League Information

Outline

I. Introduction / History

II. Calendar

III. Dues/Payment Information

IV. Reminders from Previous Years and Changes This Year

V. Forensics

VI. Debate

VII. Contact Information

VIII. Next Up

I. Introduction / History

A. Introduction

Welcome to the new year, folks!  Last year was… last year.  We are all super excited about getting back to the in-person competition and we certainly plan to make use of the lessons learned from last year (see IV. for more information) to hopefully help make this the best season of, and for, the Shenandoah Valley Forensics League!

Feel free to jump around as you need to as this e-mail will be one of the longest of the year!  I am also including this text as a document for the first time ever which will be posted on our Tabroom.com first tournament website and should be saved for quick reference as need be.

Just a friendly reminder, if you e-mail me with a question and the answer is somewhere in this e-mail I will simply respond with: "Read the e-mail."  This is to save both of us time!

-Stephen L. O'Baugh

Broadway High School Debate Coach and current baton holder for ShenVaFL.

Most, if not all, of today's information, may be found at our website: https://shenvafl.wordpress.com/  (References to the website will henceforth be hyperlinked.)

Our webmaster (and Clerk of Congress, Points Master, and all-around General Jack-Of-All-Trades) Mr. Michael Villacrusis of TA does a fantabulous job of maintaining and upkeeping all of the relevant information often sent out through me.

Questions answered on the website include:

What time do we start?

What time do we end?

When are awards?

What events are there?

Where do we post Student Congress legislation?

How much is it?

When/where are tournaments?

Results

B. History

From our founder - Bill Wonneberger

"Looking back through old files to find out just exactly when this league began, I found this letter I’d written in hopes of encouraging some money to help us join a new league back in 2005.  Two points really hit home.  First, I am not a good writer.  Second, we have accomplished the goal.  The Shenandoah Valley Forensics League works, and we can all take credit for that.  We have a wonderful team of coaches, mentors, and friends who have built exactly what we hoped for when we began.  Thank you.

Here is the letter if you’re curious.

Shenandoah Valley Debate

Bill Wonneberger

2005-2006

For the past sixteen years, I have been either coaching or assisting with the debate program at Turner Ashby High School.  Over that time debate programs have suffered statewide for a number of reasons.  Debate is a high-cost activity due in part to the materials, judges and the distances we have had to travel to compete.  Students must dedicate a great deal of time and effort to reach a competitive level of competency.  The debate climate also suffers from some problems relating to format and league design.  The VHSL takes responsibility for the State tournament but relies on coaches to schedule and run the District and Regional meets.  There has never been a set schedule of events for practice to help coaches develop students’ skills.  This has also led to inconsistency in competitive philosophies in coaching and in judging.  To facilitate a practice season the league has published a list of invitational events that are primarily fundraising activities for the host schools.  These tournaments are spread over a large geographic region and they are costly to attend.  Fees are usually based on a per-student or per pairing basis and may run as high as 25-30 dollars per entry.  Add to that the cost of judges and transportation and it is easy to see that the costs are high and the quality is unpredictable.

Struggling to develop a competitive team over the years, I have become increasingly aware that the difficulty in establishing a viable program is nearly universal.  With few exceptions, costs, time, and proximity to other teams continues to deter development.  The simple solution seems to be to help establish other teams locally.  Working together the coaches in Rockingham County have nearly achieved that goal.  We now have teams in all three high schools.  Our next objective is to assist teams beyond our district but still in the neighborhood.  We have opened communications with Eastern Mennonite High School and Harrisonburg High School.  Our hope is to have all five schools share a bus to tournaments this year.  The students build strong friendships, they help teach each other, and they root for each other at meets.  Hard to believe but it really happens and it is great to watch.

Recently an opportunity to greatly advance this process has developed.  The following is an excerpt from an e-mail I received on August 22, 2005.  I think it is self-explanatory:

Dear All,

Thanks to Arch (Sherando Debate Coach) for starting the ball rolling.  Arch approached me with this idea a year ago and I have been spending the summer meeting with the VHSL, the debate and speech coaches at JMU, the speech coach at LFCC, and Bill Wonneberger, debate coach at Turner Ashby High School.  We have a great deal of support for this league.

