Kentucky District Qualifier

for the 2021 National Tournament

Congress Tournament Invitation

The Kentucky District National Qualifying Tournament for Congress will be held Saturday, February 27th, on the Tabroom/NSDA Campus platform.  Please read this invitation carefully, utilize the hyperlinks, and ask questions as you have them.  Although the process has been streamlined in recent years, there is a lot of information and registering to compete at the district tournament is a time consuming process!  You cannot wait until the last minute to register.  

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Schedule (all times Eastern):

8:00am Registration/Check-in

8:30-11:30 House/Senate Preliminary Sessions

12:30pm Advancing Entries Announced

1:00-4:00 House/Senate Supersessions*

5:00pm Awards

Holding congress virtually means that we will have smaller chambers; however, if there are not enough entries to warrant multiple chambers in the House and/or the Senate there will be 2 preliminary sessions.

School Limits:  Each school receives a total number of entries based on its strength (members and degrees).  You can see this information when you look at your school profile.      

Student Entries: Entries in the congress tournament do not impact eligibility for the IE/debate tournament that will be held in March.  Students may enter both.  We need at least 16 entries in House and entries from 8 different schools in Senate to qualify students for the National Tournament.  Note that at this year’s national tournament, a school may enter up to two non-qualifying students in supplemental events (extemp commentary, extemp debate, prose, poetry, expository, impromptu, storytelling).  Those students must have been entered in the district series.  Even if you don’t think your student would qualify for nationals, still enter districts! 

Judges: You must provide 1 judge for every 5 entries in congress.  One judge should be a coach listed on your NSDA school coaching roster.  We want to send our best kids to nationals, therefore we need the best judges we can get!  

Fees:  Entries are $12.  Missing/hired judges are $60.  All schools are assessed the following fees: $10 for Susan Moore Award and $60 for a congress judge fee.  Note: if the tournament is able to use your congress judges, you will be relieved of this fee once online registration has closed.  You do not need to pay for this tournament in advance, but ALL PREVIOUS money owed to the district AND nationals must be paid by “on-site” registration or your school will not be allowed to compete.  

Legislation:

Legislation should follow the NSDA template.  Schools may enter up to four pieces of legislation, and must be submitted by a coach of the school.  Legislation should be marked either for prelims or supersession.   Legislation is due via this form Friday, February 19 at 5:00pm EST.  Legislation will be released on the tournament website no later than Monday, February 22 by 5pm EST.

Special Rules:  Please make sure to read the congress sections in the unified manual.  Note that the pilot qualification rules (which are no longer a pilot) are things our district has already been doing for years.  We are NOT doing direct questioning.  As competition is online, we will be following the NSDA guidelines for internet use.  Here are some other rules/procedures to note that are often different from invitational tournaments:   In order for a student to “count” as a competitor in the district tournament, that student must give a speech.  Precedence/recency RESETS each session.  Due to the online nature, this year precedence will be randomly assigned each session.     

Nominate your students and colleagues for awards!  Please nominate worthy individuals for awards:  Only one of these awards (Susan Moore) will be given out at the district congress tournament.  The others will be awarded in March at the culmination of our district series.

Student of the Year - presented to a graduating senior who best represents the tenets of the Association’s Code of Honor: integrity, respect, humility, leadership, and service. Nominees must also demonstrate strong academic credentials and a commitment to the speech and debate community. The district winner is considered for the national award. The nomination form is found online and is due March 15.

Susan Moore Award - cash award presented to a graduating senior who is competing in congress at the district tournament. The nominating letter should describe the senior’s congress activities (including awards and leadership positions), community and school activities/participation, and especially service and participation in NSDA at the district and national levels.  Each school may nominate one student. Nomination letters are due online by February 22.

Coach of the Year - honors high school coaches who reflect outstanding leadership and commitment to speech and debate activities. Nominees must be established NSDA member coaches. Coaches cannot nominate themselves. The district winner is considered for the national award.  The nomination form is found online and is due March 15.

New Coach of the Year - presented to an exemplary high school coach who is in his or her first year of NSDA membership (coaching merit date on/after July 1, 2020).  Coaches cannot nominate themselves.  The district winner is considered for the national award.  The nomination form is found online and is due March 15. 

Assistant Coach of the Year - recognizes an exemplary high school assistant coach serving at an NSDA member school.  Coaches cannot nominate themselves.  The district winner is considered for the national award.  The nomination form is found online and is due March 15.

Administrator of the Year - recognizes a school or district administrator who supports speech and debate activities.  The district winner is considered for the national award.  The nomination form is found online and is due March 15.

National Tournament:  June 13-18, ONLINE

Deadlines:

Friday, February 19, 5pm EST: legislation due via this form

Friday, February 19, 11:59pm EST: entries due on Tabroom 

Monday, February 22, 11:59pm EST: Susan Moore nominations due via this form