For use by Valley High School Las Vegas, NV

 The National Forensics League is the national organization of forensics chapters.  It is comprised of every high school forensics team in the country  It holds the National Tournament each summer for those who have qualified by doing well at the District Tournament

 Every time a student competes, the secretary must put in how well a student did into the NFL website  The NFL uses a formula for assigning you a certain amount of points per event per tournament based upon how many rounds you did, how well you did, and what type of events you did  Earned in separate categories: Speech, Debate, Congress, Service, Districts, Nationals

 PF, LD, and Policy  6 points for each round won, 3 points for each round lost  Congress  Each speech given is awarded a rank from 1 to 8 by the judge. These ranks are added together and entered  NFL Main Speech Events (Extemp, OO, Interp):  Determined by room rank:

 Determined by your room ranking for each round  NFL Main Speech Events (Extemp, OO, Interp):  Rank of 1 st is 6 points, 2 nd is 5 points, 3 rd is 4 points, and so on  Secondary Events (Impromptu, OD, Expos, Prose, Etc.)  Rank of 1 st is 5 points, 2 nd is 4 points, 3 rd is 3 points, and so on

 Valley Forensics Team gives opportunities to earn service points throughout the year by judging at middle school tournaments  Judging at the middle school tournament is 10 service points  Points can also be earned by doing a speech in front of a crowd of at least 25 adults, etc. Ask for a form to submit service opportunities  Ex: Sun Youth Forum, Speech about magnet programs, being an MC, Storytelling to a big group, etc.

 As more points are entered in as you compete in more tournaments, you start to earn more advanced degrees as you earn a certain amount of points  When you reach 25 points, you are officially considered a member of the NFL and receive the Degree of Merit. We are charged with a membership fee, and you are sent a certificate (handed out at the end of the year)

 As you compete in more tournaments, you are eligible for even more advanced degrees as you attain a certain amount of points  Degree of Honor is given at 75 points  Degree of Excellence is given at 150 points  Degree of Distinction is given at 250 points  Special Distinction given at 500 points  Superior Distinction given at 750 points  Outstanding Distinction given at 1000 points  Premier Distinction given at 1500 points

 Each new degree comes with a special seal that is placed upon your NFL Certificate to indicate your degree  Advanced degrees allow for a way to compare the forensics activities between two students  The more advanced degrees we have, the higher our chapter strength is, and thus we can send more people to Districts and Districts Congress

 Even though you do get more points by doing well, competing itself will get you a lot more points than not competing at all. Thus, more participation is the way to get more points  Go to as many tournaments as possible, do as best as you can, and prepare for more than one IE at IE tournaments. Remember that the NFL main IE events will earn more points than the supplemental events

 Don’t get too competitive or focused on your NFL points! Focus on getting the most out of your experience through learning and self improvement, not by obsessing over points  Don’t compete with others over NFL points. Some events are easier than others in getting more NFL points.  Don’t compare yourself with varsity or JV members; they are obviously more experienced, so they have more points

 Be patient with NFL points; getting more points requires time and effort and won’t happen over night  Even if you end up not getting a lot of NFL points, at the end of the day the most important thing is that you had a wonderful experienced and did the best you can  If you have any questions ask Ms Torres or your secretaries (Justin and Jessica)