Community Judge registration will open at 8:00 am Wed 01/22/2025 (Central)
Tournament Status will update to Open at 8:00 am Mon 01/27/2025 (Central)
Tournament Status will update to Drops only at 11:55 pm Sun 02/02/2025 (Central)
Tournament Status will update to Closed at 11:55 pm Sun 02/02/2025 (Central)
Meal registration will close at 12:00 pm Fri 02/14/2025 (Central)
Community Judge registration will close at 12:00 pm Sat 03/01/2025 (Central)
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.
Registration Information
Registration Information
Registration opens on January 24th at 8:00 AM and will close on January 31st at 10:00 PM.
You may find yourself on a waiting list for some of your events. We hope to move people off the waiting list into rooms once registration closes on the 31st. We will message you at the email you registered under regarding waiting list clearance questions. You can also check your registration to see your status.
Once registration closes, we will not offer 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 February 8th, there will be a $20 drop fee for any events you drop.
You may drop events in your account as needed until February 15th. 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 February 15th.
You should pay your registration fees by the end of registration, January 31st, and meal fees should be paid when you order the meals. Any fees outstanding after January 15th will incur a late fee. If payments are not made 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!
Junior Tournament
Junior Tournament
These events are for students ages 6-11 years old by October 1, 2024. It’s our goal to facilitate growth in our young speakers! If your student is not yet old enough to compete as a Stoa senior competitor, we encourage them to compete in the Green Country Challenge Junior tournament.
Juniors are NOT required to submit their scripts.*
There will be three rounds for all of the Junior Events.
Awards will be given to the top three in each category.
Junior Debate
Resolved: In US history, Benjamin Franklin was more important than Thomas Jefferson.
One mentor is allowed per team. Before the tournament, each team should pick a mentor or contact the Junior Tournament director for help finding one.
We rely on our Senior students to judge the Junior Events.
Sign-up sheets will be available on Saturday, March 1st.
Junior judges need to arrive 10 minutes before each Junior round to judge. At that time, they will receive their ballot and go through a short judge orientation to prepare them.
QUESTIONS? Contact the Junior Tournament Director, Barb Martin, at (517-755-8639).
Script Submission
GCC 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: January 24, 2025, at 8:00 am Early Script Deadline: February 10, 2025, at 11:59 pm Script Submission Deadline: February 14, 2025, at 11:59 pm Corrections Deadline: February 19, 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 February 10th. Each script gives 1 entry into the drawing.
All scripts must be submitted by February 14th 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 19th, 2025 at 11:59 pm. If your script needs corrections, it must be corrected and submitted no later than this date.
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!
Parents or supervising adults, please plan to remain on campus with your students throughout the tournament. If you encounter an emergency and must leave the premises, please sign out at the Judge Check-In kiosk. Otherwise, please plan to remain on standby to judge all events, regardless of your registered time slots. Your student's safety and positive tournament experience are of utmost importance.
Our facility is large, so please ensure your younger children are well-supervised. Our student room is in the gym, so our younger competitors and siblings should have plenty of room to find space to hang out. We will have Junior Bingo available to younger children as an activity to keep them busy. We will award prizes to the top three competitors at the Award Ceremony.
There is an indoor and an outdoor playground. Younger children may play outside with a supervising adult/parent. Older siblings are not considered supervising adults. The indoor playground will be open to children five and under with a supervising adult/parent. The playground is close to competitor rooms. If the noise is excessive, the indoor playground will be closed.
Unsupervised students are NOT allowed in host housing at any time.
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 for the event to qualify for NITOC, so your help in judging is essential.
If you are carpooling, please understand that you are taking on the judging requirements for the student(s) you bring. Please consider bringing an extra person to help you fulfill the judging requirements.
Bringing Food from Home
Please keep food and beverages in designated areas at all times. In addition, please clean up after yourselves following each meal, and be certain that you return all food and paper goods to your vehicle or hotel by the end of each day.
Due to safety concerns, please do NOT bring CROCKPOTS or other heating devices into the building. Thank you for your cooperation.
Tournament Time