Most Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the...
National High School
Drill Team Championships
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Most Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the...
National High School
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QUESTION #1 - The NHSDTC looks like Many Different Events - True? QUESTION #2 - How Many Days Do Teams Stay in Daytona Beach to Compete? The basic stay in Daytona Beach for the Nationals is a 4-day / 3-night stay. Most schools opt for a Friday early afternoon check-in and a Monday early morning check-out. Schools on a time crunch or a tight budget can opt for the 3-day / 2-night stay essentially checking out of their hotel room on Sanday morning during the event and then leaving Daytona immediately after the awards ceremony that night.Some schools generally stay an extra day to conduct sightseeing at nearby educational sites of Kennedy Space Center, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Bethune-Cookman College or maybe even an end-of-the-year fun trip to Universal Studios, Seaworld or Disney. All schools dictate their length of stay on the rooming info they fill out to attend the event on the myschool websiteas all schools attend the competition through the NHSDTC Team Package Plan (explained later in the FAQ). QUESTION #3 - How Does Our Drill Unit Get Invited to Attend the NHSDTC? Every year in late September, a magazine is mailed by Sports Network International to every JROTC unit in the world. This magazine (DrillNATION) maintains an official invitation for your JROTC program to petition to enter the Nationals. Any unit in the world is eligible to enter. Submission of the School Registration Form and the School Registration Fee constitutes a valid petition for entry into the Nationals. QUESTION #4 - What Determines Who Gets Accepted Into The Nationals? SNI will make determinations regarding who gets into the Nationals based on numerous criteria. The first criteria is to accept teams who are in contention for an overall title FIRST. This means that schools entering all team events within a Division. And also remember, schools looking to enter just a color guard unit are encouraged to enter the Open Level Color Guard competition held on the first competition day on Saturday --- this is why we began this exciting event -- join it! Other important criteria in use include: overall team talent, returning teams/past champions, maintaining a solid service diversity at the event (Navy and Air Force schools are usually in shorter supply!), geographic diversity (distance helps!), and team location diversity (urban, rural, suburban), and a mixture of armed and unarmed teams and you have the recipe for a great National competition! The final decision is subjective but based on making the Nationals exactly what it is -- the finest gathering of high school drill and ceremony units ever assembled on a single weekend! It is filled with second guessing and mind-numbing detail but hard choices have to be made. The most important single piece of advice that can be imparted is to fill out the back of your entry form with solid facts -- make your best case why YOUR SCHOOL BELONGS AT THE NATIONALS! QUESTION #5 - What Competition Level Should Our Unit Enter? Every school must determine which Nationals Competition Level you feel your team would best compete in. The first thing all schools facing this question must understand is your school is gauged on its OVERALL performance. Just because you always do very well in Color Guard doesn't mean that your entire team is worthy of entering the top level. Conversely, just because you never do well in Unit Inspection doesn't mean that your overall team strength is weak. A general rule of thumb is if you habitually finish in the top four schools in most of the local drill meets you attend, your unit is most certainly a DIV 2 entry. If your program is newer and cannot compete well against many of the local programs in your area, you are probably a perfect candidate for the DIV 3 level. Top one or two in your area and you face some of the better schools in the country, definitely DIV 1!. QUESTION #6 - We Want to Compete for a Championship - So We Will Compete DOWN? Every school must determine which Nationals Competition Level you feel your team(s) would best compete within. But that means BE COMPETITIVE! SNI has the final say on what division you are placed in UP TO AND INCLUDING MOVING YOUR TEAM in the month prior as we begin to get data from other meets you are attending. QUESTION #7 - I Don't See Regulation Squad Events in the SOP. Is That a Competition Category? No, at an event of this magnitude, we believe any quality program of any minimum size required by the service HQs should have 13 cadets that can commit to excellence and march in standard Inspection and Regulation, and certainly 4 of those also competing in Color Guard. At all levels, we have 75% of the scoring based on "Basic" events (Inspection, Regulation and Color Guard). The addition of a repetitive regulation marching event would serve little purpose. QUESTION #8 - How is the Date for the Nationals Selected Each Year? The dates for the Nationals are dictated in concert with the event venue, the Daytona Beach Ocean Center Arena. Many events occur every year in the late Spring in Daytona Beach and the Nationals are scheduled around these. The dates for the Nationals historically remain the first weekend in May. QUESTION #9 - What Drill Manual Do We Compete Under at the Nationals? The Armed events at the Nationals are held under the guidelines of Army Training Circular 3-21.5. The Unarmed events are held under the guidance of Air Force Manual AFMAN 36-2203. The NHSDTC allows all units to perform in accordance with the requirements outlined in their particular service manual. As the saying goes, "you dance with the girl that brung ya"! Every unit competes under their own service manual or the manual of your choosing (all schools state to the judge the manual they will be utilizing during their report in) BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER, the NHSDTC SOP is followed FIRST! QUESTION #10 - Do We Have to Enter Every Event or Can We Just Enter One or Two? There is no requirement that a team must enter all events within a competition division to attend the Nationals. However, with the huge interest from schools looking to capture an overall National title, teams that are looking to enter just an event or two are very rarely accepted. Our first priority in accepting any team for entry is, are they competing for an overall title (a team entering all four events). If they are not, they go to the bottom of the pile of entrants. Therefore, we suggest any team serious about gaining entry look at entering every team event within the division you are entering. 
