Stanford Invitational Speech & Debate Tournament
February 11-13, 2012
Click here for complete results
The Stanford Debate Society is pleased to invite you to the 26th annual Stanford National Invitational. Since February of 1987 students from across the nation have been joining us for this national level competition, and we hope that you'll help us build on this tradition and join us in Palo Alto this year!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR 2012:
Fees remain the same as last year: In recognition of the difficult economic situations facing families and school districts around the nation, Stanford Debate is pleased to announce that once again all tournament fees remain the same as they were for the 2010 tournament!
Debate events:
- Varsity LD & Policy: 7 prelim rounds, and we guarantee that all 5-2's will clear!
- Public Forum: 6 prelim rounds with a break to double octos (assuming enrollment of 80 or more teams). In our ongoing effort to strengthen the quality of Public Forum rounds, final focus speech times will again be three minutes.
- Parliamentary, JV LD and JV Policy: 5 prelim rounds with a generous elimination round break (we guarantee that all 4-1's will clear, and at least one 3-2)!
Please note that JV Policy, JV LD, Parli and Pofo will likely have some late elim rounds on Monday, although of course this will only effect a small number of students / schools.
Speech events:
- Varsity IE's: 4 prelim rounds with domestic & international extemp in opposite patterns!
- JV IE's: 3 prelim rounds with domestic & international extemp in opposite patterns!
- Quarterfinal rounds in Varsity IE's: All Varsity IE's with 60 or more entries will break to a quarterfinal round.
- JV division in all IE events: Students who did not compete in any high school speech events prior to August 2011 are eligible to compete in our JV division.
No rounds on Friday: In order to make tournament travel easier for schools and to provide you with a more efficient and on time tournament experience, rounds for this year's Stanford Invitational will all begin on Saturday. Schools will be required, however to register on Friday evening from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Santa Clara Marriott (tournament hotel).
Registration or optional phone registration: Mandatory tournament registration will be held at the Marriott of Santa Clara on Friday, February 10, from 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM. Although it is recommended that coaches register in person, the tournament will be offering a courtesy phone registration. In order to be eligible to register by phone a school’s fees must have been received by the tournament by Wednesday, February 8th and they must have no changes to their judges. Please note, that no changes to Varsity LD or Policy judges will be accepted at registration whether in person or over the phone as strike and ranking sheets will have already been issued and processed.
Tournament hotel: The tournament hotel is the Marriott of Santa Clara, with a rate of $95 + tax per room per night (up to four in a room). We strongly recommend making reservations with the Santa Clara Marriott as soon as possible. For more information, visit the Tournament Hotel page.
Middle School students: All events are open to 8th grade students this year! We do, however, encourage all participating middle school students to sign up for our Middle School Student Congress event which is open to students in grades 7 & 8, as we believe this is the best fit for most middle school students.
SPECIAL AWARDS:
Champions receive an iPod: Your squad will be excited to know that in addition to their trophy the following students will each receive a special award. The past few years this has been an iPod or iPod Nano! For the 2012 tournament we will have another great award for the ... Champion in Varsity Policy AND 2nd place in Varsity Policy Champion in Varsity LD AND 2nd place in Varsity LD Champions in each Varsity IE event Champions in Parli debate Champions in Public Forum debate Champion in Student congress Note: Champion is defined as the 1st place winner only. Awards this year are for students only.
IE Champions also receive a partial scholarship to camp: In addition to their trophy and iPod Nano the champions in each Varsity IE event will receive a 50% scholarship to attend the Stanford National Forensic Institute in Individual Events. Champions in each JV event will receive a 25% scholarship to attend the Stanford National Forensic Institute in Individual Events. Scholarships are not combinable for multiple event winners, or transferrable to other students or events.
Questions: Questions about the 2012 Stanford Invitational should be directed to tournament director Mr. Matthew Fraser, or our other staff by e-mailing invitational@stanforddebate.com. You may also try calling the Stanford Debate office at (650) 723-9086, however email is the most efficient way to reach our staff, and likely will receive a much quicker response.
We view this tournament as an opportunity to provide a service to the high school speech and debate community, and hope that is apparent to past attendees. We welcome feedback about how we can continue to improve the Stanford Invitational. So that we may accommodate all of your students who wish to compete, please take care of your tournament registration right away, and please book your hotel as soon as possible. This will insure a pleasant and trouble free tournament for everyone, and allow us to host you in the way you deserve!
Matthew Fraser
Director of Debate, Stanford Debate Society & Executive Tournament Director, Stanford Invitational
Rich Boltizar
Associate Executive Tournament Director, Stanford Invitational