NCFCA’s qualifying tournaments provide regional and national opportunities for eligible competitors to earn at-large points and invitations to championship levels of competition. Regional Qualifiers are especially fun and accessible events, but we increasingly find ourselves in a logistical pinch with facility-use time constraints, judge recruitment challenges, and near-impossibilities with tournament schedules as we try to make them work in growing regions.
Over the years, we’ve struggled with the balance between our desire to offer as much competition time as possible versus the limits we face with schedules, facilities, and volunteer capacity. In an effort to better achieve that balance, NCFCA has determined that we will make the adjustments described below to Regional Qualifying Tournaments for the 2025 season. These adjustments will be detailed in the Qualification System, which we will release in early November, but we would like to make affiliates aware of the main changes now.
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Debate elimination rounds at Regional Qualifying tournaments will begin with quarterfinals.
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If the number of prescribed rounds, based on participation, would be greater than quarterfinals, any eligible competitors who are not seeded in 1st-8th place will be recognized during break announcements and during the award ceremony for their preliminary-round standing. They will also receive the corresponding at-large points for their placing and qualify to their Regional Championship, but they will not compete in the elimination rounds during that tournament.
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Elimination round protocols for National Mixers, National Opens, Regional Championships, and the National Championship will not change.
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Round 1 of debate will feature completely randomized matches by removing club and sibling protection. This change will improve efficiency, help competitors advance to brackets based on competition rather than relationships, and prevent downstream power-matching effects of early round protection.
We recognize that these changes involve tradeoffs between good yet competing goals and that some would choose to strike the necessary balance differently. We ask that you join us in graciously honoring the judgment of the staff members and dedicated volunteers who have meticulously studied our tabulation data and worked to address recurring issues during past seasons. They feel confident that these adjustments will allow us to maintain, and even improve, the level of fair competition we provide while also allowing for more predictable and sustainable schedules for everyone involved. In their pursuit of excellence, they will continue to monitor the competition data and consider adjustments as needed for future seasons. As always, we welcome affiliate input on future plans. If you have comments or questions please send them to gro.acfcn@eettimmocnoitacifilauq.