QUESTION #11 - The "No Crossing Over" Rule -- What Does That Mean? Cadets may only compete on one TEAM at the Nationals. Therefore, while a single cadet may compete in each EVENT within a competition level and division, he/she may not compete on two separate teams. Teams found in violation of the this rule will be disqualified from the event. ENSURE YOUR TEAM DOES NOT PLAN TO HAVE CADETS WHO ARE "CROSSING OVER", COMPETING IN TWO DIFFERENT DIVISIONS (i.e. both the Armed and the Unarmed events). The easiest way to understand this is to think of each team you enter as being from a separate school. Now that being said, if you have a young freshman team and are short of cadets for a Challenge and Masters Entry, SNI has a provision to allow a very select cadet or two down and still compete. But you need to contact us ASAP to get that waiver. Unarmed Divisions are just that, unarmed! Only the rifles used in this division will be those used in the 4-person color guard detail. QUESTION #12 - Do you have SOLO and DUAL Competitions Available at the Nationals? All schools competing at the Nationals are given a single entry in both the solo & dual competitions. Some schools with top finishing cadets are granted a nother entry as well. Als, cadets from outside the competition enter the event giving the NHSDTC a roughly 100-cadet armed solo competition and 65 or so entries in both the armed dual and unarmed dual competitions. Here is the best place to learn: https://thenationals.net/dt-solo-dual-main.htm
QUESTION #13 - What is the Team Package Plan and Do I Have to Use It? The price of the Team Package Plan, based on staying four-to-a-room, are outlined within DrillNATION Magazine).. Challenge level schools have the option to stay 2 nights only for a slightly reduced price. Three, two and one to a room prices are slightly higher, utilized primarily for instructors and other adult team followers. All participants (cadets and unit instructors) are required to attend the NHSDTC through the Team Package Plan. QUESTION #14 - When Do We Find Out if We Are Accepted into the NHSDTC?> After registering for the NHSDTC event, if you are accepted to attend (see item #4 above), your school will be notified immediately after the initial early December entry deadline via email. Also, just a few days after this date, a complete listing of every school accepted into the event is place on the event homepage. If your school is not accepted (which unfortunately happens to several schools every year), you will receive a letter from SNI in the mail explaining why you were declined, along with a refund check for any monies within 5 business days from this early December enter deadline. QUESTION #15 - So Walk Me Through The Timeline - We've Never Been Here Before> After acceptance into the event, every school receives additional paperwork to allow SNI to better plan their attendance which is submitted online. In the weeks that follow just after the New Year, attendees receive a large on-line NHSDTC School Folder. This folder has a wealth of event information that walks them through the paperwork and finance requirements of the event. This makes organizing the trip much simpler and answers virtually every question ever asked about the NHSDTC! In March, all attendees have financial deposits and paperwork required. When all of the teams send these items to SNI, in mid-to-later March, teams then learn what hotels they have been placed within along the Atlantic Ocean in Daytona Beach. Every hotel in use for the event is oceanfront on the Atlantic Ocean within a few miles of the center or in nearby inland cities as well. (NOTE: All teams except those paying for the Hilton HQ Package MUST plan for ground transportation while in Datrona Beach as many of the hotels in use are simply too far to plan to walk to.from daily. City buses and cabs are available but pre-planning this aspect of your stay is essential!). Then, in mid-April, final payments are made and attendees are all set to attend, arriving at the event in early May. Teams may arrive several days before the event, this is their call! We have event registration the day prior to your competition. Ar event registration, SNI will ensure all money & paperwork are in place, and competitors will receive their room form, discount coupons to area businesses, and their many NHSDTC Team Package Items. At this point, the teams are in and ready for the competition!QUESTION #16 - What About Parents, Chaperones, Instructors, etc. Only Cadets and Unit Instructors are required to attend the event and stay through the Team Package Plan - this rule in non-changeable. Many other team followers including Bus Drivers, parents and other team followers elect to stay through the Team Package Plan. They do this for several reasons, including:
