The Panther

Friday, February 12, 2021

801 Riverside, Norfolk, NE 68701

 

Dear Speech Coach:

 

Norfolk Senior Highschool invites you to "The Panther" on Friday, February 12th, 2021! This new tournament date will take the place of the "Panther Classic. We are proud to be a NIETOC tournament!

 

THIS TOURNAMENT WILL BE VIRTUAL THIS YEAR (unless something drastically changes between now and February). We will run 3 rounds and finals, with finals divided into CHAMP and HONORS finals, as well as MERIT finals for any NIETOC event that has met the numbers criteria for MERIT.

 

ALL main events will be live via ZOOM ROOMS (I made this change from NSDA Campus after continuous issues with NSDA Campus) and OID/DUO/DUET will run synchronously via Zoom with all competitors in one room. Performers may choose to wear masks. Please refer to new information provided by NSAA on 1/28/21.

 

The registration deadline is Wednesday, February 10th at 5:00 P.M. I will collect videos for asynchronous events until 6 PM on Thursday, Feb. 11th. So we can do a better job of preparing for this tournament, please indicate ASAP whether or not your team will be attending.

 

Each school is to provide one judge for every five entries. Any uncovered entries will cost $15.00 per uncovered slot. Please ensure that your judges are either NSAA qualified or well versed and experienced with regards to the rules and expectations of speech competition. 

 

We will once again be using SpeechWire's blast capabilities. You will want your students and judges to sign up for this as we near the tournament. 

 

All nine NSAA events will be offered, as well as Impromptu Speaking and Program of Oral Interpretation. We will use the 30 minute prep time in Extemp.

Entry fees are $8.00 for all events, with the exception of OID which will be $10.  Because we anticipate this being a large event, we plan to host both “Champs” and “Honors” finals. We will likely also have “Merit” and “Consolation” finals in many of the NIETOC events. In addition, we plan to honor Al Janovec, one of our former coaches who lost his battle with cancer several years ago, by naming our individual sweepstakes award after him which will go to the top six individual performers. We plan to recognize the top three squads for final team sweepstakes.

 

 

From the NIETOC:

 

During with the 2018-2019 competitive season, bids are gained at the following levels:

0-19 contestants = FIRST PLACE BID

20-34 contestants = FIRST, SECOND & THIRD PLACE BIDS

35-50 contestants = FINAL ROUND BIDS

51-70 contestants = SEMIFINAL ROUND BIDS (HONORS FINALS)

71-99 contestants = QUARTERFINAL ROUND BIDS (MERIT FINALS)

100 + contestants = OCTAFINAL ROUND BIDS (CONSOLATION FINALS)

 

We look forward to another competitive but fun-filled tournament featuring some of the best talent in the state!

 

Forensically Yours,

 

Lukas Ziemba, and Sara Dahlkoetter