National Speech and Debate Tournament

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The National Speech and Debate Tournament is a week-long high school championship forensics competition hosted by the National Forensic League. It is held annually in early June, and is hosted in a different part of the United States every year, although it tends to be hosted in cities that are amenable to the large influx of students and coaches, and have reasonably-priced accommodations.

Also called "Nationals" by many forensic competitors, it is a very difficult tournament to both qualify and compete in, and therefore, qualifying or being a runner-up in this tournament is considered to be a great honor. Unlike state tournaments, the National Tournament involves competition between NFL competitors across the United States; thousands of competitors from across the country attend each year. The NFL 2007 National Tournament took place in Wichita, Kansas. The NFL 2008 National Tournament will take place in Henderson, Nevada, less than 10 minutes from Las Vegas, Nevada

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[edit] Qualifying at the District Level

Competitors qualify to the National Tournament by placing in the top spots at District Tournaments. The number of competitors in each event in each district determines the number of competitors that will qualify to the National Tournament from that event. For example, smaller districts of 200 competitors may only be able to send the top one or two teams from each event, while larger districts may be able to send up to four. Those who qualify at the district level then move on to participate in the National Tournament. Since the National Forensic League takes a smaller number of competitors from the district level to compete in the national tournament, the National Speech and Debate Tournament is often considered to be more prestigious than the Catholic Forensic League's Grand National Tournament.

In most districts, there are two qualifying tournaments. For example, some districts may opt to split the qualifying competition for Student Congress from the remaining events, or hold separate tournaments for Individual Events and Debate. Additionally, some districts allow competitors to "double enter". This means that rather than entering in a single event at a district qualifying competition, a competitor enters in two events. A competitor competing in multiple events must sign a letter of intent beforehand, stating which event they choose to go in if they qualify for nationals in both events. If they register in a team event, that event takes precedence over an individual event, unless both members of a team qualify in an individual event and agree to compete in that event instead.

[edit] Competition at the National Tournament

After a competitor gets eliminated from a qualifying event, they may move on to a supplemental event. If the competitor is eliminated later in the competition in a qualifying event, or is eliminated from all of their supplemental events, they may compete in a consolation event. Although considered less prestigious, supplemental and consolation events offer an eliminated competitor the chance to win at a national tournament. A competitor may register to compete in two supplemental events and one consolation event, but these registrations must be filed by the coach before the tournament begins. With over half of all competitors gone after elimination rounds, competitors that choose to stay and do a supplemental or consolation event can find themselves heading home with awards.

[edit] Tournament Events

[edit] Qualifying Events

[edit] Supplemental Events


[edit] Consolation Events