QUESTION #17 - We Want to Get a Ballpark Cost for the Trip -- What Should We Consider? There are several factors that any school should consider when trying to estimate a cost to attend the Nationals. Several of the most important things to consider are: Transportation, Food, and the Team Package Costs. Transportation: Teams traveling from any great distance must decide whether they will drive or fly. If the team decides to fly, teams should consider flying not only into Daytona Beach International Airport, but also into Orlando International Airport, Melbourne Regional and Jacksonville International Airport -- check your air fares. Teams that fly to the Nationals (even into Daytona Beach) must make arrangements for local transportation not only to and from the airport, but to an from the competition site which is between 1 and 7 miles from the oceanfront hotels used for the NHSDTC Team Package Plan. This is why most teams bus to the Nationals from as far away as Missouri, Louisiana, Texas and Nebraska. Food: Meals are plentiful, varied and reasonably priced. As with any other beach resort town, we have more than our share of pizza an hamburger places! Also available are tons of family dinner chains, as well as cafeterias and all-you-can-eat restaurants. Most teams have found that you can comfortably feed your cadets for $22 per day, per person. Team Package Plan: The price of the Team Package Plan, based on staying four-to-a-room, changes slightly every year but is kept at the lowest possible level. Challenge level schools have the option to stay only 3 days / 2 nights for a price generally a little less expensive. Three, two and one to a room prices are slightly higher, utilized primarily for instructors and other adult team followers. Not only does this price pay for the oceanfront hotel accommodations, but it also pays for the shirts, medallions, patches, team photos and other items given to each competitor, but more importantly pays for the Ocean Center Arena, the judges, event insurance, trophies, etc. that are necessary to run the event. including housing and feeding the massive judging staff, as well as put forth all of the other items that are necessary to host a drill meet of this size and magnitude. QUESTION #18 - Is it a Requirement that our Program Maintain an Official JROTC Status? It is not a requirement that your unit maintain a JROTC status to be considered to attend the Nationals. However, we allow VERY FEW non-affiliate teams into the competition. To even be considered, your cadets must meet the following four requirements:
QUESTION #19 - Why is it that the Nationals are not on Television? Most "2nd Tier" events (everything except baseball, basketball, NASCAR, football, tennis, hockey, golf, soccer and a few other major sports) are not filmed by the television network sports department. The tractor pulls, cheerleading, jump rope, table tennis, skeet shooting and other "niche" sports that you see on television are often filmed, edited, and then made ready to broadcast by outside entites. THEN, the COMPETITION ITSELF obtains sponsors and buys the actual television time and then shows their own product during the broadcast. Without boring you regarding the endless details, the Nationals have looked at this on numerous occasions, including having broadcast professionals look at the event as well. While many of them feel the event would be a natural smash hit to broadcast during the July 4th holiday weekend, to date the estimated $150,000 to $175,000 price tag necessary to do everything required to produce, film, edit, and then broadcast a small 44 minute piece of the Nationals (60 minutes of TV show is actually only 44 minutes plus 16 minutes of commercials) is just not in the budget of our event, nor any sponsors that we have contacted. We at Sports Network International do believe that the competition would have a broad appeal not only within the JROTC community. Rest assured, if and when the cards fall in just the right place, we would love nothing more than to showcase the National High School Drill Team Championships on a National network. Maybe when one of the Nationals attendees goes on to become the CEO of a major Fortune 500 company, this situation will change around in a big hurry!
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