Registration Status

• On the General tab of your school’s registration in Tabroom.com, you will find the overall status of your registration. Red Xs will appear until every piece of registration is complete; once you have a green check mark next to School, Students, Entries, Judging, and Fees, your registration is good to go! You can leave your registration and come back to it at any time.

Coaches & Contacts

• On the General tab of your school’s registration in Tabroom.com, you must enter the information of your school’s coaches in the “Your Coaches & Contacts” section. 
• You can update this list of coaches and their designations any time before May 15.
• At least one school contact must be listed. At least one on-site contact must receive tournament emails. At least one contact must be on-site and have a phone number in Tabroom.com. This helps to ensure we can reach you in the case of an emergency!
• These conditions must be met before you can move on to accepting/rejecting your entries or adding judges. Refresh Tabroom.com once coaches are added, and the additional tabs will appear at the top of your school’s registration page.
• To add a coach, select an adult listed on your school’s Tabroom.com coach or judge roster by using the dropdown, or add them via their Tabroom.com account email address. All coaches must have an account in Tabroom.com before they can be added. Once they have been added, designate their roles.
• Degree: This column will list the NSDA ID and/or diamonds that correspond to each coach. Diamonds will be represented on the coach’s name badge if they attend the National Tournament. If a coach’s NSDA ID is incorrect or missing, email the national office for assistance!
• School Contact: The coach(es) designated as school contacts are the ones that tournament officials will reach out to in case of problems with the school’s registration and problems or emergencies during the tournament. Only coaches with a phone number listed in their Tabroom.com profile can be listed as school contacts.
• Emails: The coach(es) designated as receiving emails will receive a copy of tournament communications that are relevant to the school.
• On Site: Designate coaches that will be in Des Moines with your students this summer in this column! Only coaches designated as on site will receive a printed name badge on registration day.
• Listed on Digital Roster: Every year, a digital roster of the schools, coaches, and students attending the National Tournament will be made publicly available online. All coaches are listed on the digital roster by default; this column allows you to remove a coach from the digital roster. Check out the digital roster from the 2023 National Speech and Debate Tournament!

Your Institution Name

• In your school’s Tabroom.com registration, the name of your school should automatically match how it is listed on the NSDA website.
• If you wish to change the way your school name is listed, you can do so in the “Your Institution Name” text box on the General tab of your school’s registration in Tabroom.com.
• Your school’s listing on this page controls how your school name is displayed on the online tournament book roster and results pages, on your coach’s name badges, and how your school name is read aloud at awards.
• Please make sure your official school name is listed! For example, you may want to change “East HS” to “East High School.”

Hotel Information

• You will be asked to select your hotel on the General tab of your school’s registration. 
• If you are not staying in a block hotel, select “Not in Block” and leave the confirmation code box blank. Select “Save Hotel.”
• If you are staying in a block hotel, select the property from the “Choose Hotel” dropdown. Enter at least one confirmation number that corresponds to your reservation at the hotel. Select “Save Hotel,” and a 15% discount will automatically be applied to your main event and supplemental event entry fees. 
• You must select your hotel before you can access the Fees tab of your school’s registration because your amount owed changes based on whether you are staying in the NSDA hotel block!
• If you are not yet sure where you are staying, select “Not in Block,” and you can change this selection at a later date. Please note that this will change your entry fees. 

Accept/Reject Entries

• The first thing a coach must do on the Entries tab of their Tabroom.com registration is accept or reject their qualifier’s entries into the National Tournament. A qualifier must be accepted before you can enter their information.
• Please try to accept or reject your entries as soon as you are certain about their attendance! Rejecting an entry will automatically pull up the next alternate, and it is great to give alternates as much time to register as possible. Alternates will not be pulled up after June 1.
• If you accept an entry, it can be rejected at a later date if you find they can no longer attend.
• If you reject an entry, be certain! Rejection of an entry from the National Tournament is irreversible, as the next alternate will be automatically notified of their qualification as soon as the button is pushed in Tabroom.com.

Tabroom.com Accounts

• Every student must have a linked Tabroom.com account. Follow these instructions to link student accounts.
• A Tabroom.com account (account at Tabroom.com) is different from an NSDA account (account at speechanddebate.org). Tabroom.com accounts allow students to stay directly informed of tournament updates. 

