Community Judge registration will open at 8:00 am Tue 10/01/2024 (Mountain)
Tournament Status will update to Open at 10:00 am Fri 11/01/2024 (Mountain)
Tournament Status will update to Closed at 12:00 pm Fri 11/08/2024 (Mountain)
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.
Host Housing
Welcome to the beautiful front range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains! We are happy to help host you in our beautiful city.
For help with host housing, please email Sydney Schwarz with "RET Host Housing" in the subject line.
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.
Apologetics
Because RET is the first tournament in our area for many students, Apologetics categories will be posted for RET on October 1.
This should not be expected of future tournaments.
RET Apologetics Categories:
Stoa Category 1: The Character and Nature of God
Stoa Category 2: Foundations of Christianity
Stoa Category 4: God and Man
Mars Hill
Because RET is the first tournament in our area for many students, we will post the Mars Hill categories for this tournament on October 1.
This should not be expected for future tournaments.
RET Mars Hill Categories will be:
Literature
Classic Music
Current Film and Television
Parent Judging Info
Parent Judging Info
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 RET. 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 RET, or you must have another adult who can feasibly fulfill all of your judging responsibilities.
2. Parent judging requirements:
We understand that for larger families with multiple students participating, the system may generate an unachievable number of rounds for you to judge. Parents with 1 or more competitors at RET need to plan to judge for all 3 speech rounds. Parli competitors will be required to have a parent judge a minimum of 2 rounds, including Round 6 (our highest needs round.) Each Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas debater will be required to supply a parent judge for at least 3 rounds, including Round 6.
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!
Facility Information
We have a wonderful facility that we are blessed to have access to again this year!
Address: 1515 Automall Loop, Colorado Springs, CO, 80920
Parking & Entrances
We will have parking and entrances clearly marked around the facility. Plan to park and enter the building on the west side, closest to Voyager Parkway.
Guidelines
Springs Church 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
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
No unsupervised children will be allowed in ANY area of the building. Parents, if you bring younger siblings, they must remain with you throughout competition.
Competitors are only allowed to 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 (Tent area)
Eat only in areas designated for eating, and clean up your area immediately after eating
Competitor Requirements
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.
Wait List
Waitlist Information
Please do not be discouraged if you are put on a waitlist, particularly for a partnered event.
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.
Dress Code Enforcement
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.
