Middle School National Tournament

Events Offered

• All events will be held live and in-person in the Des Moines, Iowa metro area.
• 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, topic areas in Impromptu and Mixed Extemp, and prepared motions in WS can be found at www.speechanddebate.org/national-tournament-topics.
• Download the 2024 middle school docket containing preliminary, semifinal, and final round legislation (updated 05/15/2024).

Entry Limits

• 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.
• 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, 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.
• 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: 1 judge is owed per 2 entries or fraction thereof.
• World Schools: 1 judge is owed per 2 entries or fraction thereof.
• Public Forum: 1 judge is owed per 3 entries or fraction thereof.
• Lincoln-Douglas: 1 judge is owed per 3 entries or fraction thereof.
• 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 National Tournament participants who are no longer competing on Wednesday are welcome to judge at the Middle School National Tournament! To be eligible, they must have completed their junior or senior year of high school and have 250+ Honor Society points. They should sign up in advance using the “Judge Signup” tab at msnats.tabroom.com and arrive at Northwest HS by 8:15 a.m. CT on Wednesday to check in with tournament staff. They will be required to attend a judge training session before they are permitted to judge.
• By May 15, all judges in the Middle School National Tournament must have completed the required judge accreditation modules and claimed their badges in Tabroom.com.
  • 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. Thank you for helping us ensure that all students at the National Tournament have high quality judging!
  • All judge accreditation modules can be found at www.speechanddebate.org/judge-accreditation. Judges must create or log in to a free NSDA account before beginning.
  • After judges have completed a module, they must navigate to Tabroom.com and select “Upcoming” under the Judging header on the right side of the page. They will see all required accreditation modules listed under the Middle School National Tournament header. They should select the blue and white edit button next to the relevant module, certify that Yes they have completed it, and “Save Answers.”
  • 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.
• 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 “NSDA Middle School Nationals” 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 the coach of the school you are judging for 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.
• Judges who are meeting high school judging obligations may NOT also be listed to judge Middle School Nationals since competition will be occurring at the same time. Coaches of middle school teams who are listed as high school judges may find that they are assigned to judge during middle school competition and should plan accordingly for middle school supervision and judging.

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.

Fees

• The entry fee is $75 for each solo event entry, $150 for each partner event entry, and $225 for each World Schools Debate entry. Schools that stay within the NSDA hotel block will receive a 15% discount on all entry fees.
• 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.

Payment Instructions

• 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.

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 receive a 15% discount on all entry fees. Schools must select the hotel they are staying at and at least one confirmation code from their hotel booking in their Tabroom.com registration, and this discount will be automatically applied.
    
  • 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 large outdoor lot near the Convention Center is $12/day. There is also metered street parking (free on Sundays) and some city ramps for $10 that are within walking distance.
  • Parking at the school that hosts Middle School Nationals competition on Wednesday and Thursday is free.

Venue & Hotel Maps

Discounts

Delta Meeting Event Code: NM3G7

Delta Air Lines is pleased to offer special discounts for National Speech & Debate Association. Book now or 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 NM3G7.

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

Meals

We are excited to once again offer free lunch for competitors at Nationals! This year, free lunch will be available at all competition sites for competitors Monday through Thursday. Check out the menu for student meal info and details about purchasing adult meals. In addition, concession options will be available at school locations, and various food options will be available at the Convention Center.

Our national office is located in West Des Moines! Check out food recommendations from our local staff. 

Things to Do

We encourage teams to maximize their speech and debate experience at the tournament by checking out outrounds, and attending awards. Check out this guide for ideas of things to do and places to eat while you’re in town!

Required Identification

For security reasons, all attendees must wear identifying ribbons at all times. Ribbons are distributed at registration. We’ll get you what you need! There are generic competitor ribbons for students and 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.

Security and Nursing

The NSDA hires security and a nurse or EMT at all competition venues. Nurse/EMT locations will be posted in each venue. 

Crisis Communications

The Nats24 app is the hub for all urgent tournament communications. The app will be available for download in June. Please make sure you have push notifications enabled on the app.

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 Iowa Events Center, and middle school teams are welcome to attend!

Friday

All middle school competition moves to the Iowa Events 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