Middle School National Tournament

Events Offered

• All events will be held live and in-person in Phoenix/Mesa, Arizona.
• An event may be canceled if fewer than 25 entries are registered.
• Debate: Big Questions, World Schools, Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Congressional Debate
• Speech: Pattern A: Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking, Storytelling, Poetry, and Original Oratory. Pattern B: Dramatic Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Informative, Prose, Original Spoken Word Poetry, Impromptu, and Declamation.
• No supplemental events will be offered.
• National Tournament topics for LD, PF, and prepared motions in WS will be announced on May 1 at www.speechanddebate.org/national-tournament-topics.
• The Middle School Congressional Debate docket will be released on May 1 at www.speechanddebate.org/national-tournament-topics.

Entry Limits & Fees

• Each school may enter up to 8 entries per event.
• Once we reach capacity, we will close registration in applicable competition events. This may happen before the entry deadline.
• The entry fee is $55 for each solo event entry, $110 for each partner event entry, and $165 for each World Schools Debate entry. Schools that stay within the NSDA hotel block will receive a discount of $25 per student.
• No double entry is permitted in debate events. Students may not enter debate and speech events.
• In speech, students can enter up to 4 total events (no more than 2 per pattern). Students cannot double enter in Pattern A if they are in Extemporaneous Speaking.
• Pattern A: HI, DUO, EXT, STO, POE, OO
• Pattern B: DI, POI, INF, PRO, SW, IMP, DEC

Entry Requirements

• Entry Release Forms: Coaches must acquire a signed Entry Release Form for each competitor before the first day of National Tournament competition. Copies of the signed forms do NOT need to be uploaded to Tabroom.com. These signed forms must be retained by the coach through December 31, 2023, and tournament officials may request this signed form at any point during and immediately following the competition. Failure to produce these forms may result in disqualification from competition.
• Script Information: On the Entries tab of your school’s Tabroom.com registration, select the blue and white edit button to complete the required information for each of your registered students. If you have entries in speech events, this page will ask you to input information about each entry’s piece (title, author, publication info, if applicable). Copies of the script do not need to be uploaded, but students must have access to their original source and a copy of their cutting available during the tournament in case of a protest.
• School Agreement: Coaches must certify that each contestant entered under their school name is a student at this middle school and will be under the supervision of a supervising adult who is the student’s parent, coach, or school administrator, approved by the school principal by agreeing to the disclaimer prior to registering. No forms need to be uploaded, but evidence that a school has violated this agreement could result in disqualification of the school’s entries.

Judging Obligations

• Minimum Requirement: Schools are required to bring at least one judge per judge category in which they have entries competing (Policy, Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, World Schools, Big Questions, Congress, Speech).
• Judge Buy-Outs: If a school owes more than one judge in a category, they may choose to buy-out their obligation for $160 per judge.
• Policy and World Schools: 1 judge is owed per 2 entries or fraction thereof.
• Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Big Questions: 1 judge is owed per 3 entries or fraction thereof.
• Congress: 1 judge is owed per school.
• Speech: 1 judge is owed for every 5 entries or fraction thereof.

Judge Requirements

• High school judges: High school students may judge as long as they were juniors or seniors with at least 250 Honor Society points in the last academic year. A rising junior does not meet these criteria. High school students competing in the high school National Tournament cannot cover a school’s obligation.
• Judge Training: All judges must complete the required judge training prior to May 15. More information is coming soon!
• Policy and Lincoln-Douglas Paradigms: Judges in Policy and LD must complete the Paradigm Form Questionnaire.
• Judge Forms: Judges can complete all required forms and training by logging into Tabroom.com, selecting “National Speech and Debate Tournament” under the Judging header, and selecting “Judge Forms”.
• Conflicts: Judges must have conflicts listed in Tabroom.com by May 15. Failure to report conflicts by this deadline may result in forfeiture of the school’s judge bond.
• Tabroom.com Accounts: All judges must have a linked Tabroom.com account. Online ballots will be used in every main and supplemental event.
  • Judges: If your Tabroom.com account shows “Welcome to Tabroom!”, you will need to link your account to your school before you are eligible to judge at the National Tournament. 
    • Select “Link your account” under the “Are you a judge?” header. 
    • Search for your first and last name as they appear on your school’s Tabroom.com judging roster. 
    • Select “Link” next to your name and school.
    • If it says there are no judges with your name, ask your tournament director how your name is displayed on the roster so you can type it in exactly. 
    • The coach of the school you’re judging for will receive an email notification to log in to Tabroom.com, select the Judges tab to access your school’s roster, and approve your request to be linked!
    • To double check you are all set up and ready to judge, make sure NSDA Middle School National Tournament is listed under the Judging header on the right side of your Tabroom.com account.