Pronunciation

• Please enter a short phonetic pronunciation guide to help us pronounce your student’s name at the awards ceremony. This pronunciation can be entered by selecting the blue and white edit button next to a student’s name on the Entries tab of your school’s registration in Tabroom.com.

Entry Release Forms

• It is the fundamental responsibility of the coach to acquire a signed Entry Release Form for each competitor before the first day of National Tournament competition. These signed forms must be retained by the coach through December 31, 2024, 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. 
• Coaches do NOT need to upload a copy of this form to their online registration in Tabroom.com, though they are welcome to upload them to Tabroom.com for record keeping. 
• Coaches will agree to a disclaimer certifying that they will acquire and retain these forms before they are permitted to begin the online registration process. 

Coaches of Entries

• 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. This page will ask you to assign coach credits on a per-entry basis.
• Coach for Points: You must assign a coach to receive NSDA points for each entry. To be eligible, a coach must be listed on your NSDA roster AND listed as a coach on the General tab of your school’s registration.
• Coach Names for Awards: List anyone you would like credited for coaching this entry! They will be announced at the awards ceremony if this entry is recognized.

Script Requirements

• Review script requirements.

• 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), as well as upload a copy of the script.

• Coaches of DI, HI, DUO, POI, INF, and OO are required to upload a working copy of their speech/script by May 15 through the Tabroom.com registration system. Review the script requirements prior to uploading. 

• Competitors can continue to make edits and changes after May 15, but something must be in the system by this deadline. Coaches must re-upload a final copy of speeches and scripts by Saturday, June 15th.

Judge Day System

• • Judging is owed on a per-day basis for most events. A judge who is entered for judge days in a category must be available for all rounds of that event held on that day. A judge may not fill only part of a day’s obligation. One judge may cover a maximum of 3 days. 
    • Big Questions and World Schools judges do not use the day system; BQ judges must be available Monday-Thursday for all rounds. 
  • Each school is required to cover a minimum of 2 days in any event to be eligible to attend the National Tournament.
  • One judge may cover days in more than one judge category. For example, a judge could cover 1 day of speech and 2 days of Lincoln-Douglas.
  • All judges are eligible to be assigned to judge supplemental speech and Extemp Debate, regardless of whether their school has entries in supplemental events.

Judge Obligation Per Event

• • Policy Debate: 2 days per entry. A school with one team registered owes 2 days, two teams owes 4 days, 3 teams owes 6 days, etc. Policy Debate judge days may not be bought out; schools must provide qualified judges to cover their obligation. A judge registered in the Policy Debate pool should plan to be available Monday through Thursday.
  • Public Forum Debate: A school with one team entered owes 2 days. A school with two teams entered owes 3 days. A school with three teams entered owes 4 days. A school with four teams entered owes 5 days. Public Forum Debate judge days may not be bought out; schools must provide qualified judges to cover their obligation. A judge registered in the Public Forum Debate pool should plan to be available Monday through Thursday.
  • Lincoln-Douglas Debate: A school with one entry owes 2 days. A school with two entries owes 3 days. A school with three entries owes 4 days. A school with four entries owes 5 days. Lincoln-Douglas Debate judge days may not be bought out; schools must provide qualified judges to cover their obligation. A judge registered in the Lincoln-Douglas Debate pool should plan to be available Monday through Thursday.
  • Speech: Each speech entry accrues one day of judging owed. A school with one entry owes 1 day, two entries owes 2 days, three entries owes 3 days, etc. Speech judge days may be bought out for $120 per day. A judge registered in the Speech pool should plan to be available Monday through Wednesday for speech and/or Wednesday through Friday for supplemental events.
  • Congressional Debate: Each Congress entry accrues one day of judging owed. A school with one entry owes 1 day, two entries owes 2 days, three entries owes 3 days, etc. Congress judge days may be bought out for $120 per day. A judge covering one day of a Congress obligation should expect to judge two sessions (or more if they are qualified to Parli). Judges who prefer to judge Congress should mark it as their preference in the Nationals registration system. A judge registered in the Congressional Debate pool should plan to be available Monday through Thursday for Congress and/or Wednesday through Friday for supplemental events.
  • World Schools Debate: Each district team must supply one full-time judge per team that is available for the entirety of the tournament from Monday through Thursday. This judge may not be bought out.
  • Big Questions Debate: Each school with an entry must supply one full-time judge that is available for the entirety of the tournament from Monday through Thursday. This judge may not be bought out. If one school has two BQ entries, they only need to provide one full-time judge.
  • Supplemental Events: A school that pre-registers 1-2 entries owes one day. A school that pre-registers 3-4 entries owes 2 days. A school that pre-registers 5-6 entries owes 3 days. A school that pre-registers 7-8 entries owes 4 days, etc. One student entered in three events counts as three distinct entries. Supplemental judge days may be bought out for $120 per day.

