• Setup:

  This status is used while the tournament is still being setup.

• Open:

  This status means tournament registration is open. Families can register for the tournament.

• Drops Only:

  This status means only registration drops are allowed. There are no new entries allowed but families can drop entries.

• Closed:

  This status means registration is currently closed for the tournament. There are no adds or drops allowed. Please contact the tournament director with any questions.

• Completed:

  This status means the tournament is completed.

JUNIORS EVENTS AND GUIDELINES

• Juniors events are only for students who are 5-11 years old on Oct 1, 2024. Junior debate is for students ages 9-11.

• Junior speech registration fee is $10 for the first event, $7 for each additional event. Junior debate event is $10 per student.

• Juniors can register using the Student Registration tab at the top of this webpage, just like Seniors.

• Juniors may register for a maximum of three speech events plus debate.

• There is no script submission for Juniors.

• There will not be any finals for Juniors.

• Juniors can check-in at the same time as the Seniors.

There will be two rounds for the Juniors in the following Speech categories

(Click on each event for the corresponding guidelines.)

• Juniors Apologetics

• Juniors Expository

• Juniors Bible Story Impromptu 

• Juniors Platform

• Juniors Impromptu 

• Juniors Interp

• Juniors Interp Duo

Juniors Apologetics Questions

1.  Who is Jesus?

2.  How does the Holy Spirit help us?

3.  How do we see God in creation?

4.  What is the fall?

5.  Why did Jesus have to die?

6.  Can a person do enough good things to get into heaven?

7.  What is grace?

8.  What is repentance?

9.  What is sin?

10.  What is the Bible?

11.  Why must Jesus be truly human and truly God?

12.  How many persons are there in God? 

Bible Story Impromptu Topics

1. Healing of Naaman

2. Jonah

3. Noah's Ark

4. Christ is Born

5. Jesus Turns Water Into Wine

6. Jesus Calms the Storm

7. The Burning Bush

8. The Tomb is Empty

9. Jesus Walks on Water

10. Prodigal Son

11. Daniel in the Lion’s Den

12. Saul Becomes Paul

We will offer two rounds of debate for Juniors.

Resolved: In US history, Benjamin Franklin was more important than Thomas Jefferson. 

• One mentor is allowed per team. Prior to the tournament, each team should pick a mentor or contact the Junior Tournament director for help in finding one.

• Junior Debate Guidelines and Helpful Hints: Junior Debate 2024-2025

Juniors Judges

• Senior students who would like to judge Juniors speech events must have competed in at least one NITOC-modeled tournament as a Senior prior to the Diamond.

• Senior students who would like to judge Juniors debate must be at least a second-year debater.

• Sign-up sheets will be available throughout the tournament.

• Juniors Judges need to arrive 10 minutes before each Juniors round in order to judge. At that time, they'll go through a short judges' orientation to prepare them.

QUESTIONS? Contact the Juniors Tournament Director, Martina Schaaf, at (501-703-3317).

• Registration opens on December 12 8:00 AM and will close on December 19 at 11:59 PM.
• Speech events for Seniors are limited to 6 events. 
• You may find yourself on a waiting list for some of your events. We hope to be able to move people off the waiting list into rooms once registration closes on the 19th. We will message you at the email you registered under regarding waiting list clearance questions and you can also check your registration to see your status.
• Once registration closes, we will not be offering refunds for dropped events, so please choose your events carefully.
• Dropping events close to tournament time creates extra work and expense for the tournament, so beginning January 1 there will be a $20 drop fee for any events you drop.
• You may drop events in your account as needed until January 12. At that point you will need to contact the tournament to request a drop and the drop fee will increase to $30.
• You may add meals to your registration until January 12.
• You should pay your registration fees by the end of registration, December 19, and meal fees should be paid when you order the meals. Any fees outstanding after January 12 will incurr a late fee. If fees are not paid by check-in, your students will not be allowed to compete.
• If you need any help with your registration, just let us know. We're happy to assist!

