2026 First Coast Florida Classic
First Coast (FL) · Feb 19-21, 2026
First Coast Florida Classic
February 19-21, 2026
Location
Registration
Opens: Thursday, January 12 @ 8:00 a.m. ET
EXTENDED Closes: Thursday, February 6 @ 12:00 p.m. ET
Meal Registration Deadline: Feb 5, 2026 @ 12:00 p.m. ET
Script submission will open on Jan. 12th and close on February 7th. We will not accept scripts after Feb 7th except in emergency circumstances. If you fail to meet the deadline, you will be dropped from your event. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! We WILL be accepting approvals from prior tournaments. Please see the Script Submission tab for more details.
Events & Fees
This is a Stoa modeled tournament, and all Stoa speech and debate events will be offered. StoaUSA rules for events, eligibility, and dress code will be followed.
$40 - First debate event (Team Policy, Lincoln Douglas, Parli)
$30 - Second debate event (Apply "MOREDEBATE26" for $10 discount ONLY if your student is participating in Parli and another debate event.)
$35 - First speech event and $25 each additional event; limit of 6 events.
$20 - Junior speech event and $10 for each additional event. (See descriptions for event categories and rules)
Late Payment fee $25 will be applied Feb 6th, 2 hours after registration closes.
Drop Fee $25 for any drops after Feb 6th.
*Note for speech: Speech will consist of 3 preliminary, three-judge rounds (if possible).
Waitlist
Events may hit limits during registration, but please register and be put on the waitlist. We may be able to open additional space and/or reallocate space to move people off the waitlist for different events. Be sure to keep an eye on your email, especially if you are waitlisted for a speech event that requires script submission.
Late/Drop/Refund Policy
Late Payment fee $25 will be applied Feb 6, 2 hours after registration closes.
Drop Fee $25 for any drops after Feb. 6th
No refunds will be issued after Feb. 9. All add, requests must be submitted by e-mail to the Tournament Director, Joseph Graham, at FirstCoastSpeechandDebate@gmail.com.
Parent Judging Commitment
We recognize that participating in Stoa requires a sacrifice of a family's time and resources. When you register your student(s) to participate in this tournament you are also committing your time and energy to it. That means you, or another person over the age of 21, agree to be present at the tournament at all times AND will serve with a willing spirit as a judge or in another support role. When one person does not pull their weight, others have to carry the load. Practically speaking, we want our tournament to be able to run on schedule in order to honor the time of parents, participants, and more importantly community judges, and that requires parents to judge as many rounds as may be necessary over the course of the tournament. The host club will make every effort to recruit as many community judges as possible for the benefit of our competitors and parent judges.
If you are unable to meet the parent commitment, please contact the Tournament Director.
Tournament Director - Joseph Graham FirstCoastSpeechandDebate@gmail.com
Tournament Events
Speech A
- Apologetics Qual
- Dramatic Interpretation Qual
- Extemporaneous Qual
- Humorous Interpretation Qual
- Mars Hill Qual
- Open Interpretation Qual
Speech B
- Duo Interpretation Qual
- Impromptu Qual
- Original Oratory Qual
- Persuasive Qual
- Slam Poetry Qual
TP/LD
- Lincoln Douglas Non-qual
- Team Policy Qual
Parli
- Parliamentary Debate Qual
Junior Speech
- JV Interp DUO Juniors
- JV Interp Open Juniors
- JV LP Apologetics Juniors
- JV LP Bible Story Impromtpu Juniors
- JV OO Persuasive/Informative Juniors
- Jr Interp Open Juniors
- Jr LP Bible Story Impromptu Juniors
- Jr OO Persuasive/Informative Juniors
Tournament Timetable
- Community Judge registration will open at 12:00 pm Mon 12/01/2025 (Eastern)
- Tournament Status will update to Open at 8:00 am Mon 01/12/2026 (Eastern)
- Meal registration will close at 12:00 pm Thu 02/05/2026 (Eastern)
- Tournament Status will update to Closed at 12:00 pm Fri 02/06/2026 (Eastern)
- Tournament Status will update to Drops only at 12:00 pm Fri 02/06/2026 (Eastern)
- Late fee will be applied at 2:00 pm Fri 02/06/2026 (Eastern)
- Community Judge registration will close at 12:00 pm Sat 02/21/2026 (Eastern)
What the statuses mean
- Setup
- The tournament is still being set up.
- Open
- Registration is open — families can register for the tournament.
- Drops Only
- No new entries are allowed, but families can drop existing ones.
- Closed
- Registration is closed — no adds or drops. Contact the tournament director with questions.
- Completed
- The tournament is finished.