The Northern Virginia Forensics League in the DC Metroplex has been using this 2-round, mid-week tournament format for over 30 years with a great deal of success.  We would like to export the format to the Shenandoah Valley and give programs an opportunity for expansion, supply new coaches a support network, and offer students more rounds of competition with important judge feedback.  This is conceived very much as a learning league. 

B.A. Gregg

District Chairman NFL

Randolph Macon Academy

Basically, a new league offers us the chance to compete more often at lower costs, closer to home, and will greatly aid schools in developing new programs in both debate and forensics.  The initial cost for joining should be $50.00 per team.  The Northern Virginia League will cover the costs for medals and trophies.  Membership to the National Forensics League will be included.  Students will be awarded NFL points for every competition and have the opportunity to compete at the national qualifiers tournament in January.  The Virginia High School League has endorsed this new league and George Mason and James Madison Universities have pledged assistance and funding.

In Conclusion, a new Shenandoah Valley Forensics League offers the opportunity to greatly enhance our efforts to help our students develop valuable skills in debate, forensics and public speaking in general.  This document has been developed in hopes of informing and gathering additional support for continuing our efforts.  Thanks for taking the time to read about our endeavors.

Respectfully,

Bill Wonneberger"

C. ShenVaFL Crew (The people who make it all happen) 

The following folks help embody Bill's vision of "many hands make light work" or in other (cornier) terms, "teamwork makes the dream work".  I invite you to see who all helps make everything possible for ALL of us and wonder at the variety of schools involved.  If I left someone off the list I sincerely apologize and you have ample permission to smack me upside the back of my head!

Who's who?

Michael Villacrusis (Turner Ashby) - VP of Operations, Clerk of Congress, Web Master, Form Designer extraordinaire!

Tracee McDonald - Treasurer, Check-in Specialist, Supplies Procurer, Utility Tabber, and all-around amazing human being!

Cara Walton (Harrisonburg) - Forensics Chief, Forensics tabber, Photography expert, and stellar person to be around!

Danae Delozier (Harrisonburg) - Forensics Briefing Magnate, Forensics tabber, and one of the brightest rays of sunshine in the tab!

Erin Widener (Waynesboro) - Extemp guru and outstanding ShenVaFL advisor!  In addition to this Erin manages one of the most amazing Forensics teams ever.  Just ask about the moose.

Emmett Sheahan (Spotswood) - This gentleman represents a significant portion of the brainpower and support for our Student Congress program.  Student Congress saw the most growth and change over the past few years!  In conjunction with Mr. Villacrusis (our Clerk of Congress) I dare say that we have one of the best Student Congress farm leagues out there!

Craig Edgerton (Fluvanna) - Craig has been an absolutely essential addition to the ShenVaFL crew as his advice has helped steer us in the direction that we feel is in the best interest of our competitors.  Craig is also an absolutely authoritative source when it comes to Forensics and anything Forensics related, which is why he will be helping us lead our Forensics judging overview at each tournament!

Ray Smith - Mr. Smith has worn many hats in ShenVaFL, first as a coach for Woodberry Forest and then as one of our resident parliamentarians last year and now as a consultant/advisor who will hopefully be able to join us in January for Champs as a parliamentarian.  One particularly noteworthy addition to our league this year is in an attempt to have uniform scoring guidelines which were at his suggestion and helped guide our discussion to where we have landed for this year.  Be sure to check it out under item IV. D.

Hosts (building managers) for tournaments this year:

Michael Villacrusis: October's tournament at Turner Ashby

Steve O'Baugh: November's tournament at Broadway

Aaron Cosner: December's tournament at Harrisonburg

Mick Souder (JMU): January's ShenVaFL Champs

II. Calendar

All of the information listed here is also on the website.  Feel free to reference that as much as this e-mail for items pertaining to the league, season, and individual tournaments.

