This email is being sent to all the VaNFL Coaches. Hope your summer has been/ is a good one. Now we start the laborious task of planning out the VaNFL State Tournament. We had record-numbers last year by pulling the debate/congress and speech tournaments together for the first time in five years. Total numbers, across the board, were up and we could offer a 3rd House... first time in the HISTORY of the NFL in Virginia. A 3rd House meant one more student going on to NFL Nationals from Virginia. We learned a LOT from this tournament and really want to hit the ground running for the next one.
Now, as we start to plan-out the VaNFL State Tournament/ National Qualifier, we have an interesting issue of location and format. The date is pretty well set (the weekend of January 24). We realize that this date will be difficult for NoVa schools with Finals Week; but arrangements need to be made early-on to avoid the conflict.
The issue of the VaNFL State Tournament is going to be figured out in the next month or two. Here are our options:
Date: Weekend of January 24
Format: Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun
Location: GMU or UVA
Date:
We are set and locked with the weekend, as VHSL Districts/Regionals Forensics/Debate starts up in February and the philosophy for tournament placement is not locking-out any part of the state for the VaNFL State Tournament/ National Qualifier. Also, there is no CFL tournament on that date.
Format:
If we run Fri/Sat, we start at 1p with Congress, then two rounds of debate, roll Speech, then Congress. We get to Awards earlier next year than last, and look at 7p or so. (we were delayed with the change in the NFL online tabbing procedures, causing us to double-tab and create a complete Tournament Report Spreadsheet at the last minute).
If we run Sat/Sun, we start 9a on Saturday, roll the same format, and look at Awards on Sunday around 3p or so. We would bring in a Catholic Priest to handle Mass before Awards and a Protestant non-denominational service (sorry, I will be swearing in Tab at that time, so you'll miss out on my sermonizing). CFL Nationals offers a Mass on their weekend; so, this could satisfy the needs of parents and school boards to offer kids religious services.
Location:
Dr. Pober has graciously offered us, again, GMU for hosting. GMU is a great venue and has a great judge pool.
Calvin Li at UVA has also offered to coordinate logistics for offering UVA as a host, working with the Jefferson and Washington Societies to provide a judge pool.
Decision:
What we really need is a body-count. Namely, what location would the majority of the State prefer and what format (Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun). What we really need is information from the state -- each coach checking his or her calendar and determining if a Friday out of school is possible on the 29th, or if a Sunday tournament is a non-starter. VHSL Athletic Rules do not apply to Forensics, as I found out from Lisa Giles.
Next, because the number of entries is based off total entries that we have in each event, we need coaches to determine (it's far out, I know), how many they could conceivably bring. We are really swayed by numbers. Remember, with the benefits purchased from Project 1200, we have an extra qualifier to NFL Nationals; but only if we have 2 qualifiers in EACH Speech/Debate event. NYC lost out on their bonus this year, due to low numbers in CX. NFL Virginia has spent too much time in entering points and too much money paying for new degrees from small schools to let the Bonus go away. And, hey, you're talking about me as District Chair, here... we all remember the Sacrifice Entry Push three years ago at GMU to get an extra entry in OO and Duo and that was just three extra kids... Project 1200 means 11 extra kids representing the Old Dominion at NFL Nationals. Not only do we need the necessary 10 or 12 in all Speech/Debate events, running any number under would not be an option.
R-MA has the largest numbers and we can go either location, either Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun. As District Chair, I am going to withhold our vote, determinate upon the choice of the State.
So, please respond to debateczar@hotmail with the following info:
What is your Finals Week schedule?
What is your preferred location?
What is your preferred format (Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun)?
Will you be willing to bring full quota? If not, how many?
We will correlate the results and information we gain at the October VASDDC Conference to determine the best possible solution for Virginia.
Now, as we start to plan-out the VaNFL State Tournament/ National Qualifier, we have an interesting issue of location and format. The date is pretty well set (the weekend of January 24). We realize that this date will be difficult for NoVa schools with Finals Week; but arrangements need to be made early-on to avoid the conflict.
The issue of the VaNFL State Tournament is going to be figured out in the next month or two. Here are our options:
Date: Weekend of January 24
Format: Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun
Location: GMU or UVA
Date:
We are set and locked with the weekend, as VHSL Districts/Regionals Forensics/Debate starts up in February and the philosophy for tournament placement is not locking-out any part of the state for the VaNFL State Tournament/ National Qualifier. Also, there is no CFL tournament on that date.
Format:
If we run Fri/Sat, we start at 1p with Congress, then two rounds of debate, roll Speech, then Congress. We get to Awards earlier next year than last, and look at 7p or so. (we were delayed with the change in the NFL online tabbing procedures, causing us to double-tab and create a complete Tournament Report Spreadsheet at the last minute).
If we run Sat/Sun, we start 9a on Saturday, roll the same format, and look at Awards on Sunday around 3p or so. We would bring in a Catholic Priest to handle Mass before Awards and a Protestant non-denominational service (sorry, I will be swearing in Tab at that time, so you'll miss out on my sermonizing). CFL Nationals offers a Mass on their weekend; so, this could satisfy the needs of parents and school boards to offer kids religious services.
Location:
Dr. Pober has graciously offered us, again, GMU for hosting. GMU is a great venue and has a great judge pool.
Calvin Li at UVA has also offered to coordinate logistics for offering UVA as a host, working with the Jefferson and Washington Societies to provide a judge pool.
