2026 Northern Lights Challenge

NORTHERN LIGHTS CHALLENGE 2025

January 29 - February 1, 2025

Registration opens January 10, 2025 at 8:00 AM

Registration closes January 15, 2025 at 11:00 PM

All Stoa IE Speech Events, Team Policy, Lincoln Douglas and Parliamentary Debate will be offered as well as Junior Events.

Parents must be on-site throughout the competition and prepared to judge every other round if needed. 

League Affiliation: Membership with Stoa is required for participation in the Northern Lights Challenge.

Competitor Eligibility: Any homeschooled student who will be between the ages of 12 and 18 on October 1, 2024 may participate.

Entry Fees for Parliamentary Debate: $45 per student
Entry Fees for Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas Debate: $45 per student
Entry Fees for Speech: $35 for the first two events and then $15 for each additional event (max 7 speech events)
Entry Fees for Junior Speech events: $15 (Juniors will be limited to two events)

Late Registration Cost: If space is available after registration closes on January 15, a late registration fee of $10 will apply.

Drop Fees:

Prior to close of registration, all fees will be refunded minus Paypal/Stripe fees.

A $10 late fee will be charged for fees not paid before registration closes.                                                                                              A $20 drop fee will be charged for each event dropped after registration closes.
A $30 drop fee will be assessed for the day of tournament drops.
These must be paid at check-in, in cash, to be able to compete. Failure to pay fees will result in forfeiture from the tournament.

Why do we charge late fees? Planning a tournament revolves around the number of students attending. We set deadlines that allow us to order food, print ballots, order awards, schedule room assignments, print name tags, etc. When a student drops an event or misses a deadline, it affects the planning process and causes the tournament to incur extra expenses and volunteers extra time.

Script Submission will be due electronically by midnight Friday, January 24. 

Tournament Location:
Emmanuel Baptist Church
1515 E College Way
Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Wednesday, January 28 Parli competition will be at:
Cedarhome Baptist Church
29000 68th Ave NW
Stanwood, WA 982292

Questions or concerns may be directed to:

Amy Klomparens and Nadine Sainfils at tournamentdirector@stoadefenders.com