Hello District 5!

 

It is my pleasure to invite you to the Spring AFA NST District 5 Qualifier, which will be held on Sunday, March 6, 2021, virtually, CST. I encourage you to attend this tournament as either an AFA qualifier, an NFA qualifier, or as an excellent opportunity to see good competition and support the teams of District 5!  

 

I am posting many important reminders in this announcement from the AFA NST Invitation as well as from the tournament director.

 

ENTRY DEADLINE for Districts:

 

Entries are due at 5:00 p.m., CST, Tuesday, March 1. Please enter using the Speechwire website.  All fees will be assessed at noon on Wednesday, March 2.  Please remember that each school may enter up to five competitors in each of the eleven events. Events already qualified at-large or at Fall Districts should not be entered. 

 

Some schools may still need to submit their payment for the Fall District tournament.

 

ENTRY FEES:

 

In an effort to keep tournament costs to a minimum, each slot will cost $5.00. Each uncovered slot will cost $10.00 (to cover hired judge fees). Each judge covers 6 slots. Student drops after noon, Wednesday, March 2, will be $10.00. Judge drops will be $25.00. Student drops at registration will be $20.00 and judge drops will be $75.00.

 

 

Each student may enter up to two events per flight pattern.

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because the tournament has been condensed to one day, it will actually run with TWO patterns. We will condense the patterns listed above into two flights, attempting to minimize the number of quadruple-entered competitors.

 

E-BALLOTS:  We will be utilizing Speechwire's E-ballot function.  Please update your judges' info.  We will be using Speechwire for entries, scheduling, and tabulation. Also, because of the virtual nature of the tournament, please be sure that all of your students have activated Speechwire accounts and are listed in your Team Roster.

 

These items are due by the District tournament (submit via email to jrstanley@noctrl.edu): Student Verification Form, At-Large Qualification Form(s), All-American Nomination Form(s)

 

You can find important AFA NST information (tournament invitation, purchasing your AFA membership, bylaw changes) and forms (All-American, student verification) here:  https://sites.google.com/site/afanietnew2/ 

 

Student Enrollment Verification Form:

Each school participating at the AFA NST must submit the Student Enrollment Verification Form for all students competing at the AFA NST. The form can be found above. Verification forms should be provided via email by the District tournament at registration:  jrstanley@noctrl.edu 

 

At-Large Qualification:

Please keep a complete record of all necessary data required on the At-Large Qualification Form. The At-Large Qualification Form is available at the site above. A separate form should be kept for each of your students. Remember that the At-Large Qualification Form must be submitted before or at the District tournament to:  jrstanley@noctrl.edu. Submission of the At-Large qualification form does not constitute an official entry. Official entries must be on Speechwire. At-large qualifications must be earned by March 6. Tournaments hosted after March 6 will not count for qualifications. Recognized national or international tournaments hosted after March 6 will count – check with Amy Martinelli if you have questions. 

 

District Qualification: 

The top three placements automatically qualify for the AFA-NST. If an event receives its second leg to qualify at-large, the District automatic qualification will move down to the next highest placing entry. 

 

All-American Nominations:

In addition to the usual tournament awards, District 5 will accept nominations for the 2021-2022 All-American Individual Events Team presented at the AFA NST. This is a wonderful recognition of students who excel at academics, service, and forensics. Please email ma copy of your students’ nominations in a PDF format no later than the end of registration on the morning of March 6. The nomination packet must include the student’s official transcript. This can be a copy in the PDF, but if the student’s packet is forwarded to the national committee, you will need to mail an official transcript at that time. 

 

A reminder from the Chair of the All-American Committee:

 

The cover sheet MUST be completed and attached to the nomination packet. There are two new items on the coversheet: name pronunciation and consent for name/school/image to be posted on AFA-NST social media---signature of nominee is needed.  Each school can submit up to two nominees.

 

General Overall Reminders: 

1. You only need two legs (combined no worse than a five) to qualify for the AFA-NST. 

2. Legs can be earned at synchronous or asynchronous tournaments. 

3. The number of entries for what counts as a leg include-  1st: 2-3 entries, 2nd: 4-5 entries, 3rd: 6-7 entries, 4th 8-9 entries; 5th: 9-11 entries, and 6th: 12 or more entries. 

4. The 2022 AFA-NST will be in person at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

5. The Title IX training from the AFA NST is required.  See below.

 

Information/due dates regarding the AFA NST from the tournament director:

 

Entries: Teams will enter their events onto Speechwire by Monday, March 14.

                                                    

Title IX Training: All participants of the AFA NST must complete the Title IX training and complete the form at the end of the training by March 14: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Tc2VOxm80-WoQ5vIqXeFVwXsg71Lnvj1hyAlO8DXC5w/edit?usp=sharing

 

Hired Judge Form: If you know folks who may be interested in judging in Lincoln this year, please send them the judges’ sign up form: https://www.speechwire.com/c-afa-judges.php

 

Vaccine/Testing Verification Update: I am currently working on our verification of vaccine/COVID 19 tests, and am hopeful that I will be able to enlist a third party vendor to responsibly handle that information. The due date for Vaccine Verification remains March 21 and for Test Verification, March 31, as per the COVID 19 Protocols. Should this change, I will keep you all updated.

 

I hope that you will be able to attend the District 5 Qualifier. Even if your team is not planning on attending the AFA NST, I encourage you to attend and support your colleagues. For those of you who are NFA-only, remember you can earn NFA qualifications at the District tournament. It can be a challenge to get enough schools for our District tournament, so I would encourage you to please make every effort to send students.

 

Lastly, PLEASE EMAIL ME with answers to the following questions:

 

1. Do you plan to attend the March 6 District tournament?

2. Do you plan to attend the AFA NST?

 

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

 

Thank you!

 

 

John Stanley, Chair

 

AFA District 5

(vr)