Tor Johnson Halloween Costume Contest Tournament: Thursday, October 28th at Turner Ashby High School.

ShenVaFL #2: Thursday, November 11th at Broadway High School.

ShenVaFL #3: Thursday, December 9th at Harrisonburg High School. 

Championship (champs): Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at James Madison University.

Snow Date: Saturday, February 5th.

Entries for ALL tournaments are due Friday, the week before by 5:30 p.m.

You can change entries (name change/swap/drop/add judges) up until the Wednesday before the tournament until 5:30 p.m.  After that, there will be a nuisance fee (see below).

The start time for regular-season tournaments is 4:30 registration, 5:00 for Policy Debate, 5:15 for LD and PF, 5:30 for ALL Speech and Congress swearing-in, 5:45 for Congress Round 1.

Awards are always hoped to be at 8:30, but just as it says on the website: "Ending on time is an aspiration, not a common occurrence."  

Registration is through the website www.tabroom.com 

If you are not already there please head over and register your school and go ahead and start setting up your roster.  You'll see our first tournament of the year appear soon.  Any questions/issues with tabroom.com feel free to respond to me first and I'll take it from there.  I have some resources provided under IV. F. to help in this endeavor.

III. Dues/Payment Information

A. Season/League Dues

Our season-long (October - December) fee still stands at $50.

This covers any/ALL Debate and/or Forensics entries!

Of course, what helps keep our entry flat and cheap is each team bringing judges with them so please continue to do this!

B. Payment

The INVOICE is on the website.  Feel free to mail checks to our treasurer, Ms. Tracee McDonald.

OR

You may simply pay when you show up for the first tournament on October 28th at Turner Ashby!

C. Championship (Champs)

The Shenandoah Valley Forensics League Championship in January has individual entry fees to help offset the cost of the trophies for the competitors/schools.

Individuals: $10

Duos/Partners: $15

The other thing of note when it comes to Champs is that it does have a qualifying requirement.  This means that in order to qualify the Foresnicator and/or Debater will need to place in the top six in their field at some tournament that season.  If someone in the top six has already qualified previously we will move down the list of finishers accordingly to find the next non-qualified individual.  This will help provide the best competition when it comes to the tournament in January at JMU.

D. Fees/Penalties

As we have done over the past few years there is still a charge if you are short a judge in a particular area.

Speech (and Congress): $75 (You are asked to bring one judge for every SIX entries.)

Debate: $50 (You are asked to bring one judge for every TWO entries (LD/PF/CX).

Also, there is a "nuisance fee" for any changes that need to be done after 5:30 p.m. the day before the tournament.  If a student/duo drops it is $10 per drop UNLESS it is an emergency drop (illness, death in the family, etc.) in which case there is no charge.  Use your discretion and also use this as a teachable moment when it comes to competitors not being ready in time for a tournament.

IV. Reminders from Previous Years and Changes This Year

A. Awards Recognitions (Reminder)

One thing we would like to work on, as a league, is a bit of decorum and consistency in our awards recognitions.  We certainly understand the fact that everyone is tired and run down at the end of what is a very long day, but in order to help expedite awards and recognize those that are truly deserving we are going to give a brief overview before each awards assembly about going through the single-clap for qualifier recognitions, places two through six, and ask that everyone please stand to recognize and clap (more than just one) for the tournament winner.

B. No More Maverick (PF/CX-Policy) - Reminder

One of the things discussed at the end of the year that we have seen as a growing issue in ShenVaFL is the notion of Maverick debate.  This is something that has been allowed over the years but is getting to a point where there is genuine concern that individuals seek to run Maverick with little to no effort put forth in finding a partner in what is a partner event.

In Forensics if a member of a duo is not present then the whole entry is dropped.  VHSL rules clearly stipulate that there must be a partner present in Policy (CX) and Public Forum.  While we are a learning league it is important to also learn about responsibility and dependability when it comes to events that involve having a partner.  While it is unfortunate when a partner is ill or ill-prepared there is still the opportunity to learn in watching others compete.  

