NFL Executive Council Minutes
By J. Scott Wunn National Executive Secretary
The NFL Executive Council held its Spring meeting in Chicago, IL on April 4-5, 2004. Members present were President Billy Tate, Vice President Don Crabtree, Brother Rene’ Sterner, Donus Roberts, Glenda Ferguson, Kandi King, Harold Keller, and Ted Belch. Alternate, Leslie Phillips, was present and filled the vacancy of Frank Sferra.
President Billy Tate called the meeting to order at 8:55 am.
The Executive Secretary gave a “State of the League” update.
- The council directed the Executive Secretary to investigate the design, creation and construction of a permanent memorial in honor of Albert S. Odom, Jr. to be placed in front of the National Office in Ripon, WI.
Moved by Ferguson, seconded by King “Table this issue until the Summer Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT.”
The council directed the Executive Secretary to study the average numbers of District Congress entries and the impact it has on District strength. Also, the council directed the Executive Secretary to create a map that represents current District boundaries. In addition, the council has agreed to address this issue at the Fall 2004 meeting to establish a clear policy. [See Summer Minutes]
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Belch, seconded by Phillips “If a student/team competes in the wrong contest section or against the wrong opponent, at no fault of their opponent or the tournament officials, that student/team will automatically receive last in the round or will receive a loss for that particular round.“
- This motion is in reference to page TD-2-Penalties
Passed: 9-0
Moved by King, seconded by Phillips “Accept the Executive Secretary’s recommendation for small revisions in the District Tournament Manual to clarify the rules.”
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Belch, seconded by Roberts “Allow the Executive Secretary to reword General Rule-6 on page TD-2 for clarification purposes.”
- Rule 6 is the bonus entries rule.
Passed: 8-0
Absent: Crabtree
Moved by Belch, seconded by King “No substitutions may be made after the close of final registration on the day of the district tournament.”
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Belch, seconded by Crabtree, “Remove sentence one of General Rule 13 - Judges on page TD-2.”
- Sentence to be removed states: “Debates prior to the round where 8 or fewer teams remain may be judged by one judge; three judges thereafter.”
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Keller, seconded by Belch “Add second sentence to General Rule 13 - Judges, ‘When 8 or fewer teams remain, three judges must be used.’”
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Belch, seconded by Phillips, “Unless using the California Plan, after the first two individual event/duo rounds, three judges must be used. If using the California Plan, three judges must be used in each individual event/duo round, beginning with round one.” [This motion is in reference to General Rule 13 - Judges. It clarifies the exact judging requirements for both District Tournament Plans.
Passed: 8-0
Aye: Crabtree, Roberts, Sterner, Phillips, Belch, Ferguson, King, Tate
Absent: Keller
- The previous three motions help to clarify the judging requirements for all District Tournaments. See page TD-3 - General Rule 14 of the 2005 District Tournament Manual.
Moved by Roberts, seconded by Phillips, “Change the final sentence of Rule 1-20 on page TD-3 to read, ‘…the National Office, or acting tournament referee must be phoned for a ruling.’”
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Belch, seconded by Phillips, “remove the last sentence in Rule 1-27 on page TD-3.”
- Sentence to be removed states: “It may be permitted providing the two districts in question are contiguous.”
Failed: 4-3-2
Aye: Phillips, Ferguson, Belch
Nay: Roberts, Crabtree, Keller, Tate.
Abstain: Sterner, King
- In order for a chapter to move from one district to another, the chapter must have the approval of both district committees and the two districts must be contiguous. This rule will not change.
Moved by Roberts, seconded by Phillips, “Remove from page TD-4 under ‘DISTRICT TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS’ the section concerning timers and all other references to timers in the manual.”
Passed: 9-0
- Timers are still an option, but not a requirement.
The council directed the Executive Secretary to add to Rule 2-2 a sentence stating, “No District Tournaments may be held after May 2nd.”
The council directed the Executive Secretary to make Rule 2-8 on page TD-4 consistent with current policy.
- This rule governs student eligibility to enter the district tournament.
