NFL Executive Director Scott Wunn sent the following message to coaches last week prior to the start of the 2011 National Tournament in Dallas.  There are lots of things going on in Texas this week and even a few ways for alumni, students, and coaches to connect even if they're not at Nationals.

Dear Coaches,

We are gearing up for an awesome national tournament, and we hope you are, too! This week, we want to highlight a few things that you will want to take advantage of during the tournament.

Registration and Vending Expo
We look forward to seeing everyone during Tournament Registration at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel & Conference Center on Monday, June 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Lone Star Ballroom A1-4 (located on the 2nd floor of the conference center). The Vending Expo will be in Lone Star Ballroom B. There is a Sky Bridge that connects the hotel to the conference center on the 2nd floor.

College Preparation Seminars
In conjunction with Revolution Prep, a leading test prep company, the NFL is proud to provide completely free seminars for students preparing for the SAT and ACT. These seminars will occur adjacent to registration throughout the day on Monday, June 13. To learn more about these seminars, click here.

Fundraising Opportunity
Revolution Prep has also created an excellent fundraising opportunity for our schools where 100% of the proceeds go directly to your program. Be sure to attend their Monday afternoon session in Austin Ballroom 3 (adjacent to registration) to find out more about how you can make thousands of dollars for your team!

National Service Projects
This year, NFL members will have a variety of ways to participate in National Service Projects at nationals. Projects will occur throughout the week, including judging at the NJFL National Tournament, pledging to Spread the Word to End the Word, contributing to a Virtual Food Drive to benefit the North Texas Food Bank, and donating blood or volunteering to work at the American Red Cross Blood Drive. To learn more about these service opportunities, visit us online at http://NFLnationals.org/national-service-project.

Livestream and Updates
For parents, family members, and all of those other supporters of your team who won’t be in Dallas this year, let them know that they can watch the finals all day on Friday and Saturday from our Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/NationalForensicLeague) or from any of our websites. Live coverage from the tournament will occur exclusively at http://NFLNationals.org throughout the week.

LFG / NFL Disaster Relief Fund
In Spring 2011, a series of natural disasters devastated communities across the United States. Flooding along the Mississippi River and deadly storms in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi—and now Minnesota, Kansas, and Missouri—created an urgent need to rebuild communities and lives.

In response, the NFL has launched the Lincoln Financial Group / National Forensic League Disaster Relief Fund, which provides financial support for speech and debate programs affected by disasters. The first grant recipient from this fund will be Joplin High School, which was destroyed by a deadly tornado on May 23, 2011.

Opportunities will exist at the 2011 National Tournament to give to the LFG / NFL Disaster Relief Fund. In addition, Lincoln Financial Group has graciously agreed to match every dollar contributed to the fund throughout the week. Visit http://NFLnationals.org/disaster-relief-fund to donate online today, or stop by our booth in the Internet Café outside the Lone Star Ballroom to learn more.

Please give to the LFG / NFL Disaster Relief Fund. Together, we can help schools in need regain their voice.

Sincerely,

J. Scott Wunn
Executive Director

As most readers are aware, United States Extemp and International Extemp break to top sixty after preliminary rounds at the NFL National Tournament.  Some readers might be confident that they will reach the octofinal round, but it never hurts to be prepared for your supplemental events.  SpeechGeek has two products that might interest extempers, a brief for Extemp Commentary that is written by Logan Scisco, and a brief to assist extempers who might be entered in supplemental debate, which was introduced at last year’s NFL.  Click on the headings below to access these briefs from the SpeechGeek Market online store.  The Extemp Commentary brief is only $10 and is available for download.  The Supplemental Debate brief is $15 and is available for pre-order.

Extemp Commentary Brief Overview

Logan Scisco, 2003 NFL United States Extemporaneous Speaking Final Round National Champion and Extemp Central founder, breaks down the ten topic areas for Extemp Commentary in this exclusive NFL Extemp Commentary brief for DebateChamps.  Logan describes the issues that commentators may face during the tournament and provides some tips to ensure success for this unique supplemental event.

Supplemental Debate Brief Overview

Hate getting stuck with just one case option? No worries! The files contain multiple plan text options to suit your needs. Each plan text is accompanied by advantage/contention outlines as well as detailed links to outside research, making Nationals preparation quick and easy. On the Negative? We’ve got you covered. The briefs contains both generic and case specific disadvantages and case turns to make prepping on the negative easier. Nationals is stressful. Make prepping simple.