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The Golden State Academy
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    GEORGIANA HAYS INVITATIONAL

    18 May 2025

    DEADLINE
    11 May 2025
    ELIGIBILITY
    Open to middle and high school students
    PLATFORM
    In-person at Prospect High School
    18900 Prospect Rd, Saratoga, CA 95070

    Information

    Welcome to the 13th Annual Georgiana Hays Invitational!

    ​The Prospect High School Speech and Debate Team cordially invites you to the 13th annual Georgiana Hays Debate Invitational at Prospect High School, Saratoga. Georgiana Hays was an English teacher and debate coach who led Prospect’s debate program to nationals twice during her tenure. At a tournament hosting some of the finest debaters in the nation, it is only fitting that her name should grace the trophy.
    ​
    The Hays Invitational will be held on Sunday, 5/18, 2025. Students will have the opportunity to compete in Parliamentary, Lincoln Douglas, and Public Forum. Speech events will include Impromptu, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, and Original Oratory. Additionally, middle school and homeschooled students are more than welcome to attend.
    ​

    General
    • BE ON TIME! Check-in will be at 7:30 A.M. for all events. The tournament will be hosted at Prospect High School, which is located at 18900 Prospect Rd, Saratoga, CA 95070.
    • If there are any issues with the round on the day of the tournament (e.g., tech issues, a missing judge, a missing opponent, etc.) please email [email protected] or head to the in-person tabroom (hosted at the library) where you checked in. Prospect debaters and volunteers will be wearing either maroon or navy merch with the team name embossed, and these people can help you find your rooms.
    • The first two rounds are pre-set. Rounds 3-5 will be power-matched.​
    • The top two teams and speakers in each division will receive awards.
    • The only competitors eligible for the novice division are those that are either in their first calendar year of any kind of debate/speech OR who are in 7th grade or under.​


    Lincoln-Douglas
    • LD will follow NSDA rules and use the NSDA March/April resolution in all divisions.
    • Email chains can be started at the agreement of both competitors and judges but are not required.
    • The speaking times are 6A1-7N1/NR1-3CX1-4AR1-6NR2-3AR3.
    • Total prep time provided to all debaters is 4 minutes.
    • Protests and evidence challenges may be brought up to the tournament directors via email at [email protected]. Please only contact the directors if the problem remains unresolved despite discussions between competitors and the judge.
    • All competitors must be in their respective rooms within 5 minutes of the round start time or else there will be a forfeit.


    Public Forum
    • PF will follow NSDA rules and use the NSDA April resolution (UN Security Council) in all divisions.
    • Email chains can be started at the agreement of both competitors and judges but are not required.
    • PF will use the NSDA speech times.
    • Protests and evidence challenges may be brought up to the tournament directors via email at [email protected]. Please only contact the directors if the problem remains unresolved despite discussions between competitors and the judge.
    • All competitors must be in their respective rooms within 5 minutes of the round start time or else there will be a forfeit.
      ​

    ​Speech
    • Georgiana Hays will offer HI, DI, OO, and Impromptu.
    • A student can compete in up to two events, so either two speech events OR one speech + one debate event.


    Judges
    • Judges must attend roll-call prior to the start of the tournament. Failure to do so may result in a $50 fine PER ROUND.
    • Judges must have/create personal Tabroom accounts before the tournament and have personal devices that can connect to the internet. We will be doing e-ballots.
    • ​Judges may use the contact option on NSDA Campus regarding missing competitors.
    • Judges must judge one round beyond the elimination of your last competitor/team in that event.

    ​Entry Price

    LD and parent is judging $95
    LD and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $220
    LD + 1 Speech event and parent is judging $115
    LD + 1 Speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $250

    PF and parent is judging $75
    PF and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $200
    PF + 1 Speech event and parent is judging $95
    PF + 1 Speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $230

    One speech and parent is judging $70
    One speech and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $160
    Two speech and parent is judging $90
    Two speech and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $180

    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

    7:45-8:00am Registration and Checkin
    8:30am PF/LD Round 1
    9:30am Speech R1
    10:45am PF/LD R2
    11:45am Speech R2
    11:45am - 1:15pm Lunch served
    1:00pm PF/LD R3
    2:00pm Speech R3
    3:15pm PF/LD R4
    4:15pm Speech Finals
    5:30pm PF/LD R5
    7:00pm Awards

    ​​Although the tentative schedule lists the start and end times, please keep in mind that there are various factors that may arise during a tournament that can cause rounds to be delayed. Therefore, if you are signing up for this tournament, please make sure you do not double book yourselves on these dates. Keep your schedule open and DO NOT leave the tournament without notifying the GSA chaperones first.

    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
    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.

    EVENT SELECTION
    A student can compete in up to two events, so either two speech events OR one speech + one debate event. However, you are responsible for getting to your own rounds on time.
    ​The only competitors eligible for the 
    novice division are those that are either in their first calendar year of any kind of debate/speech OR who are in 7th grade or under.​
    BOTH partners must fill out form and pay in order to be registered!

    ​JUDGE PROVISION
    ​
    ​
    Judges must review this slide before proceeding.
    https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oKM_nFtwlbqIRUUkq6htJGgENDCgeIYWSfyeXkMZu1Y/edit?usp=sharing

    Please also review these coaching slides to your judges: LD Slides, PF Slides, Speech Slides. If you have first-time judges, it is extremely important for them to briefly read through these to know how to properly adjudicate rounds.

    ​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
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​​
  • Home
  • Locations
  • About
    • Meet Our Coaches
    • Why Speech and Debate
    • What is Speech and Debate? >
      • Speech Events
      • Debate Events
    • Why Golden State Academy
    • Tournament Photos
    • Tournament results
    • FAQ
  • Forms
  • Registration
    • Elementary Spring 2026
    • MS/HS Spring 2026
    • MS/HS Fall 2025
    • Private Coaching >
      • Speech Private Coaching
      • Debate Private Coaching
    • GSA Tournaments
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Careers
  • Newsletter