Judge Availability and Scheduling

• All judges are committed through the end of the tournament and are expected to judge any round assigned within their event group.
• Judges will not receive assignments until up to 30 minutes prior to the round’s start time.
• All ballots and judging assignments will be released digitally on Tabroom.com. No paper ballots or schematics will be distributed. Be sure to pack your chargers and devices!
• Each school must post a judge bond of $200. Judge bonds will be forfeited if judges miss or are late to round assignments. The first round missed will result in forfeiture of the judge bond, and each subsequent round missed will incur a $100 fine.

Attendees

• Any individual entering a tournament venue with a school must be registered on the Judges & Attendees tab of that school’s Tabroom.com registration.
• If someone coming with your school will not be judging, they must be entered under “Attendees”. This includes all judges, coaches, chaperones, parents, siblings, etc. ages 13 or older.
• All these individuals must have or create Tabroom.com accounts. Without this information, attendees will not receive tournament ribbons and will not be able to enter tournament venues.
• Ribbons may be requested for children under the age of 13 during in-person registration; their registration in advance is not required.

Payment Instructions

• Payment is due May 15. A PO or check postmarked by May 15 is acceptable.
• Follow these instructions to create your Middle School National Tournament invoice.
• Schools may pay by credit card or ACH via their NSDA account. There is no processing fee for credit card and ACH payments. 
• Purchase orders should be uploaded in PDF format to the Fees tab of your school’s Tabroom.com registration by May 15.
• Checks payable to National Speech & Debate Association. Mail payment to: NSDA, 6600 Westown Pkwy Ste 270 West Des Moines, IA 50266.
• Each school must post a judge bond of $200. This bond is in addition to entry fees and judge fees. If all judges from a school complete all judging assignments, the $200 will be returned after the tournament using the method selected during registration (on the general tab of your Tournament registration): refund check by mail or credit to your NSDA membership account. To use the credit for your school membership, you must generate an invoice as usual in the fall and apply the credit to activate your membership.

Refunds

• Full refunds will be issued for changes made before May 15. 50% refunds will be issued for changes made between May 15 – May 22. No refunds will be made after May 22. 
• If you make changes to your registration before May 15 but have already created an invoice that is higher than that amount, contact the national office for the invoice to be revised.
• Judge bond refunds will be processed by July 31. 
• Overpayments will be processed by July 31 and refunded via the same method selected for judge bond refund.

Online Hotel Booking Site

• • All coaches must use the online booking site. This allows us to procure the attendee rates we offer. Please do NOT call the hotels directly to book your hotel rooms.
  • Schools staying within the NSDA hotel block will automatically receive a $25 discount per person applied to their National Tournament entry fees. Make sure you select which hotel you are staying at on the General tab of your school’s Tabroom.com registration.
  • Larger teams requiring ten or more rooms should submit a request.
  • Teams wishing to pay by check should contact the Speech & Debate Housing Bureau (managed by Catch Des Moines) at reservations@speechanddebate.org or (800) 451-2625.
  • Every hotel requires a credit card on file for incidentals and cancellation fees even if you are paying by check. If you are paying by check, please select “Yes” in the field under “Additional Information” on the “Guest Details” page and someone from the Speech & Debate Housing Bureau will follow up with you.

