NOF Maple Async Tournament

NOF April Synchronous Invite: Link

Award ceremony Link: to be posted at conclusion of tournament

Dear Forensics Community,

We are excited to welcome you to the the final 2026-27 National Online Forensics Asynchronous Invitational! These monthly asynchronous competitions are a fantastic way to prepare your students for tournaments later in the month, and a low-pressure way to introduce competitors to online speech and debate. Plus, with $0 travel costs, these tournaments are both convenient and cost-effective.

Tournaments are offered across all grade levels (from kindergarten to college) in a wide variety of events. Our tournaments offer both speech and debate, including individual events, platform events, spontaneous/impromptu speaking, and occassional experiemental events. Our highly qualified NOF tournament staff is committed to delivering a smooth, engaging week of competition.

These tournaments occur over the course of a week by evaluating video submissions by competitors, and winners of each category receive Gold, Silver, or Bronze recognition. US-based event winners will be sent physical awards following the conclusion of the tournament and receival of tournament fees. International competitors will be sent certificates to recognize their accomplishment, as well as have a donation made in their name to one of our partnering charities. 

Thank you for choosing National Online Forensics. Please reach out to the tournament director, Robert, with any questions.

 Robert@nationalonlineforensics.org

Tournament Schedule

All times are Pacific.

Saturday, 8:00 PM - Registration closes. No new schools may enter the tournament.

Sunday - Coaches will be notified of collapsed events and missing competitor videos and may edit entries, including adds, drops, and video-link changes.

Monday, 9:00 AM - Deadline for coaches to add or drop competitors and enter missing video links. All competitors without posted video links will be subject to being dropped from the tournament at this point in time.

Monday, 12:00 PM - Preliminary ballots will be sent to judges as soon as possible following final adds and drops.

Wednesday, 12:00 PM - Preliminary ballot rankings and preliminary feedback are due to the Tournament Director. Ballots unreturned at this time will be subject to penalty and may be reassigned to available judges.

Wednesday, 6:00 PM - Elim 1 rounds will be paired, breaks posted, and ballots sent to judges as soon as possible following preliminary ballot review. Additional preliminary ballot feedback requests will be sent to judges. ***Async Debate finalists will be sent videos and will have 48 hours to return a reply video.***

Friday, 6:00 PM - Elim 1 ballot ranks and feedback are due to the Tournament Director.

Friday, 9:00 PM - Elim 2 rounds will be paired, breaks posted, and ballots sent to judges as soon as possible following preliminary ballot review. ***Async Debate Finals will be run during this timeslot.***

Sunday, 9:00 PM - Elim 2 ballot ranks and feedback are due to the Tournament Director.

Monday, 6:00 PM The award ceremony video will be posted to YouTube.

Please note that due to the asynchronous nature of this tournament format, the schedule may require adjustment at the discretion of the Tournament Director. All changes will be announced on the Tournament Home Page and through a tournament notice blast.

Key Information

Judging Requirements: Each school is required to provide one judge for every five Individual Event or Congress entries per pattern. At the discretion of the Tournament Director, uncovered entries may be allowed, but applicable penalty fees will apply.

Technology: Asynchronous tournaments use video submissions prior to the event, which are then circulated with links embedded in each ballot to judges for evaluation and ranking. See the Best Practices section of this invitation for guidance on preparing to compete online.

Rules: The complete set of NOF rules is available here.

We hope you and your team will join us throughout the year.

Sincerely,
Alexandra Smith, Robert Cannon, & Danny Cantrell
National Online Forensics
www.nationalonlineforensics.org/
instagram.com/nofchamps/

Events Offered

Elementary Events

Assigned Platform, Async Congress, Async Debate, Duo Interpretation, Declamation, Impromptu, Informative, Persuasive, Poetry, Prose, and Storytelling

Middle School Events

Assigned Platform, Async Congress, Async Debate, Duo Interpretation, Declamation, Dramatic Interpretation, Extemp, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu, Informative, NOF Mock Trial, Program Oral Interpretation, Persuasive, Poetry, Prose, Speech to Entertain, and Storytelling

High School Events

Assigned Platform, Async Congress, Async Debate, Duo Interpretation, Declamation, Dramatic Interpretation, Extemp, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu, Informative, NOF Mock Trial, Original Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Persuasive, Poetry, Prose, Speech to Entertain, and Storytelling

College Events

Assigned Platform, Async Congress, Async Debate, Communication Analysis, Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Extemp, Impromptu, Informative, Program Oral Interpretation, Persuasive, Poetry, Prose, and Speech to Entertain

Entry Policies

Individual Events & Async Congress

Competitors may enter as many events as they wish. In Async Congress, competitors may submit multiple entries, including speeches on different legislation and speeches on both the Pro and Con sides of the same legislation. Each video submission is treated as a separate entry.

In small-entry scenarios, like-events may be combined within their category at the discretion of the Tournament Director and consistent with the NOF By-Laws. For example, interpretation events may be combined into a Mixed Interpretation event.

Elimination rounds will be offered according to the entry thresholds and advancement procedures established in the NOF By-Laws.

Competitors will be recognized with Gold, Silver, Bronze, and, where applicable under the NOF By-Laws, Honors awards.

See the NOF By-Laws for more information about NOF events and awards.

Async Debate

Async Debate competitors will submit a recorded constructive speech on the tournament resolution. The same constructive speech will be used throughout the three preliminary rounds.

Three preliminary rounds will be held. Advancement to the Final Round will follow the Async Debate procedures established in the NOF By-Laws.

Finalists will be assigned another finalist’s constructive speech to rebut and will have 48 hours to record and submit their rebuttal. Each finalist will then compete in two Final Round matchups, once using their original constructive and once using their rebuttal.

Final Round results will be determined by win/loss rather than traditional Individual Event rankings. 

Awards

School Sweepstakes: The top school will be recognized in each division: College, High School, Middle School, and Elementary School.

Competitors receiving Gold, Silver, or Bronze recognition with a U.S.-based shipping address will receive physical awards that will be shipped to coaches following the tournament.

Coaches with U.S.-based shipping addresses will be asked to verify their shipping address at registration. Please contact the Tournament Director as soon as possible if you would like your awards shipped to an address different from the address on file. Additional shipping costs may be assessed if an incorrect address is supplied.

Physical awards are not shipped to addresses outside the United States. Competitors who earn Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Honors recognition but are unable to receive a physical award will receive a digital certificate recognizing their achievement.

Judging

Each school is required to provide one judge for every five Individual Event or Congress entries per pattern.

Schools that are unable to provide the required number of judges may request approval from the Tournament Director to pay an uncovered-entry fee instead. Please contact the Tournament Director as early as possible to make this request.

NOTE: The tournament reserves the right to assign ballots to judges when they are scheduled.

Due to the complex nature of the tournament, judges may be asked to accept ballots in events they did not initially register for. For example, if a judge is signed up to accept interpretation ballots but the tournament needs additional Impromptu judges, that judge may be expected to take the Impromptu ballot. We will do our best to accommodate event preferences, but we may not always be able to do so.

Fees

Judging & Admin Fees

Missed Ballots: $25 for the first missed ballot / $50 for each additional missed ballot

Uncovered IE/Congress Slot: $35 with Tournament Director approval

Entry Changes after Deadline: $25 per change with Tournament Director approval

Judge Drops within 24 hours: $150

Incomplete eBallots: May result in judge no-show fees

Tournament Delays, depending on the violation: $20–$100

Competitor No-Shows without prior notice: $35