The NSDA District Tournament
The annual "NSDA District Tournament" serves as the qualifying tournament for the prestigious National Speech & Debate Association's National Tournament!
NSDA Districts is organized by the five elected NSDA District Committee Members working under the direction of national high school rules and procedures manual. |
Students have the opportunity to compete for a slot to Nationals in International Extemp, US Extemp, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, Humorous Interp, Dramatic Interp, Duo Interp, Program Oral Interp, Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Congressional Debate. Highly qualified EastMO NSDA Honor Society students also have the ability to bid for advancement to Nationals in World Schools Debate.
This tournament is often referred to as a "series" because it is organized in three different segments:
The tournament series concludes with the annual Eastern Missouri NSDA Awards Ceremony. Top placing students in each event will be named to the "EastMO Team" and work collaboratively between schools to prepare for Nationals!
You can read more about NSDA District Tournaments on the NSDA website here.
TO ENTER NSDA DISTRICTS, A STUDENT MUST:
Registration for districts usually starts January 1st and shuts off in late February.
The tournament invitation will have all the relevant details for registration.
NSDA Districts is not connected with the MSHSAA District tournament; the majority of students compete in both District Tournaments.
This tournament is often referred to as a "series" because it is organized in three different segments:
- Congressional Debate (Senate and House) are held one weekend.
- Speech and Debate are held several weeks later with rounds alternating between speech rounds and debate rounds.
- World Schools Debate is a bid/application process that takes place the week after the Speech & Debate segment.
The tournament series concludes with the annual Eastern Missouri NSDA Awards Ceremony. Top placing students in each event will be named to the "EastMO Team" and work collaboratively between schools to prepare for Nationals!
You can read more about NSDA District Tournaments on the NSDA website here.
TO ENTER NSDA DISTRICTS, A STUDENT MUST:
- Be in grades 9 - 12 at a high school assigned to the Eastern Missouri NSDA "district" or region.
- Attend a high school who has affiliated and paid the annual school membership dues to the NSDA.
- Have earned at least the Degree of Merit in the NSDA Honor Society
- Have signed the Honor Code of the NSDA.
Registration for districts usually starts January 1st and shuts off in late February.
The tournament invitation will have all the relevant details for registration.
NSDA Districts is not connected with the MSHSAA District tournament; the majority of students compete in both District Tournaments.