in the united states, the fate of district winners varies widely from state to state. in some larger states such as pennsylvania, new york, and california, the district winners advance to one of many sectional tournaments. the winners of each sectional tournament then advance to a state or divisional tournament, the latter only being held in texas and california and are similar to the state tournaments held in less populous states. most smaller states lack competition at the sectional level and go straight from district to state tournaments. a handful of states are composed of only one district, and the district champion is the automatic state champion.