Stanford Invitational Speech & Debate Tournament
Independent Entry Information
DEFINITION OF AN INDEPENDENT ENTRY: An independent entry is entry which does not meet two important criteria: 1. Official sanctioning by their school. 2. Accompaniment by a chaperone who is an employee of the school.
PROCESS and DEADLINE: Students wishing to attend the Stanford tournament as an independent entry or an entry from a home school must accurately complete the process below at least 30 days prior (exceptions to this deadline can be made by emailing the tournament director) to the tournament start date. Incomplete documentation can and usually will result in denial of entry, even if this is identified at registration, as we are not equipped once the tournament has begun to receive, review, and confirm this paperwork.
SUBMITTING LETTERS: Please either scan and submit completed letters to invitational@stanforddebate.org or fax to us at 650.350.4345. It is the obligation of each Independent "Squad" to clearly label each letter with the "Squad name" and submit all of their documents in a single transmission, whether it be a single PDF email attachment or a single fax transmission. We can't accept or process piecemeal transmissions of letters, as it is extremely difficult to match up names to entries.
PROCEDURES:
CHAPERONES: Even though an entry is "independent," the attending students must still be accompanied by a parent or designated ADULT chaperone.
FEES: Independent entry payment MUST be in the form of a guaranteed payment (cash , money order or cashiers check) and MUST be received 30 days prior to the tournament start date.
TEAM NAME: The students must use a variant of the school name if the students attend a "school," but may use the addition "Independent" as a portion of the name. If the entry is of a "home school" nature, the entry should reflect the geography of the entry - example: "Stanford Independent" for a home school independent entry from Stanford, CA. If you need to change the name of your Toy of Tournaments account, please email your request to support@joyoftournaments.com.
DECLARING INDEPENDENT/HOME SCHOOL STATUS: Students must clearly indicate that they are an independent or home school entry upon signing-up. Entries discovered to be independent or home school during the tournament who did not correctly declare their status on the Joy of Tournaments entry program at point of entry and fully complete the required paperwork in advance of the tournament as specified in this list may be dropped from the tournament without refund.
DUAL ENTRY: Any given school cannot have both "regular school sanctioned entry" status and also have students enter from that school as "independent" entries - if a school is attending as a regular school sanctioned entry then ALL students who attend that school must enter as a part of that regular school sanctioned entry or they may not attend.
LETTERS/PERMISSION: To be accepted as an independent entry the attending group must include complete and correctly executed authorization letter from the school and each set of parents or guardians no later than 30 days prior to the tournament start.
For an independent entry to be accepted, we must have:
- A letter signed by a school administrator (principal or vice-principal) on school letterhead, with the text as in the template below. This letter must list the names of all students competing, and must also list the name of the chaperone. THE TEXT OF THE LETTERS CANNOT BE CHANGED OR ADDED TO IN ANY SUBSTANTIVE WAY; FOR EXAMPLE, WE CANNOT AND DO NOT INDEMNIFY SCHOOLS AGAINST LIABILITY - that is an issue between the family of the attending student, their school, and their respective legal counsels; and Stanford Debate has no jurisdiction, legal or otherwise, to oversee, rule upon, or pass judgment on such assertions or declarations.
- A letter from a parent of each participant, with the text as in the template below.
- All entries, including independents, must have an adult chaperone with them at the tournament.
The text of the letters shall read as follows:
Parent Letter
Date
Dear Stanford Debate Society:
This letter is to inform you that we would like our child, ___________________, to attend the Stanford Invitational, February 12-14, 2011 and that she / he does so with our full consent and permission. We have arranged for our child to be fully chaperoned and for transportation to our satisfaction, and accept full responsibility and liability for our child during the entire course of the event. We understand and agree that Stanford Debate and Stanford University provide no chaperones for the event, and further agree that Stanford Debate and Stanford University are hereby relieved of any responsibility or liability of any sort for the supervision of our child.
By signing this we are certifying that we are in fact the legal guardians of the listed child, and have full legal authority to act on the listed child's behalf.
Name, Sign, Date Contact info:
e-mail phone
School Letter
Date
Dear Stanford Debate Society:
This letter is to inform you that we have no objection to children from our school attending the Stanford Invitational speech and debate tournament, February 12-14, 2011, as independent entries. We understand that the parents of the children have arranged for their children to be transported and fully chaperoned to their satisfaction, and they have agreed to accept fully responsibility and liability for their children during the entire course of the event. We further understand and agree that Stanford Debate and Stanford University provide no chaperones for the event, and we have explained this to the parents of the children listed in this letter. These are the names of the children who attend our school for whom we are certifying that we do not object to their participation in the above described event:
[list of students, with full names, goes here]
By signing this I am certifying that I am an official of the school and that I have full authority to act on the school's behalf in matters of this kind.
Name, Sign, Date Contact info:
e-mail phone