Transportation

• • Transportation is up to each individual program. Parking at the Phoenix Convention Center is $12/day if purchased in advance, and $15/day if purchased day-of on site or for in-and-out privileges. Multiple garages are available with various height restrictions. Please review the list of garages and parking map and select the best option for your program. There are three bus drop off locations, two on Third Street and one on Monroe. 
  • Public transportation called the Valley Metro Rail runs from northwest Phoenix through Tempe to east Mesa. It includes Park and Ride stations where travelers can park their vehicles for free and hop on the rail. A map of the lightrail stops is included on our Venue and Hotel map, as well as the park and ride stations. Please note that the lightrail does not run all the way out to the schools, and is not an advisable way to reach competition venues during the week. It is an option for getting to the Convention Center during the week. As with all public transportation, be mindful of safety and the potential for delays.

Venue & Hotel Maps

Discounts

Delta Meeting Event Code: NY27U

Delta Air Lines is pleased to offer special discounts for the National Speech & Debate Association. You may also call Delta Meeting Network® at 1.800.328.1111* Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (EST) and refer to Meeting Event Code NY27U.

*Please note there is not a service fee for reservations booked and ticketed via our reservation 800 number.

Meals

Mesa Public Schools is offering free breakfast and lunch at schools for everyone 18 and younger. We are excited to share the menu with you and report that a variety of options, including gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan options, will be available daily. Concessions will also be available on site at schools for purchase with CASH ONLY.

Download the menu »

• Breakfast Available 7:00 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., Monday – Thursday, at all Mesa School sites
• Lunch Available 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday – Thursday, at all Mesa School sites
• Adults (19 and older) who are on site may purchase breakfast for $5 and lunch for $7. The school venues are CASH ONLY.
• Hospitality suites will offer coffee, tea, water, and light snacks for judges throughout the day.

At the Convention Center Friday, concessions will be open and offer a variety of choices to meet various dietary needs for a fee. If you are looking for something more, check out dining options outside of the Convention Center.

Things to Do

We encourage teams to maximize their speech and debate experience at the tournament by entering supplementals, checking out middle school or high school outrounds, and attending awards. If you have time to fill, check out these suggestions for Phoenix and Mesa. 

Health

Per CDC recommendations, we encourage all attendees to do the following:

1. 1. Stay up to date on vaccination, including recommended booster doses.
   2. Avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
   3. Follow recommendations for isolation if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
   4. Follow the recommendations for what to do if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
   5. Follow recommendations for travel.

We do not currently plan to require masks for attendees. Arizona has consistently been in the lower level state categories of weekly case rates, and the risk level in Maricopa county is low. We will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments as necessary.

At the individual level, attendees are encouraged to discuss their personal risk level with their healthcare providers. Ballots will include language instructing judges not to evaluate student performances based on whether they wore masks and to permit speech competitors to enter the room only for the length of their performance.

Required Identification

For security reasons, all attendees must wear identifying ribbons at all times. Ribbons are distributed at registration. There are generic competitor ribbons for students and specific versions for Senators and Representatives in Congress who have their names printed as well. We’ll get you what you need! Coaches and judges receive badges with their names and choose their ribbons. In addition to Coach and Judge ribbons, there are several other identifying and celebratory ribbons coaches can choose from at in-person registration, like First Time at Nationals, District Leader, and more! All other attendees, including parents, chaperones, siblings, and other observers, are required to wear an Attendee ribbon. Attendees can also choose pronoun buttons (students, attendees) or ribbons (adults) to affix to their clothing. All ribbons pin on; please dress accordingly.

Wednesday

Competition begins! Students and judges report to their designated competition venue (wearing their ribbons!) for a full day of speech and debate. 

Thursday

Competition continues. The first posting of breaks are announced in the afternoon for competitors advancing to middle school elimination rounds, and elimination rounds begin. High school final rounds begin at the Phoenix Convention Center, and middle school teams are welcome to attend!

Friday

All middle school competition moves to the Phoenix Convention Center. Elimination rounds continue and culminate with middle school final rounds and the middle school awards ceremony. High school final rounds also continue throughout the day and the week ends with the high school National Awards Assembly where middle school champions are recognized and high school champions are crowned. 

Time at Nats

General