• 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.

Thank you community and alumni judges!

IMPORTANT NEWS:  Unfortunately, Colorado College is not providing us with parking space on their campus.  

We do have other parking designated down the street from which we will be shuttling attendees to the tournament.

For Wednesday, Thursday and Friday MORNING thru AFTERNOON attendees. (The church has evening activities beginning at 7pm for which we need they will need their lot space)

• Park in the First United Methodist lot on 514 N Nevada Ave. 

• This lot is located directly across E. St. Vrain St. from the church and is free of charge for our use.

For Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday EVENING judges 4:30pm on.  AND all Saturday judges.

• Park in the Younglife parking lot on 420 N Cascade Ave, in or near the southeast corner. 

1. Shuttles with Bright Pink signs in the windows will be passing through every 5-10 minutes for pick-up.

2. REMEMBER:  Your arrival time should be 45-60 minutes before your scheduled judging slot to ensure ample time for training.

3. If you arrive and do not see a shuttle after 10 minutes please contact us at 719-464-2828.

PARENT ONLY PARKING INFORMATION

Colorado College has graciously allowed us to use their beautiful Tutt Library (1021 N Cascade Ave), but due to campus restrictions, we cannot use their parking garage or lots. (Community judges will be shuttled from specific lots off campus.  None of these lots has the capacity to park both community judges and parents' vehicles.)

HOWEVER, there are many options

Because the college is on the north edge of downtown, the whole area is built on a grid and there is copious street parking. We don't recommend parking anywhere further south, since that is where the meter-maids roam. Also, although the area is not dangerous, I would not recommend leaving items in your car.

PLEASE NOTE: Simple rule, don't park anywhere in the SHADED area. (GREEN is the tournament location and YELLOW shows unloading areas)

OPTION 1:  Drop off competitors, then park on Cascade 1.5 blocks north of Uintah because it's a flat, easy, three-block walk to the library.

OPTION 2: The next best option is E San Raphael, one block east of Nevada

OPTION 3: If you don’t mind leaving your car a little further away there is a free shuttle that runs from Colorado College's Ed Robson Arena through downtown Colorado Springs shopping district on Tejon Street. 

It runs on a loop and leaves every 7 minutes. Here's a link more info: THE ZEB SHUTTLE

This opens up many possibilities but likely the best plan to avoid meters is to park at one of the several parking garages downtown ($12 daily rate).

This map shows how to get from the library to the nearest ZEB station.

Long story short, we are thankful for the use of the library, and there is a ton of parking within a 7-minute walk from the facility.

Other tools that you may find useful:

 Spot Hero app to find parking spots near you. 

ParkMobile app to pay meters remotely 

Joyfully,

Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Jacobs

Heads UP: This is not the standard script submission process.  It's easier.  Just click on the link and follow the prompts on the form.  You DO NOT need to attach a Script Submission Form.

Important Dates and Deadlines
Script Submission Opens: January 17, 2025, at 8 am 
Early Script Deadline: January 24, 2025, at 11:59 pm
Script Submission Deadline: February 5, 2025, at 8 pm
Corrections Deadline: February 7, 2025, at 8 pm

Early Script Submission Prize Drawing: We will be offering a prize drawing for every script submitted before 11:59pm on Janaury 24th.  Each script gives 1 entry into the drawing.

All scripts must be submitted by February 5th to avoid being dropped from that event. You will receive a confirmation email once your script has been received and approved. 

Script Submission Corrections:  February 7th, 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. Adhere to the necessary requirements for your script.  See Terms an Conditions
3. SUBMIT SCRIPTS HERE: https://form.jotform.com/243521211493044
4. When you get to the question on the form "Which speech are you submitting?", all the options are there.  Scroll down.
5. Correct or Celebrate: If your script is returned for corrections, complete any requirements within 48 hours and resubmit. Otherwise, your approval will be confirmed via email!

Resources

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: scripts@resolvespeechanddebate.com

We have needs-based scholarships available for three students. 