Hires

• • Only speech, Congress, and supplemental event days may be bought out. This means coaches may elect to pay for the judge day when they register on Tabroom.com instead of providing a person to judge. No judge days may be hired after May 15.
  • Connect with folks who’ve indicated an interest in being hired to judge Nationals on our Judge Board.

Attendees

• • You must register any individual entering a tournament venue with your school on the Judges & Attendees tab of your 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. over the age of 13. 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.

Judge Requirements

• • 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.”
  • Judges must have left or graduated high school before July 31, 2022, or earlier to be eligible to judge. Bringing a judge who does not meet this requirement will result in loss of judge bond and a $500 fee ($700 total).
  • By May 15, judges must complete the required judge accreditation modules. To complete a module means that the judge has watched the video, scored 100% on the corresponding quiz, and claimed their badge in Tabroom.com. Completion will be manually reviewed and approved by the national office once a week. Judges must complete the modules and claim their badges by May 15; approval may occur after that date.
    • Congress judges: Must complete the following modules – Level 1: Intro to Multicultural Competence, Level 1: Intro to Judging Congress, and Level 2: Judging Congressional Debate.
    • Policy judges: Must complete the following modules –  Level 1: Intro to Multicultural Competence, Level 1: Intro to Judging Debate, and Level 2: Judging Policy Debate.
    • Public Forum judges: Must complete the following modules –  Level 1: Intro to Multicultural Competence, Level 1: Intro to Judging Debate, and Level 2: Judging Public Forum Debate.
    • Lincoln-Douglas judges: Must complete the following modules –  Level 1: Intro to Multicultural Competence, Level 1: Intro to Judging Debate, and Level 2: Judging Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
    • Big Questions judges: Must complete the following modules –  Level 1: Intro to Multicultural Competence, Level 1: Intro to Judging Debate, and Level 2: Judging Big Questions Debate.
    • World Schools judges: Must complete the following modules –  Level 1: Intro to Multicultural Competence, Level 1: Intro to Judging Debate, and Level 2: Judging World Schools Debate. World Schools judges must also attend an in person training on Sunday, June 16, at the Iowa Events Center at 2:30 p.m. CT.
    • Speech judges: Must complete the following modules –  Level 1: Intro to Multicultural Competence, Level 1: Intro to Judging Speech, Level 2: Judging HI, DI, and DUO, Level 2: Judging Extemp, Level 2: Judging OO and INF, and Level 2: Judging POI.
  • By May 15, judges in Policy and Lincoln-Douglas must complete the Paradigm Form Questionnaire.
  • By May 15, all judges must complete the Demographics Questionnaire. Demographic information provides an overall baseline of representation within the judging pool and allows the NSDA to effectively facilitate its judge recruitment process and create judge panels that reflect the diversity of our student population and our world. This demographic information will NOT be made public and is not saved year over year. Tab officials will have access to this information at the tournament. Age, role, and experience are required questions, but for others, if you prefer not to answer, select or type “Prefer not to answer.”
  • Thank you for helping us ensure that all students at the National Tournament have high quality judging! Judges in Policy and Lincoln-Douglas must complete the Paradigm Form Questionnaire. All judges must complete the Demographics Questionnaire. Demographic information provides an overall baseline of representation within the judging pool and allows the NSDA to effectively facilitate its judge recruitment process and create judge panels that reflect the diversity of our student population and our world. This demographic information will NOT be made public and is not saved year over year. Tab officials will have access to this information at the tournament. Age, role, and experience are required questions, but for others, if you prefer not to answer, select or type “Prefer not to answer.”
  • On Sunday, June 16, World Schools Debate judges are required to attend an in-person judge training session.
  • Remember that all judges are eligible to judge supplemental speech events and Extemp Debate, regardless of the main event judging category they have selected or the events their school is participating in. 
  • All judges must have a linked Tabroom.com account. Online ballots will be used in every main and supplemental event.