C. Two Judge Panels in Forensics - (Reminder and Something New)

A suggestion made at the end of the last in-person year was to consider doing two-judge panels at Champs in January (Thanks, Mr. Edgerton of Fluvanna for that!) with the focus being on feedback for students as well as helping to clear up the "dirty judge" issue.  This idea stayed with me throughout the development of this past virtual season.  What we found is that two-judge panels are always better than one even if there is a school association involved.  

However, providing two-judge panels in all events was simply too much to hope for unless we adjusted our judging requests/requirements which I know would not be the most popular idea.  So, to help split that middle ground, what we are going to attempt to do this year is akin to what we did last year when we were all virtual: plan for two-judge panels in events that have more than one section wherever and whenever possible.  Any event that consists of one section (reminder that our section sizes go up to 7 in ShenVaFL) will have one judge for both rounds.

Again, the benefits here are that competitors may receive more feedback and judges may be able to do plenty of more events since the cloud of potential bias is removed by having at least one judge removed from that school's association.  The other big thing we are trying to do is help and avoid ties as much as it is possible to do.  In a two-round tournament this is not always feasible, but anything we can do to help break down ranks and placements the better.  In that same vein, we are also going to try to have some more formalized scoring take place…

D. Uniform Scoring (New)

Courtesy of Mr. Ray Smith we have a suggestion to adopt a scoring model that would hopefully help provide better and more consistent feedback to our students and also help alleviate some possible ties throughout the regular season.  Here is what we are looking to make use of for this coming season:

Debate:

30 - Best Speaker; Should Win the Tournament

29 - Excellent Speaker; Should be in the Top 3 for the tournament.

28 - Good; Should have a winning record

27 - Progressing

26 - Needs Work

25 - Needs a Lot of Work

24 & below - Unsportsmanlike; Completely Unprepared

Speech:

100-98 - Best Speaker; Should Win the Tournament

97-93 - Excellent Speaker; Should be in the Top 3 for the tournament.

92-88 - Good; Could Place in Top 6 for Tournament; Some slight slip-ups - not many

87-83 - Progressing; Stumbled at times, Long Pauses; Very Short

82-80 - Needs Work;

Below 80 - Unsportsmanlike; Completely Unprepared

Source: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OIiUsNH8YYs4BFDeaE2qGM8-9ZFmJ23ALpeG2ZRpI3Y/edit?usp=sharing

 E. JMU Involvement (New-ish)

JMU coach Mick Souders (soudermc@jmu.edu) has graciously reached out to our little league, and has put forth some great resources for folks to make use of, and has even taken on the hosting responsibilities of our season-ending championship in January!  

We are hopeful that there may be a Policy workshop at our first tournament in October, but the other following opportunity is one I would encourage folks to take advantage of 

From Coach Souder:

“Coaching - We'd like our debaters to assist in coaching. It's good for them, it's good for the community. I'd also like it to involve volunteering but later move into paid options.  Here's my thought:

1. We have some young (freshmen/sophomores) coaches available for volunteer work. 

2. We have some more experienced folks available for paid coaching. (More information available for this as it would be a shared payment structure between JMU and the school requesting assistants.)

3. If a school is in real need with no resources, we can foot the bill for a limited amount of paid coaching.” 

F. Tournament Logistics/Management/Tabulation through Tabroom.com (Somewhat New)

Building off of the year that we just had there are some tournament operations that we are going to adjust as there are particular benefits built-in that I think we could all take advantage of:

-Ballots / Postings

We will continue the use of Tabroom.com for postings/balloting and releasing results just like we did last year.  This means that all students AND judges MUST have a Tabroom.com account in order to participate.  This should be made easier following the tournaments we did last year, but you will certainly need to check with any/all judges and new competitors to make sure that they have an account. 

There are many benefits to this approach as we discovered last year and we would like to build off of that to hopefully help streamline the process of running our two-round tournaments throughout the year.