Decision:
What we really need is a body-count. Namely, what location would the majority of the State prefer and what format (Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun). What we really need is information from the state -- each coach checking his or her calendar and determining if a Friday out of school is possible on the 29th, or if a Sunday tournament is a non-starter. VHSL Athletic Rules do not apply to Forensics, as I found out from Lisa Giles.
Next, because the number of entries is based off total entries that we have in each event, we need coaches to determine (it's far out, I know), how many they could conceivably bring. We are really swayed by numbers. Remember, with the benefits purchased from Project 1200, we have an extra qualifier to NFL Nationals; but only if we have 2 qualifiers in EACH Speech/Debate event. NYC lost out on their bonus this year, due to low numbers in CX. NFL Virginia has spent too much time in entering points and too much money paying for new degrees from small schools to let the Bonus go away. And, hey, you're talking about me as District Chair, here... we all remember the Sacrifice Entry Push three years ago at GMU to get an extra entry in OO and Duo and that was just three extra kids... Project 1200 means 11 extra kids representing the Old Dominion at NFL Nationals. Not only do we need the necessary 10 or 12 in all Speech/Debate events, running any number under would not be an option.
R-MA has the largest numbers and we can go either location, either Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun. As District Chair, I am going to withhold our vote, determinate upon the choice of the State.
So, please respond to debateczar@hotmail with the following info:
What is your Finals Week schedule?
What is your preferred location?
What is your preferred format (Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun)?
Will you be willing to bring full quota? If not, how many?
We will correlate the results and information we gain at the October VASDDC Conference to determine the best possible solution for Virginia.
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8 comments:
Over the past ten years of attending VHSL regional debate tournaments hosted by the UVA debate society, only once can I say things ran smoothly. The judging pool varies greatly in uality from year to year since there is no ongoing organized coaching staff like we have at GMU, JMU, or Liberty.
Very valid point. We would definitely need to see if we could pull in any judges from those supporting programs, as well.
However, we have used UVA Jefferson Society judges in the past at NFL Debate States with some pretty good results. A use of a good judge paradigm might be helpful.
But, of course, judge quality and consistency is a huge issue.
Can any consideration be given to the fact that the Barkley Forum at Emory University is being held on the weekend of January 24th? Conflict with Emory kept Kempsville from attending NFL States last year and is one of the factors keeping Cox HS from joining the NFL. Could the debate events be held on a different weekend, as they were the year before last?
DANG. I thought that Emory was the last weekend this year? We DEFINITELY want to deconflict with Emory this year. Will look into it asap. I know that we are currently conflicting with Columbia (one of my top-5 tournaments). But we definitely do not want to conflict with two different tournaments. Will get back after we check this one out.
Okay, just got off the phone with the Emory people and, though their tournament always runs the last full weekend of January, they stated that their tournament this year would run the 23rd/ 24th. This creates a double-conflict with Columbia and Emory and, in an effort to build up representation from Tidewater, as well as increase CX numbers, we are shifting the date to the 29/30/31 weekend.
We definitely appreciate the consideration, but the last weekend in January is, unfortunately, just as problematic. Pennsbury holds its tournament on the 30th and 31st. Kempsville, Cox, and Stone Bridge have all attended this tournament in the past and now that its a TOC qualifier for policy, even more CX teams from Virginia might be heading there this year. The weekend of January 17th and the first weekend in February are clear of circuit tournaments, I believe.
Will need to refer this to the District Committee. WACFL has both dates planned-out well in advance. More, we start hitting VHSL District Speech tournaments in February. So, this will be a major concern as well.
The philosophy we have adopted over the years has been, in scheduling the NFL Qualifier, to take into consideration Virginia tournaments first and foremost -- as those league tournaments tend to get the most amount of draw from most schools.
We have usually locked ourselves out of Columbia and Debate TOC -- a tough one for me, personally, since I love Columbia and had to send my first team to TOC without me. There is an interesting argument to be made regarding moving the 23/24 date, as this locks-out Columbia AND Emory.
But, in terms of the exact date, we are going to have to meet as a Committee to determine the exact date and stick with it. The more feedback and information the better.
The bottom line is, sadly, there is no perfect date and setting the date for NFL Qualifiers has always caused me headache and worry pangs.
Our criteria that we have adopted over the years has been (put in order or consideration):
1) Va League Tournaments come first, so that we don't force a coach or a student to make a choice between qualifying for States of Nationals.
2) Choosing a date with the greatest potential for draw from across the State... so looking at Finals week, Breaks, and any other impediments are an issue across the State.
3) Consideration of National Tournament Schedules (Columbia, Harvard, etc.)
4) Consideration of Regional Tournament Schedules
The Committee will be meeting in the next week to determine the date. This, clearly, is the time for feedback.
And, as Virginia NFL grows in size (and, yes, we are planning on topping 100 schools next year), these issues of tournament placement become critical. My argument has been to grow the District until we can Daughter... we have enough to Daughter right now, but not the schools clamoring for it. However, should we get enough schools in Tidewater to come into VaFL and NFL, I think we will have the critical mass to do so. Two (at least) Districts in Virginia allow the calendar to get set so as not to keep on worrying about counterbalancing the schedule for 2 CFLs, TDL, TFL, PDL, DCUDL, and the 98 VHSL District and Regional Speech and Debate tournaments that occur between February and March.
Long reply, I know.
But we need feedback, feedback, feedback from all the coaches on date.
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