The scholarship is equal to registration fees for one student in either speech or debate ($40). If you are selected, your $40 registration fee will be refunded to you before the tournament begins. 

To apply, please use this form to write 200 words reflecting on any of the following: 

• How have you have used entreprenurialism to help you pay for tournaments, either for yourself or others? 
• Have you ever sacrificed events or tournaments you wanted to compete in so that a sibling could compete instead?
• Are you new to homeschooling and trying Stoa for the first time? 
• Have you ever been unable to participate in a tournament for financial reasons? 

This application should be completed by the competitor applying, and not their parent. 

Purpose

Sandra Bateman, the founder of sWord Speech & Debate, had a vision for all Stoa students. Her vision was that they would take their speech and debate training skills far beyond the Stoa boundaries and out into their communities to serve, bless, and communicate for God’s glory. This was the motivation which inspired her to create the Community Service Award and now, in her memory, we continue the tradition of giving out this very special award each year at Centennial State Tournament.

Eligible Activities

Applicants may list activities such as volunteer work for political campaigns, Sunday school, museums, libraries, legislatures, non-profit organizations, etc. Not eligible, are activities in support of speech/debate clubs, tournaments in which you were a competitor, nor activities for which you received compensation.

This award is not based on the amount of hours volunteered. It is more about the creativity and the heart behind the service.

Application Instructions

The application will prompt you to provide a short descriptive paragraph for each activity. You may list more than one activity in your submission as long as you provide a separate description and accounting of hours for each activity. Remember, your writing should communicate as well as your speaking.

For our 2025 application, all activities/hours had to have been accumulated between
 February 1, 2024 and February 1, 2025.  Applications are due no later than February 9th at 10pm.  

Apply Here

Welcome to the beautiful front range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains! We are happy to help host you in our lovely city. 

For help with host housing, please email Sydney Schwarz with "CST Host Housing" in the subject line. 

sydneyschwarz@yahoo.com

Please include this information: 

• Number and gender of Adults
• Number, gender and ages of each student
• Allergies to animals or foods
• Arrival and Departure dates
• Any other relevant information

These hotels are near to our tournament location: 

Springhill Suites Downtown Colorado Springs 

402 S Tejon Street, 80903

Home2 Suites I-25 Central 

3090 N Nevada Ave, 80907

Holiday Inn Express and Suites Colorado Springs Central 

105 North Spruce Street, 80905

If you have participated in a Speech and Debate tournament before, then you are aware of the importance of parent judges. It is our goal to provide a quality tournament to all of the families who prepare for, practice, pay for and travel to CST. Part of this effort is to have 3 judges in every speech room in every round as well as adequate judges throughout the rounds of debate. This will require EVERYONE'S participation. In order to achieve this goal, we have set up the following guidelines for ALL parent judges:

1. Parent/Adult Judge Presence Required at Tournament:

Every student must have a participating parent/adult judge present at the tournament. While we understand that it is sometimes more convenient or cost effective for families to send their students to tournaments with other families, this puts a severe strain on the availability of parent judges. For this reason, you must either be present with your student at CST, or you must have another adult who can feasibly fulfill all of your judging responsibilities.

2. Parent judging requirements:

All IE Competitors are required to provide a judge for a minimum of two rounds for every IE event for which they are registered. For example, if you register for three IE events, then you are required to provide judges for a minimum of six rounds.

All TP/LD Debate Competitors are required to provide a judge for three rounds.

All Parliamentary Debate Competitors are required to provide a judge for two rounds.

*To determine the total number of rounds required for a student or family, all the speech and debate judge requirements are added together.  However, we will observe the following caps on judging slots per family:*

* For 1-2 students competing in a family the maximum judge slots will be *15.*
* For 3 or more students competing in a family the maximum judge slots will be *20.*

3. Parent Check-In and Judging:

Parents will be REQUIRED to participate in a check-in process that will be simultaneous to the student check-in. We will also be depending on you to come to Ballot Push at least 30 minutes before each and every round to check and see if we need you to judge.

