The 6th Annual ACT OF VALOR! 

February 5-7, 2026

Forged from the fires of COVID-19, the Act of Valor returns for its sixth year!  (see origin story below) This is a NITOC qualifying tournament offering Team Policy, Lincoln Douglas, Parliamentary, Individual Policy, Speech events, and Juniors! We have one or two-day options: on Thursday we will have 6 rounds of Parli + Semifinals; on Friday and Saturday, we will cover TP/LD and all the speech events, and on Saturday afternoon we will have Juniors. Check below for more details on Individual Policy and Junior Events. We will honor the Tournament Champion with the Sword of the Spirit (based on Eph. 6) - with a special ceremony sword.

Registration Opens on December 29th at 12:00 pm PST (see deadlines below).

Location: 1 N Calle Cesar Chavez #21, Santa Barbara, CA 93103

Cost: 
Speech: $29/event
Debate: $55/event
Juniors: $15/event

Drop Fee: $25 drop fee per event dropped February January 13th - February 7th

Tournament Champion Award: Sword of the Spirt (3 of 4 of the Armor of God series) 

Deadlines
Open Registration: December 29th 12:00pm PST - January 13th 11:59pm PST
Deadline to Drop with a Full Refund: January 13th
Deadline to Drop without a fee: January 25th
Meals Deadline: January 25th
Drop Fee ($25/event): January 13th - February 7th

Script Submission Open: December 29th 12:00pm PST
Script Submission Close: January 20th 5:00pm PST (No late submissions will be accepted)

Schedule: We will be offering Parli Prelims & Semis on Wednesday, with TP/LD, Speech, and Parli Finals Thursday and Friday.

Judging: EACH registered family needs to have a parent judging for them every day of the tournament, judging every other round/pattern. Students will need to have their judge physically with them at check-in and for the duration of the tournament. Thank you for your assistance in keeping our tournament running on time. Please plan on judging every other round, and check with the ballot push table 45-30 minutes before each round to see what the judging needs are for the upcoming round. The Ballot Push Team will be happy to see you!

Meals: You can order meals for Lunch on Wednesday and Thursday, Dinner on Thursday, and Lunch on Friday! Check the Meals Tab for more details. Please order by January 31st.

Payment: Registration is not complete until your fees have been paid. This can be done automatically at the end of the registration process.

Note: Speech Patterns are potentially subject to change

Mars Hill Categories:

Please contact nihdcamp@gmail.com if you have any questions!

Origin Story of AoV:

Like its name says the Act of Valor tournament really began as an act of courage, which originally came about in response to the Covid draconian lockdown rules that were shutting down most of the other tournaments during the years of 2020 - 2022. The list of tournaments we would eventually offer would include the Last Act of Valor, C4, and prologue. The biggest need was finding a facility willing to host the tournaments, so after an exhaustive search and with the Lord's favor Coach Griffith was able to secure facilities by teaming up with good folks from Awaken Church, Providence College, and Twin Peaks Conference Center. We initially faced serious opposition (mostly from outside of Stoa) including the threat of potential arrest and personal liability lawsuits. Still, by God's grace, we were able to persevere and host successful and safe events.