DVC

DVC VIKINGS MIDDLE SCHOOL WINTERFEST

Sunday, 8 February 2026

DEADLINE

1 Feb 2026
NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE

ELIGIBILITY

Open to middle school students ONLY

LOCATION

In-person at Diablo Valley College
321 Golf Club Rd, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

Information

Coaches & Competitors,

You are invited to the second annual DVC Viking Middle School Winterfest. We look forward to welcoming competitors, coaches, and judges in person for years to come! Our goal is to host an event featuring a schedule that we think offers competitive rigor while also prioritizing the wellness of students, coaches, and judges who give their time to this activity that has so much to offer its participants.

In addition to our experience annually hosting our college tournament, DVC served as the hosts for the California Community College State Championship Tournament in 2024, so we are fully prepared to run a quality event. We believe that speech and debate is a vehicle for students to develop their research, communication, and advocacy skills and to be able to identify and engage with the problems facing both the world and their communities. We also believe this does not have to sacrifice the quality of a competitive and, more importantly, fun experience.

The tournament will take place Sunday February 8th 2026, at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California.

If you have any suggestions, comments, or recommendations to help us improve the tournament or have questions you would like clarified, please feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to seeing you and your team and wish you the best of luck!

Location
We will be hosting the tournament in person at Diablo Valley College located at 321 Golf Club Rd, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523.

Events

Debate
Lincoln Douglas (LD)
Public Forum (PF)
Speech
Declamation (DEC)
Dramatic Interp (DI)
Duo Interp (DUO)
Humorous Interp (HI)
Impromptu (IMP)
Informative (INFO)
Extemp (EXT)
Original Oratory (OO)

Eligibility
The DVC Viking Invitational is an OPEN MIDDLE SCHOOL competition in all events. Coaches must only enter students who are competing at the middle school level in their events.

Entry Details

Speech: extempers can double-enter speech, no cross-entry into DEBATE.
All Events: 10 minute no-show forfeit rule STRICTLY ENFORCED.
Debate: 5min judge critique/disclose ENFORCED.
Debate: Cross-Entry competitors are instructed to rush to speech rounds and speak early / late / out of order as needed.

Supervision Requirements
Each school must be accompanied by a qualified adult supervisor who is physically at the tournament site and reachable at all times. No unaccompanied entries will be permitted. Non School entities will use the independent entry form on the last page of the Invitation. All schools and programs must be “accompanied” by an adult reachable by phone, physically on site, and must remain under adult supervision throughout the tournament. No exceptions! If your student(s) are unsupervised, we reserve the right to remove your entries from the tournament for liability reasons with no refund.

Decorum
Please remember to conduct proper communication between competitors and judges. Students will not ask questions about decisions until the judge has submitted their ballot. Judges will not ask questions about arguments or speeches, with the exception of asking to see evidence, until decisions are submitted and confirmed. There is no recording of minors in California without parental permission.

Event Rules

We will adhere to NSDA rules (section 2 of the High School Manual) for all national circuit/NSDA events (except Congress): this includes Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, DI, Duo, HI, Info, EXT, OO, and STO. Debate events will NOT be using the NSDA novice topics. We will be following CHSSA rules & regulations for all California state events which include Declamation (previously Oratorical Interp).
We will additionally be following CHSSA rules for Congress. SPAR will be following the format and rules.
If there are questions or concerns that arise regarding the rules during rounds, please have a coach come to the tabulation room.

Debate Topics

LD - Jan/Feb Topic
Public Forum - Feb Topic

Breaks

Speech: Breaks will be determined based on entries and announced at the registration deadline.
Debate: No elimination rounds will be held for Public Forum or Lincoln-Douglas.

Judging Obligations

Please register judges accurately. Because we will be using entirely electronic ballots in debate, it is important that judge registration be accurate. There will be no AM/PM judge split.
All judges are committed for all rounds. Failure to show up to any given round will result in a fine being imposed on said judge.
There is a $50 per round penalty for any judges who miss their rounds. Please advise your judging staff that the team will be charged if they do not attend their debate rounds. We prefer not to charge any teams for missing debate rounds, and this nuisance fee is only assessed to discourage judges from missing debates to ensure a high-quality experience for all competitors.

Please ensure your judges who do not currently have a ballot report to the Judges Lounge/Library 15 minutes before the posted round start. They will be dismissed when we start all rounds. If your judge is called for in the Judges’ Lounge/Library while pushing ballots, you may be fined if they do not answer.

