Dear Coaches,

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We are pleased to invite you to the ASDA State Tournament March 3-4 on the campuses of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL.

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Please take time to navigate the pages listed to the right for all pertinent information regarding this tournament. In addition, I have posted the ASDA rules. There are a few things that I want to highlight.

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1) We are using the February PF topic and the Jan/Feb LD topic. We are NOT using the new March topics.

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LD topic: Resolved: Justice requires open borders for human migration.

PF topic: Resolved: In the United States, right-to-work laws do more harm than good.

BQ topic: Resolved: Humans are primarily driven by self-interest.

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2) This year we are running both sessions of Congress on Friday, March 3rd to avoid an extra night hotel cost. Please see the schedule on the right.

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3) Large teams please be aware of the entry cap rules. 24 in IE, and 20 in Debate. For Congress, you may enter up to 6 students in 2 of the 3 chambers.

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4) Please, please, please bring judges! This tournament only works if it is single flighted. Judges may be repeated in Congress, IE, and Debate, but cannot be entered in more than one debate event.

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5) I will send out ASDA Coach of the Year ballots via email to coaches at a future time.

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6) Tabroom registration closes on Monday, February 27 at 5pm. Please have entries finalized by this time.

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7) Legislation must be emailed to conolynb@vhcs.us by Thursday February 23rd. The packet will be sent back out to coaches on Friday, February 24th and posted on tabroom, one week before Congress begins. Each school may submit a maximum of 2 bills and we will use the same rules as Districts this year. The docket will be randomly set and there are no sponsorship speeches.

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8) In Speech, if there are 7 or fewer entries, there will be no Final round with place being determined by rounds 1-3. If there are 8 or more entries, there will be a Final round with place being determined by Finals.

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9) In Debate, if there are 7 or fewer entries, we will have a Round Robin tournament in that division. If there are 8 - 15 entries, we will break to Semifinals in that division. If there are 16 - 39 entires, we will break to Quarterfinals in that division. If there are 40+, we will break to Octafinals in that division.

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10) This year the tournament will offer Big Questions. This will run at the same time as the other debate events on Saturday in the same way. Entries into this event will count towards your 20 entry debate cap and will count towards sweepstakes points. However, this year we do not have a partnership with NSDA. This means the champion will not qualify to Nationals and semifinalists will not receive money for their schools like previous years.

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11) Payment information can be found on your invoice. If you need a W-9, please email our treasurer, Donna Yeager, at donna.yeager@gmail.com

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Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you at the tournament.

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Sincerely,

Nate Conoly, State tournament director

conolynb@vhcs.us