2024-2025 Maple Asynchronous Invitational

Synchronous Maple Tournament homepage link

(all times Pacific)

Schedule:

Events Offered:

• Competitors may enter as many events as they would like! 

• In the event of small entry sizes, we may need to collapse events within their event category (so interp events collapse to an “interp” event).

Individual Events

• Three prelims will be held; one final round will be held, unless the number of entries exceeds 30 per event, in which case, a second elimination round will be added.

• Competitors may enter a maximum of three IE events except competitors in Extemp who may only double-enter.

• 1 Judge is required for every 5 entries.

• Prelim Ranking: Ranks/Decimal/Drop High Rank  

• Elim Ranking: Total Rank/# of 1st in Event/Rank in Elim/Decimal in Elim/Judge Pref in Elim

• Speaker Points will not be used.

• Competitors will be recognized with Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honors awards.

• See the NOF Bylaws for more information about NOF events and awards.

Debate

• The current NSDA topic will be used for LD, Public Forum, and Policy.

• All preliminary rounds will be randomly paired. In Elims, brackets will be broken to facilitate debating. 

• One  final round will be held, unless the number of entries exceeds 30 per event, in which case, a second elimination round will be added.

• Competitors may only enter one format of debate and no individual events.

• 1 Judge is required for every 2 debate entries.

• Speaker Point Scale will be 70-100. 

• Prelim Ranking: Wins/Total Points/HL Points/Z Score/Opp Wins. 

• Speakers Ranking: Total Points/HL Points/Ranks/Z Score.

• An award for the top speakers in debate events shall be given. The top 15% of competitors shall be recognized.

• A 5 minute forfeit rule will be put in place for all debate rounds.

• Competitors will be recognized with Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honors awards.

• See the NOF Bylaws for more information about NOF events and awards.

Awards

• School sweepstakes: Top schools will be recognized at each division (college, high school, middle, and elementary school).

• Competitors winning Gold, Silver, or Bronze will receive physical awards that will be shipped to coaches following the tournament.

• Coaches will be asked to verify their shipping address at registration. Please contact the tournament director ASAP if you would like your awards shipped to a different address than on file.  Additional shipping costs may be assessed if an incorrect address is supplied.

Judging

Any schools seeking to buy out of their judging requirements must have approval by the Tournament Director. Please contact the tournament early to request uncovered entries.  

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

Due to the complex nature of the schedule, judges may be asked to accept ballots in events they did not initially register.  For example, if a judge is signed up to accept debate ballots, but the tournament needs more Impromptu judges, then that judge would be expected to take the Impromptu ballot.  We will do our best to accommodate event requests, but may not be able to do so.

To ensure timely pickup of ballots, all judges should wait in the Judges Room until dismissed or they have picked up a ballot via email. This will ensure judges are not missing ballots pushed to them during the tournament.

Fees

• School Fee: $50

• Individual Event Entries: $25/entry

• DUO Event Entries: $45/entry

• Congress Entries: $30/entry

• One person Debate (LD, IPDA, NFA-LD) Entries: $50/entry

• Two person Debate (NOF Parli, PF) Entries: $60/entry

• Three+ person Debate (World Schools) Entries: $75/entry

• Judges: First Missed Ballot - $25 / Subsequent Missed Ballots - $50

• Uncovered IE/Congress Slot (with Tournament Director Approval): $35/slot

• Uncovered Debate Team (with Tournament Director Approval): $125/team

• Changes after entry deadline - $25 per change (subject to tournament director approval)

• Judge drops within 24 hours of the tournament will be charged a $150 judge no-show fee.  

• Judges who submit incomplete eBallots (with little to no substantive feedback) may be charged a judge no-show fee for failing to complete their judge assignment which includes both ranking the speakers along with giving sufficient comments.

• Delay of tournament fees may be assessed from $20-$100 based on the severity of the delay.

• Competitor no-shows (coaches did not notify the tournament prior to the missed round) - $35

Competitor Logistics / Best Practices

• All competitors must have a verified text number or email saved on ForensicsTournament.net  Email is preferred. 

• Coaches can save and verify competitor contact details from the Competitor Roster page. 

• Competitors will receive a text/email with their ePostings information. Postings will be sent approximately 10 minutes prior to each round.  

• The ePostings will have a link to a Live Video Room where they will perform.  Click that link to go to your round.  No logins or passwords are required.  Judges will be in the same Live Video Room to listen and rank the round. 

• If double-entered, competitors should go to each room before competing and type in the chat window that they are double-entered so judges are aware. Request to compete early and leave promptly to join the next event.

• Please do not immediately start to talk when entering a Live Video Room. Another competitor may be performing.  Please wait to be recognized by the judge(s).

• Competitors should remain in the Live Video Room as audience members and have video on, as much as possible. 

• Competitors can, if it fits their particular setup, sit while performing.  Judges are instructed not to penalize competitors for sitting while speaking since the particular tech setup may work better while sitting. 

• Competitors are also encouraged to use a mic/headphones since audio quality is much better than with an external mic.  Judges are instructed not to penalize competitors for having mics/headphones on.

• We recognize technological limitations create some challenges for certain events.  But we trust in the ingenuity of the forensics community to adapt to the online environment.  Some competitors may have better quality video, lighting, sound, etc…  We will all try our best.

• If a competitor’s internet connection drops or audio quality is poor, they will be required to call into the video conference room and give their speech with audio only. While not ideal, it will ensure all competitor’s speeches are listened to by a judge.  You can get the dial-in information from the info icon in the bottom right of the screen. 

Judge Logistics / Best Practices

• All judges must have a verified phone or email saved on ForensicsTournament.net

• Coaches can save and verify contact details from the Judge Roster Page

• Judges will receive a text/email with their eBallot link.  Judges should click on that link within 5 minutes of receiving it to indicate that they have “picked up” their ballot.  

• On your eBallot you will have all of the competitors listed in that round along with a link to a live video room. Click that link to go to your video conference room. Competitors who are double entered, will have that listed adjacent to their name. Please be flexible in accommodating double entered competitors.

• Your eBallot has fields where you can add your feedback to the competitor. Feedback can be added while they are performing and added throughout the competition until the awards ceremony.  The eBallot also has a timer to make it easy to time each speaker.  

• If a judge’s keyboard is loud they are encouraged to mute  audio during performances but please leave the video feed on so competitors can receive your visual feedback.

• Judges are instructed not to penalize competitors for sitting while speaking since the competitor’s particular tech setup may work better while sitting. 

• Judges are also instructed not to penalize competitors for having mics/headphones on since audio quality is usually much better using a mic/headset.

• Judges are also instructed not to penalize competitors for lighting, video/audio quality, video background to the extent possible.

• If a judge’s internet connection drops or audio quality is poor, they will be required to call into the video conference room and listen to speeches with audio only. While not ideal, it will ensure all competitor’s speeches are listened to by a judge.  You can get the dial-in information from the info icon in the bottom right of the screen.

• For Impromptu/Extemp/IPDA/NPDA, the eBallot will have the quotations/questions listed on it under prompts - or in the case of extemp, the prompts will be provided by the tournament prior to the start of the round and competitors will arrive after their designated prep period.