Memberships Explainer
California High School Speech and Debate Association (CHSSA)
Affiliation: CHSSA consists of 4 areas, which are further split into 11 leagues (including CFL). CHSSA is not affiliated with NSDA.
Pronunciation: CHAH-sah
Geography: all of California
Registration: combined with CFL, see instructions
Runs: CA State Championship
Leadership: CHSSA Executive Committee
Website: chssa.org
Coast Forensic League (CFL)
Affiliation: CFL is part of CHSSA Area 1. CFL is not affiliated with NSDA.
Geography: San Mateo, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties (see map)
Membership: see instructions
Runs: Demo Day, regular-season league tournaments, State Qualifiers
Events offered: all CHSSA events
Leadership: CFL Board of Directors
Website: www.coastforensicleague.org
National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA)
Geography: all of the United States of America
Membership: see instructions
Runs: National Tournament
Leadership: NSDA Board of Directors
Website: www.speechanddebate.org
California Coast
Affiliation: California Coast is an NSDA district.
Geography: same boundaries as CFL, but is a separate organization from CFL
Membership: if you are an NSDA member, you are automatically a district member
Runs: NSDA District Qualifying Tournament (a.k.a. Nat Quals)
Events offered: all NSDA events
Leadership: California Coast District Committee
Invitationals
Description: Invitationals are tournaments open to all high schools, regardless of league membership.
Affiliation: Invitationals are usually run by individual high schools or universities. Performance at invitationals does not count toward state or national championship qualification. It can, however, count toward qualification to a Tournament of Champions (a.k.a. TOC) in a given event. University of Kentucky runs a TOC for NSDA events. NIETOC runs a TOC for several speech events. Northwestern University runs a TOC for Extemporaneous Speaking. National Parliamentary Debate League runs a TOC for Parliamentary Debate.
Website: Most invitationals post their information on Tabroom.com
Eligibility Summary
CFL Demo Day: all schools are eligible
CFL Regular-Season League Tournaments: only schools with CFL membership are eligible
CFL State Quals: only schools with both CFL and CHSSA membership are eligible
NSDA Nat Quals: only schools with NSDA membership are eligible
Invitationals: all school are eligible
Paths to Championships
1) CFL league tournaments → CFL state quals → CA State Championship
2) NSDA nat quals → National Tournament
3) invitationals → Tournament of Champions
Events Offered