-Judges

Judges will need to bring devices with them to tournaments.  While it has been confirmed that phones may be used for completing ballots it would be recommended that using a device such as a laptop may make it easier.

-Student Congress Exception

Student Congress will remain on paper due to the logistics that we discovered in doing that particular event, but everything else will make use of online ballots, text/e-mail blasts for round postings, and results will be released (including ballots) after awards have been announced each evening.

-Folders

Folders will still exist for Student Congress and receipt purposes but know that there are some other matters that make using Tabroom.com for tournament running a good and better choice (see letter I. Pandemic Protocol).

-Resources

Here are some resources to help in this which were used heavily last year:

Creating a Tabroom.com Account and Setting up your Team

Creating a Student Account in Tabroom.com

Linking Student Accounts in Tabroom.com

Tabroom.com Competitor Accounts

Creating a Judge Account on Tabroom.com

Judge Account Linking Directions

Tabroom.com Judging

G. JV in Debate (New!)

After some discussion, we are going to only offer a JV division in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.  This is in consideration of trying to help develop programs and debaters as well as provide solid learning experiences for judges and competitors alike.

H. Student Congress Chamber Formatting (New-ish)

At the same time, we are going to try out some new formatting for Student Congress to help encourage those that are new to the event.  I don’t want to use the term JV, but there will be a novice chamber available at November’s tournament for those that are new so that there may be some concerted work towards learning and developing the debate skills necessary in Student Congress.  

The makeup of the chambers for the year will look like this:

October - One chamber - Mixed (veterans and newcomers)

November - Two chambers - Veteran and Novice

December - Mixed chambers

January - Qualifications required, but mixed chambers

I. Pandemic Protocols

Masking

As we were working on setting up for this season we consulted with the highest administrative levels of our host schools and the guidance/requirements that were given to us are as follows:

Masks are required in the building when performing.  Masking does not mean a face shield, but some type of covering over the nose and mouth which must be worn at all times when in a school building.

Furthermore, concerning tournament mechanics one thing came up and was discussed with the following decisions made:

-No food will be served at the tournaments as six-foot spacing would be almost impossible to enforce/maintain.

-Eating to/from the tournament site is up to each school/coach to manage as they see fit.  (Outside of the building is acceptable or back on the bus during the tournament in between rounds would also be okay.)

-This includes food for the judges’ lounge.  We will do our best to let judges know of their judging assignments so they may plan accordingly.

One thing to note is that with the transition to tournament dynamics going through Tabroom.com the e-mail/text messaging system will be in place to let judges know their assignments as well as the competitors.  So, if someone is outdoors or in a vehicle they need not worry about missing an announcement as this will be sent to them directly.

This, of course, depends on being registered with Tabroom.com in order to have e-mail/text messaging enabled.

We, obviously, understand how this is not ideal, but we are not exactly operating in ideal times.  Is it better than last year?  Absolutely.  Is it just like it always was?  Not quite and not yet.  In order to be able to offer this opportunity to compete, we must follow through with host site guidelines and do everything we can to keep our students, judges, and coaches safe.

V. Forensics

A. Entry Limits

There are none.  If we get to be too big for a building this will be revisited.  This also applies to debate.

B. Double Entries

Extemp has not been able to double enter for as long as this league has been around and so that will continue. 

With us switching tournament mechanics to Tabroom.com we are going to once again open up Double Entry to duos in addition to all other events.

C. Codes

Codes will be provided via Tabroom.com and should be utilized (this is a change from previous years).

D. Extemp

Laptops in Extemp -

"In preparing their speeches, students may refer to magazine and newspaper articles or printouts they have brought with them, or to files they have previously saved to a laptop computer.  They may not use the Internet during their prep time."

Observing -

We would strongly encourage competitors to observe after they complete their performance in order to better learn by watching others.  The only speaker that this would prove difficult for would be the first speaker in the second round.  Everyone should be staying and watching during the second round during October, November, and December.

Topic selection -

Topics will be shared out at the beginning of the month.  For the first tournament, to encourage new extempers the question list will be shared out in addition to the topic areas to help further prepare them.  After October only topic areas will be shared out.

