<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Coaches-</span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">We are three weeks away from the inaugural GFCA Varsity State Championships hosted at Georgia Tech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am updating the website daily with qualifier information for students who are fully qualified to the State Tournament. This email is to make you aware of vital information regarding the State Championship.</span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Registration for all events will be taking place at Georgia Tech at 12:00pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Rounds will begin at 1pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We will be alternating events by category, debate in one and IE’s/Duo in the other. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We are working on the specific schedule and should have it available shortly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Due to the tight schedule, there will be no double entering in policy debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Students will not be permitted to double enter in more than one flavor of debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Additionally there is no triple entering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Similar to the NFL National Tournament, we will be requiring a $100 judge bond for each school’s entry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Schools will receive this judge bond back if all facilities have been cleared at Georgia Tech and nothing has been damaged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Due to some classroom damage at Carrollton High School for the First/Second Year State tournament, we have no other choice but to implement this policy.</span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Our State tournament this year falls on the same weekend at the College National Debate Tournament, so judges for debate events will be sparse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We encourage you to start finding your judges now as the GFCA only has a limited number we can hire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Policy Debate judges will be $125 and all other judges will be $100.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If you know you will need to hire a judge, please email Mario Herrera (<a href="mailto:rioherrera@gmail.com">rioherrera@gmail.com</a>) as soon as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">We will be offering a Judge Preference system for all flavors of debate (including Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum) this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We will release specific information the week of the tournament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Our goal is to have the preference system run through the Joy of Tournaments software.</span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Since we are hosting on a college campus, we are not able to sell concessions or food due to Georgia Tech policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Therefore, the GFCA will be tweaking the schedule to allow your team time to go off campus and eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The NFL Northern Mountain District has hosted a tournament at GT the past two years, and everything’s been fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We will provide a list of restaurants that we recommend at registration. </span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Mario is in the process of contacting hotels for tournament rates, including the Grady tournament hotels as well as the Hampton Inn right next to campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is our understanding that many conferences will be taking place that weekend so finding a good rate will be difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Any rate you find, please feel free to share via the list-serv as we are all looking to save money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You can email the listserv by emailing <a href="mailto:thegfca@lists.gradyspeaks.org">thegfca@lists.gradyspeaks.org</a>.</span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">We will be releasing more information regarding the tournament very soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Thank you for your support of the GFCA.</span></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Jeffrey Miller</span></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">GFCA Secretary</span></span></p>