Thank you for helping us keep registration running smoothly!

MANDATORY CHECK-IN

Check in will begin at 7:00 am Thursday, January 23

All debate competitors should check in at this time.

Speech only students and Juniors may continue to check in throughout the morning. Check-in will close at 11:30 am.

Coaches may take responsibility for checking in students from their club.

Arkansas Diamond is requiring 100% ELECTRONIC script submission. We have a "no script, no compete" policy.

Student name badges (Seniors and Juniors) and parent name badges will be distributed at Check-In. Parent name badges can also be picked up at the Judge Greeter table any time after 11:30 AM on Thursday.

Name badges must be worn in the building by everyone at all times.

VISITORS: To keep everyone safe, all adults in the building need to check-in and wear a name badge. If you don't receive a name badge at check-in, please stop by the Judge Greeter desk to get one.

Please send any questions to Arkansas Diamond Director

Safety

Parents or supervising adults, please plan to remain on campus with your students throughout the tournament. Your student's safety and positive experience is of utmost importance. Our facility is large and spread out, so you will want to make sure your younger children are well supervised. Our student room is in the gym this year and there should be plenty of room for our younger competitors and siblings to find space to hang out. But running, playing with balls, etc. won't be possible because of food service and the safety of our older competitors' belongings etc. You are welcome to take them outside to run around with adult supervision. Everyone must wear a name badge at all times when in the facility for security purposes.

Importance of Parent Judges

Thank you for understanding that a sizable pool of parent judges is critical for providing a quality tournament for all competitors. With that in mind, your minimum requirement is to judge the rounds for which you registered. Please do not sign up for any rounds you do not intend to judge. You also need to check in with Ballot Admin at the beginning of each round in case there are some unexpected judging needs. According to Stoa rules, there must be two judges in every speech round in order for the event to qualify for NITOC, so your help in judging is essential.

Visitors

To keep everyone safe, everyone in the building will need to check in and wear a name badge. If you don't receive a name badge at the Thursday morning check-in, please stop by the Judge Greeter station to get one.

Arkansas Diamond

Script Submission

All senior competitors with prepared speeches must complete the script submission process. 

There is no script submission for junior speech events.

Important Dates and Deadlines
Script Submission Opens: December 12, 2025, at 8:00 am 
Early Script Deadline: January 2, 2025, at 11:59 pm
Script Submission Deadline: January 9, 2025, at 11:59 pm
Corrections Deadline: January 14, 2025, at 11:59 pm

Early Script Submission Prize Drawing: We will be offering a prize drawing for every script submitted before 11:59pm on Janaury 2nd.  Each script gives 1 entry into the drawing.

All scripts must be submitted by January 9th to avoid being dropped from that event. You will receive a confirmation email once your script has been received and approved. 

Script Submission Corrections:  January 14th, 2025 at 11:59 pm.  If your script needs corrections, it must be corrected and submitted no later than this date.  

How to Submit Scripts Electronically: 

1. Follow the rules for your speech event.
2. Follow the script submission guidelines and forms. 
3. Watch this short video.
4. Combine each speech into a single PDF file. (Recommended: Use a PDF phone scanner app)
5. Name the file correctly: Last Name, First Name - event.pdf
6. SUBMIT SCRIPTS HERE
7. Correct or Celebrate: If your script is returned for corrections, complete any requirements in a timely manner and resubmit. Otherwise, it is time to celebrate your approval!

Resources

Rapid Review & Approve (tutorial for competitors)

Publication Guidelines 2024-2025

Speech Citations Help Page 2024-2025

Stoa Plagiarism Policy 2024-2025

Interpretation Script Submission Guidelines 2024-2025

Platform Script Submission Guidelines 2024-2025

Slam Poetry Script Submission Guidelines 2024-2025

For questions regarding script submission, please contact: electronicscriptsubmission@gmail.com