VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA TECH INVITATIONAL

22-23 November 2025

DEADLINE

13 Nov 2025
NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE

ELIGIBILITY

Open to MS/HS students
PF debate only

PLATFORM

Online through NSDA Campus

Information

Dear Coaches and Competitors,

We are excited to invite you to the Virginia Tech Public Forum Tournament, proudly hosted by the Virginia Tech British Parliamentary Debate Team, taking place from November 22nd to 23rd, 2025.

This tournament is an online Public Forum–exclusive event on NSDA Campus, featuring two competitive divisions: Open (Varsity and Experienced JV) and Rising Stars (JV & Novice). Middle school debaters are warmly welcomed to compete in the Rising Stars division, making this an inclusive event for all experience levels.

Why Attend?

Prepare for Upcoming TOC Bid Tournaments: Get more practice with the November/December topic for the upcoming bid tournaments, such as the Princeton Classic and the TOC Digital Speech and Debate Series, among others.
High-Quality Competition: Test your skills against diverse teams from across the region.
Educational Focus: Gain valuable feedback from experienced judges committed to helping every debater grow.
Smooth Experience: Expect a well-organized schedule and professional tournament operations.
Community Building: Be part of an event that fosters meaningful connections between students, coaches, and schools.
Support Debate at VT: Proceeds directly benefit the Virginia Tech Debate Team, helping to expand the spirit of debate on our campus.

Our mission is to create a challenging yet supportive environment where students can develop critical thinking, public speaking, and teamwork skills while enjoying an exciting and memorable weekend of competition.

We can’t wait to see you online this November and wish your teams the best of luck as you prepare for an incredible season ahead!

The tournament will offer the following event:

Public Forum
Division: Open, Rising Stars
Rounds: 5 preliminary rounds + Elimination Rounds
Days: Saturday-Sunday

Eligibility

This tournament is open to high school students (Grades 9 to 12).
Middle school students may compete in the Rising Star Division.

Debate Topic

In both Public Forum Open and Public Forum Rising Star, we will be using the NSDA 2025 - 2026 November/December.
Resolution: The United States federal government should require technology companies to provide lawful access to encrypted communications.

Division: Who qualifies to debate in the Rising Star division?

Anybody who has less than one year of debate experience (a HS novice or JV debater) or is in Middle School must compete in the rising star division.
Open is reserved for Varsity and experienced JV debaters.

Registering Judges
Judge qualifications

All judges must have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
The tournament will use electronic balloting. All judges must have accounts on Tabroom.com with a phone number.
We ask that all judges familiarize themselves with the use of online ballots by reviewing this video (here).

How long must judges be available?

ALL JUDGES must be available for all of Saturday.
Obligations for Sunday are as follows:
- After the Octofinals, each judge is obligated to one round past their school’s furthest competing entry.

Penalties for missing judges

Tournaments depend on judges to judge the rounds for which they are obligated. Unfortunately, this means that schools will incur a $50 fine if a judge misses a round or a pushed ballot is cast.

Tech Time

Each team will be given 10 total minutes during a round to resolve technical issues interfering with a competitor’s participation in the round. After that time has elapsed, participation must continue. Suppose one member of a two-person entry is unable to participate due to technical problems. In that case, their teammate may continue to debate solo.
If a judge is experiencing a tech issue, they should come to the judges’ lounge. If you are a debater in a room where a judge is having a tech issue, you should alert the tabroom immediately using the tabroom email function in your NSDA Campus room or email us at [email protected].

Resources

DebateDrills also offers judge training resources.
Getting help during the tournament:
- In-round help by submitting a request from within the NSDA Campus platform – i.e., without having to leave your in-round video session.
- Between-round help will be available in the virtual judges' lounge.

Guidelines for conduct during the tournament

The Virginia Tech Invitational fosters a culture of diversity and inclusion. We expect all members of our community to treat one another with respect and courtesy. Should you have any issues, please report them to the tabroom.
We expect all participants to act professionally and show respect to all competitors, judges, and tournament staff.

We look forward to seeing you at the tournament!

Entry Price

Rising Star PF and parent is judging $65
Rising Star PF and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $200

Open PF and parent is judging $70
Open PF and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $205

A nuisance fee of $50 per dropped team may apply for drops after the deadline.
Schools will incur a $50/round fine if a judge misses a round or a pushed ballot is cast.

Each person in a PF team would be responsible of providing their own judge, so one PF 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

Please pay attention to the time zones!!!

Click the link below to see the schedule.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1li54KN3X9ILWdk-Iyv1HbFrjrKtI2qeFtdyYHAtp7f8/edit?usp=sharing

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 (make sure you have a Tabroom account) *

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
Divisions may get combined if entries are too small.

PF Partner Name *

First

Last

Choose your division, but keep in mind that if enrollments are low some divisions may be collapsed into one *

Rising Star PF (Nov/Dec topic) Open PF (Nov/Dec topic)

JUDGE PROVISION
Another PF tournament has created these easy-to-use PF judging guidelines and powerpoint. Please take a look at both of them if this is your first time judging.
PF Judging Guidelines
PF Judging Slides

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

VIRGINIA TECH INVITATIONAL

22-23 November 2025

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!