OATS TOURNAMENTS

Welcome again to another speech season! We are pleased to announce the Online Asynchronous Tournament Series (or the OATS as we like to call them) is back! As long as these tournaments continue to provide value to the community, we will continue to host them. Last year over 75 teams competed at the six regular season tournaments, and we look forward to seeing so many of our friends again this season.

As you may have noted last year, we shifted the OATS from being housed specifically with one university to being housed under a newly-founded nonprofit organization called Outspoken Culture. Because the OATS finances were housed within the same account as all other speech functions of the SMSU Forensics Team, the moneys were indistinguishable from the regular functioning of our team (at least in the eyes of the institution). The OATS funds jeopardized the long-term funding of the speech team, which meant we needed to facilitate a separate location to house the OATS funds. We believe in full transparency, and this is the best way to maintain that for our amazing community.

The OATS financial situation is looking strong this year, so we are happy to announce that we are able to maintain the tournament series fee to $200 for the 24-25 season. We will maintain a $10/uncovered slot fee, and we will continue the fee waivers for student-run teams or those experiencing financial hardship. Look for a financial report from the 2023-2024 season coming soon on the Outspoken Culture website.

The dates for video submission for the 2024-2025 OATS include:

Mon, Sept 30

Mon, Oct 21

Mon, Nov 11

Mon, Dec 9

Mon, Jan 27

Mon, Feb 24

We look forward to continuing to support student advocacy, accessibility, and health/wellness this 22-23 Season. Full information is available on the OATS Invite (available on Speechwire and the Outspoken Culture website). If you have questions feel free to contact Julie Walker by phone (call or text 706-844-2773) or email (julie.walker@smsu.edu).

Sincerely,

Julie Walker    

Series Tournament Director                           

Outspoken Culture Executive Director