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AFA-NST District 7 Spring Qualifying Tournament

Dear AFA-NST District 7 Schools:

James Madison University is graciously hosting the AFA-NST District 7 Spring Qualifying Tournament virtually on March 6, 2021. You and your teams are also invited to participate in the traditional Lucky 7 tournament offered by our co-host, James Madison University. This year’s Lucky 7 will be asynchronous, a first for the Lucky 7 tournament!

District 7 is comprised of the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio University, The University of Akron, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. To compete, you must pay your District 7 subscription fees for the AFA- NST. Fees are $50 Unless you paid fees for the Fall Qualifier, in which case there is no fee for the Spring Qualifier. Fees can be paid directly on the AFA website here: https://www.americanforensicsassoc.org/product/national-individual-events-tournament/ or will be added to your school's entry fee. If you know of other programs in your state or region that might be interested in joining the AFA-NST, please encourage them to attend our district tournament or to contact me for more information. We want our district to be well represented at the 2021 AFA-NST!

The top three finishers in all 11 AFA-NST events will count as district qualifiers to the 2021 AFA-NST in addition to our district qualifiers from the fall. If that placement qualifies the student at-large, the district qualification will “trickle down” to the next student. Schools from outside of District 7 can attend the qualifier, though only students from District 7 schools can earn district qualifications. No student that has qualified an event at-large to the 2021 AFA-NST may enter the Spring District Qualifying Tournament in that event (though there are no restrictions on entering JMU’s Lucky 7 Tournament if you’re looking for more ballots!).

In addition to the usual tournament awards, District 7 will accept nominations for the 2021 All-American Individual Events Team presented at the AFA-NST. This is a wonderful recognition for students who excel at academics, service, and forensics. The nomination form and requirements are included in “files for download” tab of this tournament page. Three copies of the completed nomination packet, which must include a copy of the student’s official transcript, must be turned in no later than the end of registration on the morning of Saturday, March 6.

We will be using SpeechWire for entries, e-ballots, and tabulation. Please go to their website to enter: www.speechwire.org. We will use Yaatly for synchronous tournament rounds. Instructions for setting up your team in Yaatly are below. There have been a lot of changes in AFA-NST qualification rules, number legs needed to qualify, number of legs that count. Some of these rules are only for the 2020-21 virtual season. Others will be in effect when we get back to in-person competitions. If you have any questions about rule changes, the Spring district tournament, or the national tournament, please don't hesitate to contact me. In the “files for download” tab of this tournament you’ll find the at-large verification form, the student verification form, the 2021 AFA-NST tournament invitation, and more. The 2021 AFA-NST planning committee are hard at work figuring out how to have the best possible online tournament experience for nationals this season.

We look forward to seeing you (virtually) in Harrisonburg, VA!

Sam Ohrenberger-Hopkins
District 7 Chair
Head Coach, Brownson Speech & Debate Team
Seton Hall University

1. There will be two preliminary rounds with finals. A school may not enter more than five students in each event, and only the top three entries in an event from any school will count toward sweepstakes awards. Material must not have been used by the student before September 1, 2020. Competitors may enter up to three events in a grouping. A STUDENT MAY NOT ENTER AN EVENT THAT HAS BEEN QUALIFIED FOR THE 2021 AFA-NST THROUGH THE AT-LARGE QUALIFICATION METHOD--please see at-large qualification method below. Two tournament placements used for qualification may not exceed a cumulative total of five (5), based on the following formula:

2. Fees: $8.00 per individual event slot entered. Additional fees: $10.00 per slot not covered by a judge provided by your school $10.00 per slot drop $60.00 per judge drop. Make checks payable to AFA District 7.

3. Judges: Each school will be expected to provide one judge for every six slots entered. The cost for hired judges will be $10.00 per uncovered slot.

4. Deadlines: All entries must be received by 5:00 pm, EST, Wednesday, March 3, 2021 for the tournament. After this time, we will impose a late-drop fee of an additional $10.00 per slot dropped, and $80.00 per judge dropped. No additions past the deadline.

3. Participants competing in duo interpretation must compete in separate locations and are not permitted to be on the same screen as their partner.

4. Material (e.g., scripts, topics, programs) cannot have been run by a competitor prior to September 1, 2020 for qualifying tournaments.

5. All other relevant AFA-NST legislation for regular-season qualifying tournaments will guide the tournaments’ policies.

2. Log in with your email and password (the same email used to register as a judge)

1. Navigate your browser (Google Chrome works best) to app.yaatly.com. You will be sent an event invitation URL to this end as well. *NOTE* Yaatly does not work on phones and tablets. It crashes frequently. Use a laptop or desktop computer.

2. Set up your team’s organization. This is typically done by the DOF/Head Coach.

3. Add members (coaches, students) to your Organization by using the "Invite Members" button. Accepting the emailed invitation will automatically make those coaches & students members of your organization.

4. When you accept tournament invitations (emailed by those tournaments' organizers) or when you create your own event, those events will appear on your organization's home page under "Events”.

Sam Ohrenberger-Hopkins
Email address: sam.hopkins@shu.edu
Phone number: 5402303507

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