SDSU

SAN DIEGO GASKE MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL
(parents must take their child to San Diego and arrange their own travels)

10-11 October 2026

DEADLINE

1 Oct 2026
NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE

ELIGIBILITY

Open to middle and high school students

LOCATION

San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182

Information

Dear Speech & Debate Coaches, Parents, and High School Students,

Our San Diego State University Forensics Speech and Debate Team cordially invites you to attend the 2026 Gaske Memorial Invitational, a high school speech and debate tournament held October 10-11, 2026. This in-person tournament honors the legacy of Paul Gaske, a champion of educational excellence through speech and debate in Southern California. We are thrilled to welcome you to San Diego State University's beautiful campus for a weekend of competition, learning, and community!

Events Offered

Debate Events

Open Public Forum Debate (PF) - Sept/Opt topic
Open Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD-California style) - Sept/Opt topic
Novice Public Forum Debate (PF) - Sept/Opt topic
Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD-California style) - Sept/Opt topic

Individual Events (IEs)

Open Events
- Original Advocacy (OA)
- Dramatic Interpretation (DI)
- Humorous Interpretation (HI)
- Duo Interpretation (DUO)
- Program Oral Interpretation (POI)
- Original Oratory (OO)
- Informative Speaking (INF)
- Extemporaneous Speaking (EXT)
- Impromptu Speaking (IMP)
- Original Spoken Word Poetry (POE)
- Declamation (DEC)

Judging Requirements

All judges must be available for at least one round beyond their school team’s elimination.
We also require all judges to complete ALL Level 1 courses in Tabroom training before the tournament weekend. We strongly encourage judges to complete all Level 2 courses in Tabroom training as well. All training courses are FREE.
Please access all trainings at the link below: https://www.speechanddebate.org/learn/judge-accreditation/

Registration Restrictions
The following policies are in place for double entries this year:

Students may register to compete in either debate or speech events; and/or may register to compete in BOTH debate AND speech events
A maximum of 2 speech events are allowed per competitor

Awards

Finalists and Semifinalists in all events will be recognized
Top Speaker Awards in each debate division
Sweepstakes trophies for top overall programs
Special recognition for scholarship recipients for top-placing students

Food, Parking, and Lodging

Food:
- Saturday, October 10, 2026
  - Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union
    - Aztec Market - 9am-3pm
    - The Habit Burger Grill - 11:30am-10pm
    - Shakesmart - 9:00am-3:00pm
    - Starbucks - 8:00am-10:00pm
    - Oggi’s Pizza Express - 12pm-8pm
    - Primos Mexican Food & Cantina - 10am-10pm
  - South Campus Plaza
    - Epic Wings N’ Things - 11:00am-12:00am
    - Everbowl - 9:00am-9:00pm
    - Eureka! - 11:00am-12:00am
    - Sushi One N Half - 11am-9pm
    - Trader Joe’s - 8:00am-9:00pm
    - WhichWich Superior Sandwiches - 10:00am-10:00pm
    - Broken Yolk Cafe - 8:00am-8:00pm
    - Carbonaro’s - 11am-10pm
- Sunday, October 11, 2026
  - Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union
    - The Habit Burger Grill - 11:30am-10:00pm
    - Starbucks - 8:00am-10pm
    - Oggi’s Pizza Express - 12:00pm-8:00pm
    - Primos Mexican Food & Cantina - 10:00am-8:00pm
  - South Campus Plaza
    - Epic WingsN’Things - 11:00am-11:00pm
    - Everbowl - 9:00am-8:00pm
    - Eureka! - 11:00am-12:00am
    - Sushi One N Half - 11:00am-9:00pm
    - Trader Joe’s - 8:00am-9:00pm
    - WhichWich Superior Sandwiches - 10:00am-10:00pm
    - The Broken Yoke Cafe - 8:00am-8:00pm
    - Carbonaro’s - 11:00am-10:00pm
Parking and Transportation Options:
- Parking:
  - You may purchase parking permits using the:
    - PayByPhone app - hourly and daily permits available
    - Pay via Web Browser - hourly and daily permits available
    - Pay stations - hourly, overnight, and weekend permits available
  - Visit the SDSU Visitor Parking website: https://parking.sdsu.edu/permits/visitor
  - The 24 hour daily-choice parking rate will be $4.25 per day (including fees) in four specific parking areas: Parking Structure 3, Parking Structure 4, Parking Lot 17/17A/17B, and Parking Lot 15. The 24 hour daily-choice parking rate at Parking Structures 7, 8, and 12 will be $20.35* per day. These rates are available exclusively through the PayByPhone app/website.
- Public Transportation:
  - The SDSU Transit Center houses a popular trolley and bus stop on campus for easy public transportation use as well! Both cost $2.50 per person per ride.
  - Trolley: SDSU is on the Green Line
  - Busses: 11, 115, 856, 936
  - Bus & Trolley tickets can be purchased a few different ways. See their website here for more information on easily purchasing fares.
  - *Pro-Tip: GoogleMaps can help guide public transportation routes

We are excited to welcome you to the SDSU campus this October. Let’s make the 2026 Gaske Memorial Invitational High School Tournament a weekend to remember!

Entry Price

Parents must take their child to San Diego and book their own accommodations. GSA will not be arranging team travel for this tournament.

One speech event and parent is judging $125
Two speech events and parent is judging $200

LD and parent is judging $200
LD & 1 speech event and parent is judging $275
LD & 2 speech events and parent is judging $350

PF and parent is judging $125
PF & 1 speech event and parent is judging $200
PF & 2 speech events and parent is judging $275

One speech event and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $225
Two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $325

LD and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $350
LD & 1 speech event and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $475
LD & 2 speech events and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $600

PF and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $225
PF & 1 speech event and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $350
PF & 2 speech events and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $475

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

Tentative Schedule Overview

Saturday, October 10

7:30 AM - Opening Ceremony
8:30 AM – Debate Round 1
10:00 AM – Speech Round 1
11:15 AM – Debate Round 2
12:45 PM – Speech Round 2
2:00 PM – Debate Round 3
3:30 PM – Speech Round 3
4:45 PM – Debate Round 4
6:15 PM – Debate Round 5

Sunday, October 11

9:30 AM – Debate Quarterfinals
11:00 AM – Speech Semifinals
12:30 PM – Debate Semifinals
2:00 PM – Speech Finals
3:30 PM – Debate Finals
4:30 PM – Awards Ceremony

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

* 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

JUDGE PROVISION

Judge Obligations

All judges must be available for at least one round beyond their school team's elimination.
We also require all judges to complete ALL Level 1 courses in Tabroom training before the tournament weekend.
We strongly encourage judges to complete all Level 2 courses in Tabroom training as well. All training courses are FREE.
Please access all trainings at the link below: https://www.speechanddebate.org/learn/judge-accreditation/

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 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

Has your judge completed the free mandatory training course? *

Yes 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

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

SAN DIEGO GASKE MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL(parents must take their child to San Diego and arrange their own travels)