Last year, the AFANST voted to change our by-laws to allow the NST Chair to determine whether or not there were circumstances that warranted the allowance of virtual/online tournaments. The Chair has again determined that there are circumstances that warrant the allowance of virtual/online qualifying tournaments for 2021-2022.
The AFA-NST Committee voted to extend the 2 leg qualifying process with a cumulative rank of 5 for 2021-2022.
Tournaments may be synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid for the purposes of qualifying.
The by-law amendment changing the flight patterns of events used for the past two years expired in April, 2021. For 2021-2022, AFANST will return to the following flight patterns:
A: Impromptu, Prose, Informative
B: Duo, Persuasion, Extemp, POI
C: ADS, Poetry, CA, Drama
AFANST STRONGLY recommends that all qualifying tournaments follow CDC protocols -whether in-person or online- for the health and safety of all of our participants. With regard to policies that differ from state to state, and from institution to institution, we have made the following changes
1. Duo partners do not HAVE TO perform in separate rooms. They MAY perform in the same room.
2. Tournaments requiring vaccination of participants are OPEN tournaments (we recommend including vaccination requirements in the tournament invitation).
3. AFANST recommends that all tournaments abide by the latest CDC protocols to maximize health and safety of all participants.
4. Audience members MAY be present in the same room as performers.
5. Single camera and mic are still limitations for online performances.
Tournaments which exclude any schools from participating based on the size of the forensic program, size of the school, number of coaches, number of tournaments attended, amount of budget, or quality/strength of competitors DO NOT qualify as at-large qualifying tournaments. Exceptions: Entry may be denied for cause: School has outstanding entry fees which have not been paid [bad check, for instance.] This denial of entry for cause must be communicated in writing to the Director of Forensics of the team wishing to enter the tournament. A tournament that restricts entry to vaccinated participants only (including competitors, judges, staff, and observers) DOES count as a qualifying tournament. Tournament directors MUST INCLUDE such restrictions on their tournament invitation.
As of January, 2022, any proposals for by-law changes will go to the committee to see if they meet our criteria for a potential vote. If the proposal does warrant action, it will go to the entire membership of AFANST for a vote via Speechwire.
State tournaments now need only 5 schools to count as an at-large tournament for the purposes of qualification.