CRITERION

1ST ANNUAL CRITERION INVITATIONAL

26 April 2026

DEADLINE

20 April 2026
NO REFUNDS AFTER 3 APRIL 2026
WITHDRAWALS INCUR AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE

ELIGIBILITY

Open to middle and high school students

PLATFORM

Online through NSDA Campus

Information

Welcome to the 1st Annual Criterion Invitational!

Tournament directors Vihaan Anand and Shriyaan Chatterjee cordially invite you to attend the 1st Annual Criterion Invitational, an online national invitational tournament hosted by Infinite Loop Labs, on April 26, 2026. We view this tournament as an opportunity to provide a service to the speech and debate community, and hope that our professionalism and commitment to operating a top quality tournament is apparent throughout this event.

The Criterion Invitational offers competition in nearly all debate events, including Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum (2 divisions), Policy Debate, Big Questions, and Congress.

Please take care of your tournament registration and all other arrangements as soon as possible so that we may accommodate all of your students who wish to compete. This will ensure a pleasant and trouble-free tournament for everyone, and allow us to host you in the way you deserve!

These are the topics that will be used for debate events:

Lincoln-Douglas - NSDA Jan-Feb
Lincoln-Douglas - NSDA Mar-Apr
Public Forum - NSDA March
Public Forum - NSDA April

We've designed this tournament to be a groundbreaking and accessible event for the entire debate community. Here's what sets us apart:

No Judge Obligation: To make participation as easy as possible, we are not requiring schools to provide judges for any debate event.
Unique Awards: Instead of traditional trophies, top competitors will be rewarded with fun awards, including certificates, gift cards, and premium subscriptions to Criterion for free.
Prep Night: On the day before the tournament begins, we will host an interactive online session for all competitors and coaches. This session will feature a discussion on the possibilities of AI in speech and debate, as well as a demo of Criterion, the AI that will be used to judge rounds. Afterward, anyone can stay in the room to prep or practise for the tournament the next day.
AI-Powered Adjudication: All debate rounds (LD, PF, Policy, and BQ) will be judged by Criterion - a custom-trained AI designed to evaluate arguments based on logic and evidence. This system provides unbiased and instantaneous feedback, allowing debaters to focus purely on the strength of their argumentation. To provide a diverse competitive experience, Congress will still be judged by experienced human judges.

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The 1st Annual Criterion Invitational is sponsored by Criterion, an app built for iOS and macOS. Criterion is an AI-powered copilot for debate, designed to help you continually improve. You can manage your debate rounds, preparation files, and other materials. It supports all 5 of the major debate events: Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Policy Debate, Big Questions, and Congress.

Features of Criterion include:

Rounds: Keep detailed records of your rounds. You can record the speeches in your rounds and tournaments, which can be used by AI to flow, take notes, generate rebuttal ideas and cross-examination questions (“hints”), and even adjudicate practice rounds by generating a ballot.
Preparation: Create and manage your prep, which can include cases, cards, blockfiles, cross questions, and other resources. You can access these easily in round, and built in AI will use them in your hints. As a bonus, we have an automatic card cutter, which can find great evidence tailored to your cases.
Profile & Stats: Your Criterion profile is focused on improvement. To do this, it displays your statistics from your previous rounds (win rate, average speaker points), and it uses AI to analyze your feedback to generate actionable items to help you improve.
Quality of Life: Criterion stores data in iCloud, allowing you to access debate data on your phone or your computer. It also integrates with Tabroom, which syncs round details and results at the tap of a button. Rounds are also connected with Calendar and they send push notifications so you’re always on top of your schedule. In addition, Criterion uses widgets and live activities, and has an integration with Siri, all to add convenience to your tournament workflow.
AI-Powered Assistance: Criterion integrates with Gemini 3 to provide assistance with preparation and rounds. You can find this AI in several places, like generating flows and hints in-round, creating a ballot post-round, giving feedback on your preparation, cutting cards, and analyzing your feedback to help you improve your debate skills.

Entry Price

PF $55
LD $60

Registration will not be complete until payment is received.