E. Impromptu

This year we are looking to work in some deliberate topic areas at each tournament.  Here is a quick breakdown:

October - People and Events

November - Quotations and Things

December - Potpourri.  There will be a mixture of all four topic areas in each round.

January - An attempt to work in all four topic areas.

Also, based on last year and other tournaments/leagues we are adjusting how Impromptu is to be run.

Rather than have individuals wait outside of the room and be called in one at a time we will have everyone in the room to watch everyone throughout.  This requires more topic selection which we are willing to take on, but we feel it would be in the best interest of the competitors to be able to watch everyone compete.

It also greatly assists with double-entry as those that are double entered may either go first or last depending on their preference.

F. Script Use

As we have done in previous years, scripts will be permitted at the first tournament in October and the script rule shall be utilized and enforced for the rest of the season.  

 VI. Debate

As always, we will continue to make use of NSDA topics all year long which may be found on their website: www.speechanddebate.org

Also, there are no entry limitations for debate and so long as buildings may house us we will continue to keep it this way.

A. JV versus Varsity

A good question that comes up from time to time is why offer JV? or how do I know which one to register my debater in?  

JV helps ease some new debaters by ideally starting them off with someone of their caliber or experience level.  Some coaches don't believe in JV which is their prerogative, but in order to help establish ourselves as a learning league and encourage debaters of all backgrounds, we offer a stepping stone that maintains all of the rules and topics, but ideally tries to pair debaters with those that are starting out just like they are.

I personally start all new debaters, regardless of age/grade level, in JV and if they manage to qualify for Champs before December then move them up to Varsity to see and experience more practiced and veteran debaters.  Also, after two years of competition in ShenVaFL starting in JV is not an option for those in my program.

But, again, this is my prerogative as a coach and everyone may decide to approach it in a different fashion. 

We have never felt the need to have a hard and fast rule for this as we know coaches know their debaters better than any of us and know what is appropriate for them and their program.

Also, per the changes noted above JV is only available for Lincoln-Douglas Debate this year.

B. Congress 

1. Legislation - The first tournament of the year is still wide open in terms of legislation posting, but students will be and are encouraged to also submit topic area ideas on the ShenVaFL website.

Also, for the first tournament and first tournament ONLY (I will repeat this in the next e-mail concerning Tor Johnson), we are looking to introduce Student Congress to those that are new by not requiring legislation from EVERY Student Congress Debater.  

Instead, we are asking for a maximum of TWO pieces of legislation from each participating school.  These do NOT need to be labeled as docket a or b as they should be from two different DIEV areas if doing more than one.

After the first tournament, our Clerk of Congress will be selecting topic areas for the remaining tournaments for the year (November, December, and Champs - January which should also feature a Super Session) and each Student Congress Debater will be required to submit a piece of legislation in order to compete/qualify for Champs.

There should be a link on the website or on the Student Congress portion of the website where students (and coaches!) may submit potential topic areas.

It’s also linked here.

2. Chamber Postings - Just like last year, we found a lot of benefit in having COACHES pre-determine the chambers that their students will be in.  This kept things equitable between the two.  We, ideally, would like to see two strong chambers with lots of leading and learning to go on.  The blind leading the blind does little good to help expand the event.  There will be a Google Sheet sent out, yet again, when it comes time to announce the opening of the next tournament.

For the second tournament, especially, if you would prefer that certain debaters be in a chamber together based on their experience level please be sure to note that in sharing your chambers with Mr. Villacrusis and/or me.

3. Judges - Per discussion with Mr. Painter it was decided that Congress will no longer have its own judge category, but will be, instead, folded into Forensics.  What this means for you:  If you are someone who coaches BOTH Forensics and Debate your judge burden was just significantly lowered.

e.g. I am bringing two Student Congress debaters and an Extemporaneous speaker.  In previous years I would need one judge for Student Congress and one judge for Forensics.  Now, I just need one judge instead of two.