4. Our committment to you: 

Even though fulfilling judging requirements is essential to providing a quality tournament, we do understand that this commitment can be demanding and exhausting. For this reason, we pledge to you that we will do our best to recruit as many community judges as possible in the weeks leading up to the tournament. We often recruit a large number of community judges, but we are sometimes still not able to fulfill the goal of 3 judges in every speech round due to lack of parent judges. We are committed to recruiting as many community judges as possible, but we also need YOU to fulfill your judging minimum.

Thank you for working with us to make this a quality tournament for everyone!

This Tournament has Two Locations:

Location 1:

On Wednesday February 12, Parli Check In and Rounds 1-3 will be held at 

First United Methodist Church

420 N Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 

80903

All subsequent events and rounds will be held at: 

Location 2:

Colorado College Tutt Library 

1021 N Cascade Ave, Colorado Springs, CO

80903

Non-Competing Siblings:

Non-competing siblings must be attended at all times. Parents, if you plan to bring younger siblings with you, they need to remain with you at all times. Please do not plan to leave siblings unattended in the student lounge, as this is a functioning library on a college campus. 

Facility Guidelines:

Colorado College has been amazingly generous in letting us use their beautiful facility. We would like to honor their generosity by following these guidelines:

• No running anywhere in the building
• Library-level voices in the hallways and open spaces.
• No crock pots or other cooking devices will be permitted
• The kitchen will be used exclusively by tournament staff. No access to the microwave or other kitchen appliances will be available for competitors or families. 
• Please obey all posted signs inside and outside the building and stay out of restricted areas
• Competitors may only have bottled water in the competition rooms
• When not being used in a round, keep all debate boxes, notebooks, bags, computers, and personal belongings in The Student Lounge
• Eat only in areas designated for eating, and clean up your area immediately after eating

A Note about Colorado College: 

We are excited to bring the light of Christ to this secular campus, and are grateful that Colorado College has opened their space to us. As a warning, there may be flyers or signs for campus clubs that you may not agree with or that do not support a Christian worldview. Please plan to represent our Lord in an honoring way in an environment that may not otherwise do so. You are truly ambassadors for Christ during CST. 

"Speak Boldly. Change the World for Christ."

Colorado weather if anything is unpredictable. The tournament will go forward if at all possible. If inclement weather requires the tournament to delay rounds on a particular day or close, we will proceed the following day with a modified schedule. Please check this registration website for updates regarding weather. Notification Emails may also be sent to registered participants and judges.

We apologize, but no refunds will be made for weather-related cancellations.

Please do not be discouraged if you are put on a waitlist.

We manage the competitor caps for events during registration for a variety of reasons, including determining which events are in most demand. These are the events likely to receive extra rooms.

We do everything we can to accommodate every competitor, and there is a possibility that with a little shuffling behind the scenes, you may be able to compete.

It is important that we know which events require more rooms, so please keep your place on the waitlist, as that information helps us manage the tournament.

We do expect events to fill up. 

In partnered and individual events, priority is given to those with individuals or both partners registered and paid.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

• All Students must be registered members of Stoa. Go here to register.
• Students must register a parent or other adult to judge at the tournament.
• Students must have an adult chaperone who is 21 years or older.

Rocky Mountain Stoa coaches and tournament directors endorse and enforce the dress code established for NITOC by Stoa. The Stoa NITOC dress code is the standard for all students competing at Rocky Mountain Stoa tournaments.

The Stoa NITOC dress code will be enforced throughout the duration of each tournament for all competitors, regardless of whether or not the competitor is still actively competing at any given tournament. If a competitor's attire is not in compliance with the Stoa NITOC dress code, Rocky Mountain Stoa tournament directors will abide by the Stoa NITOC guidance, which states:

If the competitor’s attire at any time during the tournament is deemed a violation of the dress code, the competitor will be asked to come into compliance with the dress code. A student will not be allowed to participate in competition or awards without compliance.