AFA-NST District 7 Spring Qualifier

Registration	General information	Files for download	Tournament schedule	Fees	Registration handbook

General information

This is a College tournament in Online.

View manager contact information

Dear AFA-NST District 7 Schools: 

You and your teams are invited to participate in the AFA-NST District 7 Spring Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, February 28, 2026 hosted virtually via Zoom!  Big thanks to Mallory Marsh at James Madison university for hosting the Lucky 7 asynchronous tournament leading up to the 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. If you have not already paid an AFA subscription fees, they are $30.  If you paid in the Fall, you’re all set! 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 2026 AFA-NST!

The top three finishers in all 11 AFA-NST events at the Spring Qualifier will count as district qualifiers to the 2026 AFA-NST in addition to our Fall Qualifiers.  If that placement qualifies the student at-large, the district qualification will “trickle down” to the next student.  Additionally, students are encouraged to continue seeking at-large qualifications over the rest of the season to continue to trickle down the district qualifications.  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 2026 AFA-NST may enter the Spring District Qualifying Tournament in that event.  However, there are no limits on the Lucky 7 entry if you’re looking for more ballots!

We will be using SpeechWire for entries, e-ballots, and tabulation. There have been a lot of changes in AFA-NST qualification rules, number of legs needed to qualify, number of legs that count, etc. over the past few years.  If you have any questions about rule changes, the district tournament(s), or the national tournament, please don't hesitate to contact me.

We look forward to seeing you at the AFA-NST District 7 Spring Qualifying Tournament and at the 2026 AFA-NST in Portland, Oregon! 

MacLain Naumann

District 7 Chair

Cornell University

TOURNAMENT ENTRIES

1. There will be two preliminary rounds with finals.  Any event with only one entry will have a single round with three judges. 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, 2025. Competitors may enter up to three events in a grouping. A student may not enter an event that has qualified at-large for the 2026 AFA-NST. Please see at-large qualification method below. Three tournament placements used for qualification may not exceed a cumulative total of five (5), based on the following formula: 

# Entries     # Legs

2-3        1 1st 

4-5        2 1st, 2nd 

6-7        3 1st, 2nd, 3rd 

7-8        4 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 

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, February 25. After this time, we will impose a late-drop fee of an additional $10.00 per slot dropped, and $60.00 per judge dropped. No additions past the deadline. Drops as a result of qualifications from other tournaments will be required and will not result in additional fees.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (Subject to change based on entry sizes)

Saturday, February 28

8:00 AM - 8:30 AM Registration/Check-in

8:30 AM Extemp Draw 

9:00 AM Round 1 Flight A (DUO, EXT, INF, PER, POI, PRO)

10:15 AM Round 1 Flight B (ADS, CA, DI, IMP, POE)

11:30 AM Lunch Break

12:00 PM Extemp Draw

12:30 PM Round 2 Flight A

1:45 PM Round 2 Flight B

3:00 PM Finals A

4:15 PM Finals B

5:30 PM District 7 Meetings

6:30 PM Awards 

Flight A – DUO, EXT, INF, PER, PRO, POI

Flight B – ADS, CA, DI, IMP, POE 

***How to use SpeechWire for e-ballots***

1. Go to live.speechwire.com

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

3. See your e-ballots on that page once they are released

4. Click an e-ballot and click start when the round has begun

Manager contact information

MacLain Naumann
Email address: mn497@cornell.edu
Phone number: 6189778038

Mailing address

121 Tower Rd
Ives 615b
Ithaca, NY 14853