If you ONLY do Debate, realize that you STILL need to bring judges, but they may be used in Speech Categories as well (and of course EVERYONE is good for Public Forum judging!).

We will continue to do the best that we can when it comes to assigning judges in ALL events but it takes everyone's participation to make it work.

4. PO Judging - We will continue to ask Parliamentarians to judge POs and not put the burden on Student Congress judges so that Presiding Officers may receive truly pointed and expertly written feedback which may assist them later in the year.

 5. Coach Oversight - Please, coaches, be looking over legislation before students submit.  We always want kids to put themselves into what they are doing, but legislation that is recycled, shock value-oriented, and/or lazy needs to be coached.

C. Public Forum 

The only change this year is in not having a JV category.  If we are truly bursting at the seams at any point this year we may consider double-flighting PF, but we are hoping to avoid that.  Please note that the topic for November is also the same for December per NSDA.

We are not abiding by the NSDA change in PF timing but maintaining the two minutes for Summary and Final Focus.  

Per the above discussion is that we will not be permitting maverick debate in Public Forum.

We are not using novice topics (NSDA).

D. Lincoln-Douglas 

As we continue to do, we will NOT be offering LD Novice.  There are many reasons for this which you may ask me about, but the simple answer is: We don't need it.

LD will also be double-flighted again this year based on numbers.  If we are able to get by with simply double-flighting JV then we will, but there is a good chance that both JV and Varsity will need to be double-flighted.  This is an added benefit for those debaters observing as they will get to watch how other debaters perform and will be exposed to even more ideas and original thought.

E. Policy

We will once again be (hopefully) holding a Policy Clinic at our first tournament in October.  Also, per the above - no maverick.

VII. Contact Information

A. Personal Information

Serving as league head please address any/all questions to me directly and if I don't have or know an answer I will certainly consult someone who does.  My cell number is 540-421-3716. 

Please do let me know if there is anyone that should be on this list and also feel free to forward this message along to those that may be interested in joining our wonderful (not so little anymore!) league!

I certainly try to get to folks in a timely manner and I apologize for the delays in responses.  I also apologize if I am ever appearing to be somewhat curt in my responses as I am simply trying to answer as quickly and efficiently as possible.  I tend to go with a "need to know" response.

Also, if there is an answer to something in one of these e-mail blasts that come out I will simply respond with "read the e-mail".  

B. Arrival Times - Also Tabroom.com On-Site Check-In!

If you are going to be arriving after 5 p.m. please call me (540-421-3716) or text and let me know if there are any drops or changes that we need to know about.  Also, feel free to simply text me when you are on your way with everyone as we can pre-register you on-site which helps with setting up rounds faster which we all appreciate!

I will try to call coaches, as well, starting from here on out, but I need numbers to be entered into Tabroom and be accurate for me to make use of them.

 The sooner we know if you have any drops/changes the sooner we can go ahead and pair rounds and get things moving in the tab room.  Even though you may be showing up after 5 we can make up for any lost time by not waiting for rounds to be announced. 

Following our experience last year please know that you can actually check yourself in ahead of time via Tabroom.com.  This would be good if you have no changes to who all you are bringing to tournaments - judges and competitors.  Either way is fine so long as we know about any/all drops.

C. Judge Notes

Please check any notes you have on judges as we DO look at those and can use that information to make sure that we are using people to the best of their abilities.  If you have someone entered into Congress to judge, but they are qualified for Lincoln-Douglas or Speech please do put that on there.  If we end up being short in an area when setting up the night before we look at the notes to see who we might be able to slide into another category.

VIII. Next Up

Within the next few days I will be e-mailing about the first tournament of the year as well as opening up the tabroom for: The Shenandoah Valley Forensics League Tor Johnson Halloween Costume Classic Tournament after I hear back from some key sources of information and direction!

(At TA!)

Thanks, everyone, for all that you do and please, don't hesitate to respond with questions/concerns.

-Steve O'Baugh

Google Doc version of this e-mail for saving and referring to as need be.