  Informative speaking, original oratory, duo interpretation, dramatic interpretation, humorous interpretation, and program oral interpretation will be held asynchronously (recordings) with judging taking place from Wednesday February 17th to Saturday February 21st.  Congressional debate and Big Questions debate will be held live on Sunday February 22nd. 

Debate events will use the February NSDA topics.  To enhance the educational aspect of the tournament, electronic ballots with critiques will be provided in all rounds in all events. 

At the conclusion of the tournament, in addition to announcing the qualifiers, the district will award the District Student of the Year, Alumnus of the Year, Communicator of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Coach of the Year, Administrator of the Year, and New Coach of the Year.  Information on nominations is contained in this packet.

Please read the information in these pages carefully (even if you have attended Districts many times before), as this tournament is different than many others that you may be accustomed to attending. 

If you have any questions, you can reach Charles Donovan, District Chair at cdonovan@loyolablakefield.org. 

Sincerely,

Charles Donovan, Steve Sprouse, Tom Durkin, Teresa Needer, & Peter Susko      

The Chesapeake District Committee