For Parents

Welcome to Natick Speech & Debate! We are delighted that your students have decided to join the team this year. We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves and our team to you.

The team is coached by Sarah Donnelly, Joyce Albert, and Amanda Parker. All three are alumni of the program. We are frequently joined by a loyal group of former members, parents of current and past members of the team, and other friends of the team, who help out with coaching, judging at tournaments, and assisting with fundraisers. Although we all work full time outside the School Department, we devote many evenings and weekends to the team.

We encourage you to use our website throughout the year as a resource for information. There are forms, tournament schedules, results, and general information. Below is some additional information you may find helpful.

MEETINGS

The Natick Speech Team meets Wednesday evenings from 7-9 PM in the Lecture Hall at Natick High School. We expect team members to attend these meetings, as this is an important time to hear information about the team and to work with peers and coaches. At the end of each week, an email of that week’s meeting minutes is sent to all members and parents, providing details on upcoming events.
When meeting in person at Natick High School, all of the same school day rules apply.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION

We encourage attendance at all Wednesday meetings and at as many tournaments as possible, with a minimum expectation of three tournaments per school year. Natick Speech & Debate follows the same academic eligibility requirements as school athletic teams. Please refer to the Student Handbook for details.

TEAM DUES & REQUIRED FORMS

The Natick Speech & Debate Team charges annual membership dues to participate on the team. These dues cover league membership fees, tournament registration fees, and general team costs for the year. Checks for $125 can be made out to "Natick Speech & Debate Team" and brought to Amanda at any meeting or team event. If you have any questions about team dues, please talk to one of the coaches.

There are forms that need to be completed each year, in order to participate on the speech team. These can be emailed to Amanda at [email protected].

COACHING

Students must have a short session with a coach before attending their first tournament, and should regularly receive coaching from their peers and our coaches throughout the year. Limited coaching is available during Wednesday night meetings, but coaches do take appointments for more in depth coaching sessions other evenings during the week. Coaching sessions take place either online or in person.

LOCAL TOURNAMENTS

Tournaments are held on Saturdays and most are held in-person. These are full day events (8AM - 8PM) and students who plan to attend must make a commitment to be available for the complete event. Online tournaments can be a bit shorter, depending on the individual tournament.
Students are expected to provide their own transportation to and from tournaments.
After many tournaments, some students opt to go to dinner at a restaurant in Natick (Pizza Plus, Panera, McDonald's, etc). This is entirely voluntary and there is no adult supervision at these outings.

SPECIAL TOURNAMENTS

We participate in several special tournaments during the year. These include tournaments held at and hosted by colleges such as Yale and Harvard, as well as two National Championships for those who qualify. Regular dues do not cover a student’s participation at these tournaments due to the cost of travel. Coach approval is required in order to register for these tournaments.

REGISTERING FOR TOURNAMENTS

Students are expected to commit to a minimum of three tournaments during each school year to remain active participants on the team. We require that students commit to attend any tournament for which they have confirmed their registration. Students sign up to attend a tournament by adding their name to google document shared with all team members prior to each tournament. Students are free to change their registration until the deadline noted on the registration document. The deadline for changes is generally ten days before the tournament (for local tournaments – deadlines for special tournaments are considerably earlier due to travel arrangements). After this deadline, we expect all students who have signed up to fulfill their commitment to attend and cover any additional costs that may be associated with attending. We do make exceptions due to emergencies and illness, but ask that students and/or parents communicate with us as soon as possible.
It is each student’s responsibility to contact Sarah Donnelly directly with any changes to their registration after the deadline.
Please discuss tournament registrations in advance with your child to avoid any conflicts. Cancellations less than ten days in advance cause inconveniences and expenses for the team.

TOURNAMENT ATTIRE

The overall guideline to keep in mind when selecting tournament attire is that you want to be remembered for your presentation, not your outfit. We compete in professional attire. The kind of clothing you'd wear to a job interview or an important business meeting where you want to make a good impression. All clothing should be clean, neat, ironed, and professional. Suits, dresses, dress pants or skirts, blouses, shells, sweaters, or button down shirts are all generally acceptable. Ties, belts, and dress socks/stockings are great. Dress shoes should also be worn. It is advisable to avoid bright patterns, large jewelry, skirts or dresses that are shorter than knee length, heavy makeup, and bright nail polish.

NATIONALS

The team participates in two National leagues, the NCFL and the NSDA. These tournaments are held at the end of the school year and require travel. In order to participate, students must qualify at a specific tournament. We expect students who opt to participate in the National Qualifier tournaments to commit to attending Nationals if they qualify. We understand that unexpected commitments may arise, but we ask that only students who are very serious in their intention to compete at the National Tournaments attempt to qualify, in order to provide a fair and equitable chance to all students involved.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Parents are always welcome to observe our Wednesday evening meetings, coaching sessions, rallies or tournaments. We encourage you to take cues from your student on observing them, particularly at tournaments. We find that some students are more nervous when a family member observes, while others find it reassuring.
Natick hosts two tournaments each year, and we are responsible for setting up food service for hundreds of kids and judges for each of these. We rely on parents to coordinate and staff these two important fundraisers for the team. This is also a great way for a family to participate in a tournament and see what it’s all about!
Each year, our greatest volunteer need is parent judges. At every tournament, the team is required to bring anywhere from 5 to 12 adults, so we need your support. Some parents think that they need special qualifications to judge, but that is not the case! We are just looking for people who can share their opinions and feedback to students about their presentations. We will hold informational sessions on judging to help parents become familiar with the process, and we also have a handout and a video available that will help you know what to expect. Judges never judge students from the school they are representing. Most importantly, we want to let you know that without parent volunteers helping out with judging, we cannot participate fully in tournaments. The simple truth is that the team’s participation in tournaments is dependent upon parents. In order for the team to attend tournaments, we need more parent volunteers. It is our hope that all families will commit to volunteering at least a few times each year so that our “regular” parents are not overburdened.

Questions/concerns? Feel free to contact any of the coaches by phone or e-mail:

Sarah Donnelly 617-501-4084 (M) E-mail: [email protected]
Joyce Albert 508-397-5143 (M) E-mail: [email protected]
Amanda Parker 508-740-0130 (M) E-mail: [email protected]

We look forward to working with your students and to meeting all of you as the year progresses!