Club Business

Teacher Sponsor/Coach
​Most schools will require a teacher sponsor to start any club, and it’s highly encouraged that you have one because they can legally handle all money processes involved with speech. It’s highly recommended that your teacher sponsor is also your coach, has some experience/willingness to learn about speech and debate, and will make a long-term commitment to the team. Try asking your theater, english, or communications teachers if you don’t already have a speech and debate coach!
Finances
​Your teacher sponsor should be in charge of this. No money transactions should be handled by students. Your club will most likely need to collect dues from each member of the team, which will help fund tournament fees and a potion can be used to purchase some team merch! Your team can also start a booster club to help fundraise throughout the year, and it’ll need to be registered as a 501(c)(3). Given the COVID environment, it’s encouraged to have all forms of payment as electronic.
Paperwork
You will need a teacher sponsor to help coordinate between your team and your school. Paperwork will vary from school to school, so have him/her check with what forms will need to be filled out to officially register your team. Specifics about the paperwork needed for tournaments is detailed in the next section.
Your team should also have a club signup contact sheet for not only students of the team, but parents as well. This way, your coach will be able to contact any member or their parents in case of an emergency or if they just want to send out general information.
Handbook
It is highly encouraged that your team creates a handbook. You want this to include the bylaws of your team. Expectations of tournament behavior, values, rules for the team, how consequences will be handled, etc. should be considered. You might also want to lay out what your teacher sponsor and student officers are in charge of. If you choose to start a booster club, bylaws for them should also be written.

Tournament Registration

State Registration
This primarily applies to high school speech. Registration for state associations varies from state to state. Check out this website (scroll to the bottom) to find which associations are in your state: https://www.speechanddebate.org/partnerships/
  • Some states have multiple state associations, so pay attention to what events they offer, what you must do to qualify, etc.

NSDA Registration
Coaches and each member of the team will need to sign up for NSDA membership by paying annual dues and completing an online renewal with the permission of the principal. Create an account at www.speechanddebate.org/join and link the coaches account to a school. You are now the advisor and will have to renew membership every year. To finalize your payment, create an invoice and proceed to checkout.
  • High School membership is $149 with an option to upgrade to all-school team Resource package for additional $199. Each student for one-time membership is $20.
  • Middle school is $75 with option of resource package for $199. Each student one-time fee is $10.​

Membership will give you access to:
  • Access to the online point recording site
  • Rostrum, the official publication of NSDA which is released five times a year
  • Access to the district qualifier tournament (for high school students)
  • Resources of lesson plans, coaching techniques, webinars, etc.
NSDA Membership
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You can get points by entering tournaments (the more people at a tournament and the higher rank you get, the more points you can earn!) You can also get points through volunteer service with speech, debate, or theater.
Once you start earning points, you join the Honor Society. The more points you earn, the higher your degree you’ll get. Your certificates will be mailed to you and with every degree you earn, another seal will be sent to you! Here are the students’ degree
You can also earn student awards through the NSDA! 
  • All American: This award recognizes the top 25 students with the highest total points in the Honor Society. It is based on a combination of competitive and service points, with no more than 25% of the point total including service. In order to qualify, you must have competed at Nationals at least once. 
  • Academic All American: This award recognizes high school seniors who earned Superior Distinction (750 points), completed at least 5 semesters of high school, demonstrated character and leadership, and earned a GPA of 3.7- 4.0 (or its equivalent).
  • District Student of the Year: Each NSDA District has the opportunity of presenting the District Student of the Year award to a graduating senior who demonstrates strong academic credentials, a commitment to the speech and debate community, and represents the Association’s Code of Honor: integrity, respect, humility, leadership, and service. 
    • Each year, six students who win this award are selected as finalists for the William Woods Tate Jr. National Student of the Year Award.
For more information, visit this website: https://www.speechanddebate.org/student-recognition/
How to Use the NSDA Website
Resources packages that come with your membership showcase past NSDA finals videos, webinars, coaching sessions, lesson plans, etc. for you to reference and maintain your team.  
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Additionally, you will be able to track membership points and your team’s progress using the online point recording site.
The NSDA Website provides manuals and rulebooks for tournaments. These are important to review when attending any NSDA or District Qualifying Tournament. Check them out here: https://www.speechanddebate.org/rules-forms-manuals/
  • Note that these rules don’t apply at every tournament. Please reference the respective association’s handbook for every tournament you attend.
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