The council directed the Executive Secretary to change the green “NFL District Tournament Registration Form” to include full citation information. In addition, the Executive Secretary is to require all green sheets to be mailed to the National Office by District Chairs with the other required tournament forms.
Moved by King, seconded by Belch “In TD-11, 3-3, change the word ‘contest’ to ‘individual event or duo.’”
Passed: 8-0-1
Aye: Roberts, Crabtree, Phillips, Sterner, Ferguson, King, Belch, Tate
Abstain: Keller
Moved by Crabtree, Seconded by Roberts “In TD-11, rule 3-4, change the word ‘contest’ to ‘tournament’. Also, add a sentence that says, ‘If a judge(s) is added to the judge pool after the tournament has begun, said addition must be posted in a place where participants will likely view such a posting, and protests must be made prior to the round in which that individual(s) is assigned to judge.’”
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Ferguson, seconded by Roberts, “Give Districts the autonomy to decide whether or not to allow cross-examination in the final round of extemporaneous speaking events at the District Tournament.”
- This motion allows each district committee to determine whether cross-examination will be used at the district tournament.
Passed: 9-0
“Award a new award, the Albert S. Odom, Jr. Award, to the current coach of the school that wins the Pi Kappa Delta/Bruno E. Jacob Award.”
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Ferguson, seconded by Phillips “Each team event at the district tournament will be counted as one entry.”
- In the past each team entered in Duo, Public Forum, and Policy Debate counted as two entries. Each team will now count as one entry.
Passed: 7-2
Aye: Sterner, Crabtree, Phillips, Keller, Glenda, Belch, King
Nay: Tate, Roberts
The council expressed its pleasure that President Gordon B. Hinckley has accepted the “Communicator of the Year” Award and will speak at the 2004 LFG/NFL National Awards Ceremony.
The Executive Secretary gave an update of the 2004 and 2005 National Tournaments.
- The 2005 Nationals will be in Philadelphia, PA.
The council recessed for the day at 6:30 pm on Sunday, April 4th, 2004.
The council reconvened at 9am on Monday, April 5, 2004.
Moved by Roberts, seconded by Crabtree “To accept the chart proposed by Donus Roberts for a revised District Quota System.”
Passed: 9-0
- The new quota system will appear in the October Rostrum and appears in the 2004-2005 District Tournament Manual which is available on-line at www.nflonline.org.
Moved by Roberts, seconded by Sterner “Accept the dates for 2006 and 2007 National Tournaments proposed by the Executive Secretary.”
- The 2006 dates are June 18-23. The 2007 dates are June 17-22.
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Roberts, seconded by Ferguson “Accept the tentative dates for 2008 and 2009 proposed by the Executive Secretary.”
- Tentative 2008 dates are June 15-20. Tentative 2009 dates are June 14-19.
Passed: 9-0
Moved by Roberts, seconded by Sterner “Accept North Dallas, Texas as the host of the 2006 LFG/NFL National Tournament and Wichita/Derby as the host of the 2007 LFG/NFL National Tournament.”
- Summary of National Tournament Locations/Dates
- 2005 Philadelphia, PA
- 2006 North Dallas, Texas
- 2007 Derby/Wichita, Kansas
Passed: 9-0
Moved by King, seconded by Ferguson “Offer the National Debate Coaches' Association a one-year matching fund grant up to $2,500 to fund the Barton Scholarship Program under the parameters established by the Executive Secretary.”
Passed: 8-0-1
Aye: Crabtree, Roberts, Sterner, Keller, Ferguson, King, Belch, Tate
Abstain: Phillips
Moved by Keller, seconded by Crabtree “Address the issue of 5 year waiting period for each coach diamond at the 2004 Fall Meeting.”
Passed: 8-0
Absent: Sterner
The Executive Council would like to thank the District Chairs for the wonderful comments and suggestions that were submitted for the Spring Meeting. The Executive Secretary has been directed to continue to encourage the District Chairs to communicate comments/concerns that will better inform the Council on key issues.
President Billy Tate adjourned the 2004 Spring Council Meeting at 11:45 am on Monday, April 5th.