Judge Availability

• • Take care in entering your judge days! Any judges registered as a judge for your school will be assigned rounds for the number of days for which you have them registered. When you enter a judge, that judge should be available for the duration of that event’s schedule. You will have a limited ability to move judges around based on their availability after day assignments are released in June, but it will be difficult for you to cover your obligation if you enter judges with limited availability. You cannot reduce the total number of days of judging your school is covering after the May 15 deadline. 
  • It is possible that you won’t have a judge assigned to a site where you have students competing. Take this under consideration when entering judge days and plan ahead to have some flexibility with where chaperones go, or coordinate chaperoning with other schools in your district if appropriate.

Judge Swaps: June 13-15

There is no way to enter judge availability at this time. In early June, you will be able to check your school’s judging assignments by day and event during the Judging Swap Window opens on Thursday, June 13. During this window, you will have a limited ability to swap your judges between the days your school has been assigned to accommodate their availability. Remember, judging cannot be purchased after May 15. During this time, you may log in to Tabroom.com and check which judge(s) we have assigned to judge which day(s) of the National Tournament. You will have the ability to swap around judges who are qualified in that event to ensure all of the days your school is obligated to judge in an event are covered. The Judging Swap Window closes at 12:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, June 15. No further swaps will be permitted after that time. We understand that it can be hard to manage judge schedules, and we hope that this process will allow you the flexibility to schedule judging on the days and in the buildings that work best for you and your team!

Example:

Payment Methods

• • Payment is due May 15. Follow these instructions to create your National Tournament invoice. There are three ways to pay:
    • Checks payable to National Speech & Debate Association. Mail payment to: NSDA, 6600 Westown Pkwy Ste 270 West Des Moines, IA 50266. Checks must be postmarked by May 15.
    • Purchase order uploaded in PDF format to the Money tab of your school’s Tabroom.com registration by May 15.
    • Online via credit card or ACH payment via the school’s NSDA account. There is no processing fee for credit card and ACH payments.

Judge Bond

• • 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. 
  • Failure to report for each round on a day you’re obligated will forfeit your judge bond of $200 for the first round missed, and a $100 per judge per round penalty will be assessed thereafter. A school will not be permitted to compete the following year unless all outstanding fees have been paid.  

Entry Fees

• • Entry fees are $140 per student. Partner events are $280.
  • Each supplemental event has a $30 fee per pre-registered entry. Pre-registration fees are non-refundable even if students do not end up competing in that event. Students can be pre-registered for all supplemental events, but re-registration is limited to one speech event per pattern or Extemp Debate.
  • Schools staying within the NSDA hotel block receive a 15% discount on all main event and supplemental event entry fees. Schools must select the hotel they are staying at and enter at least one confirmation code from their hotel booking in their Tabroom.com registration, and this discount will be automatically applied.
    

Refunds

• • Full refunds will be issued for changes made by May 15th at 11:59 p.m. CT. 50% refunds will be issued for changes made between May 16 – 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.
  • A supplemental event entry must be dropped by May 15 to be refunded. The entry fee will not be refunded after May 15, even if the entry does not participate in the supplemental event.
  • Overpayments will be processed by July 31 and refunded via the same method selected for judge bond refund.
  • Judge bond refunds will be processed by July 31. 

The Road to Nationals Fund

The Road to Nationals Fund was created to help schools that lack financial resources attend the high school National Speech & Debate Tournament. The NSDA is proud to provide over $100,000 in travel grants to schools through this fund.

Learn more about the Road to Nationals Fund.

Lodging Opportunity

In 2024, the NSDA is proud to partner with Simpson College to offer the Stay-at-Simpson opportunity. Thanks to the generosity of Simpson College, over 80 students and coaches have been selected to receive access to lodging accommodations at Simpson College throughout the 2024 National Tournament.