PLEASE NOTE:  The MSDL has adopted a new participation & membership agreement which takes effect with the 2018-2019 school year.  Please read it closely.
  1.  The new participation agreement, signed by your school’s principal/head and adult head coach, must be received the day before the registration deadline of the first tournament your school attends.  It may be mailed or sent as a PDF, as long as the PDF contains handwritten signatures.
  2.  Signatures verify that your team is an activity approved by your administration and that both principal/head and adult coach have read and agree to abide by the terms of the agreement.
  3.  The late payment fee will be assessed automatically for all schools sending in dues after December 8th, 2018.  The late fee is $50.  Don’t be late!
  4.  There is now a hard deadline for late payments. Schools become ineligible to register for States if the treasurer has not received their dues and their late fee by Friday of the week before the first State Tournament.  After that, it is too late and those schools do not compete at either State Tournament.
We encourage all coaches to submit annual dues at the same time you submit the membership agreement before your first tournament of the season.

To be clear, the Membership Application with principal & coach signatures must be received by the registration deadline of your first tournament.  Dues must be paid on or before December 8, 2018 to avoid a late fee.
 
         ...the MSDL Board
2018-2019 Participation Agreement
MASSACHUSETTS SPEECH & DEBATE LEAGUE
This signed participation agreement must be received by the MSDL treasurer before your school registers for its first MSDL tournament of the academic year. From a liability perspective, the MSDL needs evidence prior to registration that your school’s participation is approved by your administration and that an adult coach or advisor is registering and managing your team. This signed agreement may be mailed as hardcopy or emailed as a PDF, as long as all signatures are handwritten in the PDF. Once the form is in, your high school will be posted on the MSDL website as eligible to register, and tournament directors may assign your registrants to rounds.

 All schools participating in MSDL sanctioned tournaments must submit this signed participation agreement, even if they do not intend to become MSDL members or participate in States. This includes middle schools or out-of-state schools which may, from time to time, be invited to attend MSDL tournaments. Programs or teams comprised of students from more than one school are not eligible to register at MSDL sanctioned tournaments.

In signing this agreement, the principal/head of school and adult head coach are agreeing to the following:
  • Your administration approves of your school’s current students representing your school at MSDL speech and debate tournaments.
  • Your students are chaperoned at tournaments at all times by an adult approved b your school administration. Adult chaperones are responsible for being on-site with students at all times and for making sure your students follow all rules set by the tournament and the host school.
  • Your adult chaperones are further responsible for dealing with any medical or disciplinary emergencies which might arise involving students from your school.
  • All judges from your school are adults, which means they are at least 18 years of age AND have not attended high school or competed in the MSDL during the current academic year. The only exceptions are tournaments which explicitly call for student judges in their invitations, such as the Novice Tournament.
  • All adults from your school attending MSDL tournaments meet the requirements set by your school administration for adults who work with students in extra-curricular activities.
  • Students are not authorized to register themselves or other students for  tournaments. Only adult head coaches or their adult delegates are recognized as having authority to conduct official business with the MSDL on behalf of your team.
Only students from schools which have paid annual dues and become members may register for the State Speech or Debate Tournaments.  Teams wishing to renew membership and qualify students for the State Tournaments are responsible for payment of $50 annual dues to the MSDL treasurer by December 8th.  A late fee of $50 will be assessed after December 8th. New programs, defined as programs which have not participated during the previous four consecutive academic years, do not have to pay dues in their first year.

There is now a hard deadline for late dues payment. If the treasurer has not received a school’s dues and late fee by 5:00 pm Friday of the week before the first State Tournament, that school becomes ineligible to register for or compete at either State Tournament.   Please plan ahead!