Schedule

Here is the schedule for all debate events (LD, PF):

Round 1
8:15 AM - Pairings Released (PST)
10:15 AM - Decision Time (PST)

Round 2
10:45 AM - Pairings Released (PST)
12:30 PM - Decision Time (PST)

Round 3
1:00 PM - Pairings Released (PST)
2:45 PM - Decision Time (PST)

Round 4
3:15 PM - Pairings Released (PST)
5:00 PM - Decision Time (PST)

*There will be an optional opening ceremony at 6:45 AM PST and an awards ceremony at 9:30 PM PST, both livestreamed on YouTube. In addition, there will be an optional assembly on Friday from 5:00 PM PST to 6:30 PM PST and Saturday from 10:00 AM PST to 11:30 AM PST, which will be recorded and posted on YouTube afterward. The Google Meets for the assembly will remain open until 8:00 PM PST on both days in case you would like to prepare for the tournament.
**All of these schedules are subject to change.

Drop Fee

Drop fees will be the same amounts as the entry fee PLUS any fees the tournament charges us for late drops. Drop requests should be made to Victor and Nadia.

Please do not drop out last minute to avoid being charged these fees.

Contact Info

Victor Rivas Umana
Contact email: [email protected]
Nadia Budiman
Contact email: [email protected]
Or [email protected]

Registration Form

STUDENT INFORMATION

* Indicates required field

Student Name *

First

Last

Student Email (DO NOT USE PARENT'S EMAIL) *

Student Phone Number *

Does the student have a Tabroom account? *

Yes and it is linked with GSA's account(s) Yes but it is not linked and we need you to add to your roster No but I will create one before submitting registration

If this is your first time competing, make sure to first create a Tabroom account here: https://www.tabroom.com/user/login/new_user.mhtml
It's super simple and quick (<1 minute), but follow the guidelines here in case anything is confusing: https://docs.tabroom.com/Sign_Up

PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION
Your email address will be the one included when we send the logistics email.

Parent Name *

First

Last

Parent Email *

Parent Phone Number *

EVENT SELECTION
Got any questions? Please email [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Make sure you understand that this online tournament is live and takes place in Eastern Time.

Partner Name (write N/A if none) *

First

Last

Choose your event (make sure you select the correct DIVISION) *

LD (Jan/Feb) LD (Mar/Apr) PF (March) PF (April)

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

I will keep a copy of this form for reference. *

YES

We are signing up with the understanding that my child will work to be ready by the tournament date. If we choose to drop out because my child is not ready that will be considered when making assessments for future classes. *

YES

I understand that if I fail to drop the tournament before the deadline that I will still be responsible for the fees of both my son or daughter, along with that of his or her partner and the fines. *

YES

I understand that if payment is not received we won't be registered and our spot will be given up to someone else. *

YES

I confirm that I have completed all necessary paperwork for this tournament. *

YES

I understand that The Golden State Academy has no control over tournament entries other than the initial sign up. I understand that my child's priority will be based on either the last time I signed up OR the date paid, whichever is latest. *

YES

I understand that my child must check in and check out periodically at the tournament with the coach and that if I do not my child will be barred from participating in following tournaments. This is to ensure coaches can see where students are at competitively and to give any initial feedback for improvement. *

YES

I understand that I can check my entry status through tabroom.com. *

YES

I am a consenting adult. I understand that by submitting this form I agree to all that has been covered. *

YES

Submit/take to payment

We would love to have you visit soon at one of our open houses.
Check our home page for the schedule!

School year Hours

M-F: 3:45 pm - 8:30 pm
Sun: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Telephone

510-270-8480
510-470-0531

Email (preferred)

For more info email us at: [email protected]

Locations

Fremont: 200 Brown Rd #201, Fremont, CA 94539

Cupertino: 20432 Silverado Avenue Suite 211, Cupertino, CA 95014

Aborn Institute: 2804 Riedel Road, San Jose, CA 95135

Dublin: Loving Tree Academy, 6693 Owens Dr, Pleasanton, CA 94588

1ST ANNUAL CRITERION INVITATIONAL

26 April 2026

Information

​Entry Price

Schedule

Drop Fee

Contact Info

Registration Form

We would love to have you visit soon at one of our open houses.Check our home page for the schedule!

School year Hours

Telephone

Email (preferred)

Locations

Entry Price

We would love to have you visit soon at one of our open houses.
Check our home page for the schedule!