Monday, May 25, 2015

Nationals 2015 Information


 





NSDA National Tournament
June 15-19 2015
Dallas, Texas

Coach 
Andy Charrier

Format
6 prelim rounds, 2 judges for each round.  Everybody with 8 ballots or more clears.  Records are all reset to 0-0 and the tournament then runs just as it does for national qualifiers. Registration is Sunday. Debates begin on Monday and you debate each day until eliminated.  Finals of some events begin on Thursday night and continue all day Friday, so there is plenty to do.

Notes

  •  This is nationals, so dress is more formal than a tournament in Iowa City - policy debaters you don't need to be full-formal but no jeans either.  LD is like January in MN.  You could easily debate for 3 or 4 days, so plan accordingly.
  • The tournament is held in a giant convention center/hotel in downtown Dallas.  We were here a few years ago for nationals and there are plenty of food choices nearby. 
  • We have suites for rooms so there should be plenty of elbow room for the week. 
  • Our goal would be to win a national excellence award, which starts with needing all 5 of you to clear.
Hotel
Dallas Marriott Suites Medical/Market Center
2493 N Stemmons Fwy, Dallas, TX 75207

Flight Info - we're flying on Saturday because airfare is that much cheaper. Southwest runs out of Terminal 2-Humphrey (not the main airport).  We'll meet at 4PM and go through ticketing and security together.  Southwest gives you 2 checked bags for free.  My phone is 651-387-8305.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Novice Debate Questions, Answered


What grade can somebody join Debate? 
8th grade in the Fall of 2015 is about as early as we'd like to see people join the team.  About 50% of debaters begin in 8th grade, the rest join in 9th or 10th grade.

Are slides from the May 20th presentation available? 
Yes!  Here they are -- the presentation slides from the debate information meeting

When are the tournaments? 
Most of the Saturdays in October, November and first weekend in December.  We do have a calendar of novice tournaments (highlighted in yellow) posted online.  Novices will debate on these days:
Sept 26
Oct 3
Oct 10
Oct 24
Oct 31
Nov 6 and/or 7
Nov 13 and/or 14
Nov 21
Dec 4-5

When is practice? 
All novices practice 6-8 on Mondays.  We have three different debate events, at least one of which will practice in the 4-6 time slot on Wednesdays, another in the 6-8 slot on Wednesdays, and the third will be 6-8 on Thursdays.  We're trying to work around faith commitments on Wednesdays and UMTYMP on Thursdays.  Most UMTYMP courses for younger students are offered on Thursdays + there is a bus available, so our recommendation is that UMTYMP students do debate on Wednesday and math on Thursday.

We will adjust novice practice times to work around conferences and music performances that take many students out of practice for the night. 


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Thanks to All!

Thanks to all who attended the debate informational meeting tonight!