Double Entry Rules

Novice Students:
- May enter one debate event and up to two speech events.
- Exception: If entering Extemp, may only single-enter in speech but still compete in one debate event.
Varsity Students:
- May enter one debate event and up to two speech events.
- Exceptions: Round 3 of Speech is concurrent with Varsity Elimination Rounds.
Double-entered competitors will:
- Be scheduled later in Speech Round 1 if double-flighted.

Responsibilities of Double-Entered Students:
   •   Must manage time effectively to attend both events.
   •   Coaches may need to choose which event the student continues if advancing in both debate and speech.

Additional Notes
   •   Judges accompanying teams must have a tabroom set up and linked.
   •   Students are expected to adhere to DVC’s School’s code of conduct and behave responsibly.

Entry Price

One speech event and parent is judging $70
Two speech events and parent is judging $90
One speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $140
Two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $160

One LD event and parent is judging $90
One LD + one speech event and parent is judging $110
One LD + two speech events and parent is judging $130
One LD event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $200
One LD + one speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $220
One LD + two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $240

One PF event and parent is judging $75
One PF + one speech event and parent is judging $95
One PF + two speech events and parent is judging $115
One PF event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $180
One PF + one speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $200
One PF + two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $220

There is a $50 per round penalty for any judges who miss their rounds

Each person in a PF/Duo team would be responsible of providing their own judge, so one PF/Duo team would need to either provide two judges, both pay the judge fee, or one of each option.

Registration will not be complete until payment is received.
NOTE: We will charge set up fees if we have to create tabroom.com accounts for judges. It is recommended you do so on your own.

Schedule

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM - Debate Round 1
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM - Debate Round 2
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM - Speech Round 1
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Lunch
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM - Debate Round 3
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM - Speech Round 2
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM - Debate Round 4
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM - Speech Round 3F
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Debate Round 5
5:30 PM - Awards

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

Before you proceed with the registration below, make sure ALL PARENTS have signed the following liability form. Failure to do so will result in the tournament dropping you without a refund.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14ImOcIhDugzO31QPzGm9fW9nwVQ57HVGcLDcviICKm0/edit?tab=t.0

STUDENT INFORMATION
Suggested attire for the tournament can be found here.
More tournament resources can be found here.

* Indicates required field

Student Name *

First

Last

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

Student Phone Number *

Is the student in middle school? *

YES

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 *

Signed Parent Form *

Max file size: 20MB

EVENT SELECTION

Make sure you have checked the double-entry policies We are not responsible for schedule conflicts.

Division *

Novice Open

JUDGE PROVISION

Penalty for Missing Rounds

There is a $50 per round penalty for any judges who miss their rounds. Please advise your judging staff that the team will be charged if they do not attend their debate rounds. We prefer not to charge any teams for missing debate rounds, and this nuisance fee is only assessed to discourage judges from missing debates to ensure a high-quality experience for all competitors.
Please ensure your judges who do not currently have a ballot report to the Judges Lounge/Library 15 minutes before the posted round start. They will be dismissed when we start all rounds. If your judge is called for in the Judges’ Lounge/Library while pushing ballots, you may be fined if they do not answer.

Will you (parent) be judging at this tournament? *

Judge Name *

Judge email (Must be linked to a tabroom account. Register first at tabroom.com before completing this sign up) *

Judge phone *

Does your judge have a Tabroom account? *

Yes No but I will create one before submitting registration Not judging

Does your judge understand that he/she is responsible for the entire tournament schedule and that missing a round incurs fines from the tournament? *

Yes, understood Not judging but understood as well

Click here to complete the highly recommended Cultural Competency judge training course

Signing up a judge without having a Tabroom account will result in us charging you for the set up fee.
You can do this easily on your own by going to tabroom.com. It literally takes less than a minute.

First time judging?
This is a great collection of short videos that one of the leagues have put together to learn each event: click here.
There are also these training cards available that include a summary of each event's rules and comments.
Click here to find other training and official certification resources. Or watch our Youtube playlist here.

Tournaments encourage judges to have a paradigm on their Tabroom account, which can be a few sentences on your preferences of debating styles, etc. See here for example. It doesn't need to be this long, but make sure to add something before you sign up. For example: "I am a parent, please speak clearly and slowly and avoid technical jargon".

More tournament resources can be found here.

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