Entry Requirements

Middle school division: 

Students entered into the middle school division must be enrolled in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade during the 2020-2021 school year. Competitors and their school must have NSDA membership prior to registering for the tournament.

Open division: 

Students entered into the Open division must also be enrolled in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade during the 2020-2021 school year. Competitors and their school must have NSDA membership prior to registering for the tournament.

School requirement:

All schools registering for the competition must have NSDA membership prior to registration. Any high school, middle school, home school, or virtual school recognized as an accredited public or private school by the state in which those schools compete may join the National Speech & Debate Association. All current nonschool-based clubs and organizations are encouraged to work with the Association and area school districts to create speech and debate programs through their students' schools.

Double entry:

Students may be entered in up to two speech events (DI, HI, POI, OO, INFO). The exception is Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking; students may not double enter if they wish to compete in Extemp. Students may only be entered in one debate event. Students may not double enter in a speech event and a debate event.

Entry limits:

Each school may enter up to six entries per event. There is a 200 cap per event in each division. There will be no waitlist. There will be no mavericks in Public Forum or Policy. World Schools teams must be from one school and consist of between 3 to 5 students. There must be 14 entries in an event for it to be held. No divisions will be collapsed, e.g. we will not combine a MS/Open division to meet minimum numbers. Coaches will be given an opportunity to re-register students in a different event if an event is unable to be held.

Forms:

There are no required forms for schools or competitors to complete. Schools will agree to this disclaimer prior to registration: "We certify that each registered contestant is a student at this school and will be under the supervision of an adult who is the student’s parent, coach, or school administrator, approved by the school principal."

Fees:

Thanks to the generosity of The Burke Foundation, NSDA member students will have no entry fee for this tournament. 

Student Technology Requirements:

Students must have a linked Tabroom.com account to access their online competition rooms. Rounds will be conducted in live NSDA Campus virtual competition rooms. Students are required to have access to a microphone, webcam, and sufficient internet access to be able to understand audio in a virtual competition room. Students in debate are expected to have a webcam that is turned on throughout the duration of the debate. Students in debate may turn off their camera if they find that enabling video affects their internet and lowers the audio quality in the competition room. Students are encouraged to read the Online Competition Tips Guide for ideas on technology to use, positions for their camera, and how to get best access to their internet. Coaches are encouraged to check out our Technology Resource Fund, presented by The Julia Burke Foundation, which is intended to provide financial support for NSDA member students who lack needed technology resources (webcams, microphones, laptop, hotspots, etc.) to successfully compete in online speech and debate activities.