SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

January 2015

Dear Colleagues:

On behalf of the National Forensic Association, its National Council and Tournament Committee, I am pleased to invite you to the 2015 NFA National Championship Tournament, to be held in Athens, OH at Ohio University on April 16-20. Host Dan West is planning what will surely be an entertaining, competitive and educational experience for everyone.

Congratulations to last year’s Open Sweepstakes and Lincoln-Douglas Sweepstakes winners, Western Kentucky University, Pentathlon winner, Andrew Neylon from Ball State University, Founders Trophy winners, Eastern Michigan University, and Lincoln-Douglas Speaker Award champion, Joseph Rothschild from Lafayette College. And a special congratulations to the recipient of the NFA Eddie Myers Distinguished Service Award, Audrey Cunningham of the University of Indianapolis.

This invitation and registration website, www.speechwire.com/nfa, contains a wealth of information for you, divided into the following areas:

Registration Information and Deadlines

Tournament Schedule (tentative)

Tournament Fee Structures

Host Site Information

2015 Impromptu Schema

NFA Event Rules

NFA Code of Ethics

Contact Information

You can access these sections either through the tabs above, or obtain your own copies by using "Files for Download." Please note that the site is currently open for information only, and will not open for registration until March 1, 2015. Until that time, the "Fees" tab and the "Tournament Schedule" tab above will remain inactive. However, you can find information about all of these things under "Files for Download" as well as the custom information pages we have created.

Please read all sections carefully, as things change from year to year. Inevitably, you will need to know something that is not covered here, and I encourage you to contact me with whatever questions or needs you may have related to the tournament. In addition, if you need more information about the organization, including how events qualify to the National Championship Tournament, please visit our website at www.nationalforensics.org.

Speaking of qualifications, If you have hosted a tournament and have not yet submitted the results, please visit https://www.speechwire.com/nfareporting to report these results as soon as you can. Programs rely on tournament hosts to report results so that qualifications can be verified. To determine whether the results of a particular tournament have been reported, please visit https://www.speechwire.com/c-nfa-reported.php.

Finally, in order to register for the National Championship Tournament, or report tournament results, you must have a SpeechWire account. The sooner you create one the better, as it will help results reporting, record keeping, and entry verification.

1. The tournament QUALIFICATION deadline is Monday, March 30, 2015. No tournaments held after this date will qualify for NFA. All tournament results should be reported by this time.

2. The tournament REGISTRATION deadline is Wednesday, April 1, 2015 (10 pm CDT). All entries must be submitted through SpeechWire, at http://www.speechwire.com/nfa. Late entries will not be accepted.

3. FEES will be calculated on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. No adjustments will occur to base fees after Wednesday, April 1, 2015, except to increase the fees if changes are made. In other words, you are charged for your entry as it stands when entries are due (April 1, 2015) plus any applicable nuisance fees. These penalties are outlined in detail in the Tournament Fees section, including dropped entries, dropped judges, no shows, and missed ballots.

4. Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), Titles I and II of the ADA of 1990, and Sections 503 & 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the National Forensic Association and the NFA National Tournament will not discriminate against any competitor, judge, or student because of a physical or mental impairment. Every effort will be made to assure reasonable accommodation. NFA requests that you report any impairment that may impact the participation of any of your competitors or judges in the tournament when you make your entry, so that accommodations may be planned/provided in advance. IN ORDER TO DO SO, please write a note explaining the situation in the comment box for the competitor or judge entered.

5. All schools must demonstrate that each competitor is enrolled in good standing by completing the Student Verification Form, which can be found at http://www.speechwire.com/nfa. Select “Files for Download,” then “Student Verification Form.” This form must be completed and affixed with the school seal by your Registrar’s Office. A facsimile of this form MUST be submitted by the registration deadline (Wednesday, April 1, 2015), and the original (with school seal) MUST be submitted at Registration. Facsimiles may be scanned and e-mailed to dan@fsmail.bradley.edu, or faxed to Dan Smith, National Tournament Director, at (309) 677-3446.

6. You will receive an entry confirmation as soon as all entries are processed. If you do not receive a verification within a week of the date you submitted it, please check with the National Tournament Director on the status of your entry.

Friday, March 6, 2015 Deadline to submit research proposals for 2015 Tournament

Dan Smith
Email address: dan@fsmail.bradley.edu
Phone number: (309) 657-9041