Hello Friends,

 

The 2020-2021 online season presented new challenges, but we also learned about the power of innovation, especially in the arena of finding new ways to build accessibility in this activity. Last year, we were thrilled by the incredible participation in the Online Asynchronous Tournament Series or, as we affectionately call them, the OATS. We had 51 teams compete at the seven completely asynchronous tournaments. We saw alumni have the chance to participate as judges who maybe hadn’t been able to in the past. We saw students who otherwise would not have been able to participate because of work or other reasons able to compete, receive feedback, learn, and grow.

 

And now, a message from our hosts and tournament directors!

 

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WELCOME TO THE OATS! We are beyond excited for this new speech season and even more excited that you have chosen to keep the OATS 1 as part of that season. We are Jadah Morrison and Dominic Meyers, graduate assistant coaches at South Dakota State University and your OATS 1 Tournament Directors. We want to thank each of you personally for choosing to participate in the OATS and keeping speech as openly accessible as we can by keeping online asynchronous options available. Welcome to the OATS, welcome to a new speech season, we can’t wait to see you

Jadah Morrison & Dominic Meyers, SDSU Grad Coaching Assistants

Jadah.Morrison@sdstate.edu, Dominic.Meyers@sdstate.edu

 

 

Based on feedback from the participants last year, we are pleased to announce the OATS will continue for the 2021-2022 season! In the survey, folks seemed generally pleased with the overall structure of the series, so the only thing we will change is the fees structure. Based on a financial breakdown of Speechwire costs and hired judges, the series fee will be a one-time $250 cost and the uncovered slots fee will be $10/slots. Series and uncovered slot fee waivers are available for student-run teams or teams experiencing financial hardship.

 

TL:DR Details

-Tournaments will be fully asynchronous, including finals

-Entries and video links are due to Speechwire on Monday @ 8 p.m. CST

-Content warnings are encouraged to give adequate warning to judges/competitors

-No late adds are allowed

-OATS tournaments will utilize an honor system for judges and competitors

-Preliminary rounds will be judged from Tuesday through Thursday @ 4 p.m. CST; Final rounds will be judged from Thursday 6 p.m. through Friday @ 2 p.m. CST

-Postings will go live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. CST (or ASAP depending on ballot completion)

-All 11 categories will be offered per released AFA guidelines

-The $250 Series Fee pays for all “covered-slot” entries for all OATS tournaments

-Uncovered slots will incur an additional $10 fee

-Payments accepted by Venmo, PayPal, or by check

-The dates for video submission for the OATS include:

Mon, Oct 4

Mon, Oct 25

Mon, Nov 8

Mon, Dec 6

Mon, Jan 17

Mon, Feb 21

-Join the OATS Facebook group for updates and announcements throughout tournament week. https://www.facebook.com/groups/oatsforensics 

 

Last year, we loved the chance to work with guest hosts and tournament directors of the OATS. We invite you to “host” an OATS tournament. Hosting involves locating approximately 15-20 hired judges (which varies up the judging pool and is a huge service to the community). That’s it. If you wanted alternative awards or other fancy pieces to your tournament hosting week, we definitely will support you in that, but otherwise hosting is simply about recruiting hired judges (who we will pay $15/round). We would love to work with teams who are looking to raise their profiles or help secure additional funding from their administrations. 

 

Coaches and grad assistants seeking experience hosting a tournament, we also want to hear from you! We’d love to have you come in as a guest tournament host to be as involved as you’d like in making the tournament week run. Last year we worked with a graduate assistant who was involved throughout the entire process of tournament prep, management, and awards (shout out to you Lily Schwab!) and we had a Ball. We’d love to invite folks to step forward to get some guided experience in this role as well. 

 

We continue to support the courageous students who called for asynchronous tournament options last year. We are so excited to continue to be a part of the forensic landscape for the 21-22 school year. Full information about competition and fees are listed below. If you have questions feel free to contact Julie Walker by phone (call or text 706-844-2773) or email (julie.walker@smsu.edu). 

 

Sincerely,

 

Jadah Morrison

South Dakota State University

Graduate Coaching Assistant

Tournament Co-Director

 

 

Julie Walker

Southwest Minnesota State University

Assistant Director of Forensics

Series Co-Director

 

Ben Walker

Southwest Minnesota State University

Director of Forensics

Series Co-Director

 

Fully Asynchronous Tournament Week Schedule

 

Fri prior @ noon CST: LP Prompts released on Speechwire

Monday @ 8 p.m. CST: Entries and videos due to Speechwire

Monday @ 10 p.m. CST: Fees will be assessed and distributed to teams

Monday @ 10 p.m. CST: Judge dance cards go live on Speechwire

Thursday @ 4 p.m. CST: Preliminary Round judging feedback/scores due

Thursday @ 6 p.m. CST: Final Rounds are Posted on Speechwire and on the OATS Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/oatsforensics

Friday @ 2 p.m. CST: Final Round judging feedback/scores due

Friday @ 4 p.m. CST: Live awards ceremony stream on OATS Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/oatsforensics 

Friday @ Evening: Feedback released to coaches via Speechwire

 

 

(vr)