2026 Western Slope Rendezvous

• 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.

If you would like to request host housing for Western Slope Rendezvous, please contact our Host Housing Coordinator, Sara Morgan, at saraannmorgan@gmail.com.  We will do our very best to accomodate you.  Requests will be filled on a first-come, first serve basis.

There are also a great number of hotels out by the regional airport where rooms can be rented there for as little as $50 to $75 a night.  A quick search on Booking.com showed the 3 star Ramada Hotel for $59 a night.  The 2 star Econo Lodge is $53 a night.  These hotels are all 15 minutes or less driving time from our  main tournament facilities, and 20 mintues from our Wednesday facilities in Fruita.

Script Submission details will be posted closer to the tournament date.

The NITOC Dress code is currently under review. This page will be updated as more infomation is available.

Additional dress code requirements & clarifications for WSR:

Polished, dress cowboys boots are deemed in compliance with the dress code as dress shoes.

Shirts should not gap or show cleavage.  This must be observed even during vigorous activities like interpretation speeches.

We will be hosting a junior tournament on Saturday.  Each junior competitor may compete in up to 3 events.  The cost is $10 per event.  Questions prior to tournament can be directed to Rebekah Zeerip at pampushka@hotmail.com.

Junior Apologetics Questions

Apologetics Topics
Category 1: EXISTENCE AND NATURE OF GOD
Explain the meaning and significance of the holiness of God.
Explain the meaning and significance of the justice of God.
Explain the meaning and significance of the mercy of God.

Category 2: SCRIPTURES
Why can we trust the Bible?

Category 3: THE NATURE, PURPOSE AND DESTINY OF MAN
What is the purpose of man?
What is the destiny of man?

Category 4: SALVATION or HOW TO KNOW GOD
Why does man need salvation?
Do good people go to heaven?

Category 5: THE PERSON OF CHRIST
Define and defend the significance of the deity of Christ.
Define and defend the significance of Jesus as the Messiah.

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.

As a Stoa endorsed event, the Stoa Student Code of Conduct will be observed during WSR.  The code of conduct is outlined here: https://www.stoausa.org/membership

Additional expectations for Western Slope Tournament:

FOR COMPETITORS & NON-COMPETING SIBLINGS (NCS):

• No money or goods will be bet or exchanged during recreational games.  This prohibition includes not only exchanging money or goods during games, but any kind of payment towards "buying seats" or saving places in particular games or "rental" of devices.  Poker games are permissible with poker chips. 
• The student area will be maintained BY THE STUDENTS: When not being used in a round, keep all debate boxes, notebooks, bags, computers, and personal belongings in the student lounge area and students are expected clean up their area immediately after eating.
• Students will honor and abide by directions given to them by ANY staff member.  If they receive conflicting directions, they may appeal to their parents who, in turn, can bring it to the attention of tournament authorities.
• No running anywhere in the main building.
• Library-level voices in the hallways and open spaces of the main building.
• 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.
• Stay out of all competition rooms when they are not in active use for a round.  Students are expected to spend their non-competition time watching others' rounds or in the student lounge area.  If a room is dark and empty, it is not space for students.
• Students may have ONLY WATER in closeable bottles (no open drink containers) in the competition rooms and main building. No other food or beverages are permitted.

COMPETITORS:

• Attendance at morning announcements and devotional time is mandatory.
• Competitors may only eat in the student lounge area.
• Competitors are permitted to remove ties, dress shoes and/or jackets in the student lounge area (modesty is still expected), but must be in compliance with tournament attire requirements anywhere else on the premises during the tournament.

NON-COMPETING SIBLINGS (NCS):

• NCS will be supervised at all times by an adult.  This includes when they are in the student lounge area.
• NCS who have tournament meals purchased will eat in the student lounge area.
• Other food (provided by the family) for NCS may be eaten in the following designated areas:  student lounge area & judge refreshment/eating area.

Tournaments cannot happen without parents!  Thank you for your commitment!  We are grateful for you! Outlined here are the expectatations for parents regarding their children & judging.

Regarding CHILDREN:

• Read the Conduct Expectations link yourself and make sure your children have read and understand the expectations.
• Competitors must have an assigned chaperone.  If said chaperone is not a parent, PRIOR WRITTEN APPROVAL from the Tournament Director is required for your competitor to attend WSR.  Students without a parent-chaperone or appropriate approval may not be allowed to compete.
• Competitors with approval to compete with a non-parent chaperone must complete a Medical Release Waiver found at this link: https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/v/wsr2025/ The non-parent chapereone needs to have access to this document either digitally or physically for the entirety of the tournament. You will receive a link to download the waiver after it has been filled out. We suggest you download the document and email it to your chaperone.

Regarding JUDGING: 

• Every student must have a participating parent/adult judge present at the tournament. You must either be present with your student at WSR, or you must have another adult who can feasibly fulfill all of your judging responsibilities. (See above note on non-parent chaperones.)
• Parents are expected to show up to judge the rounds fo which they sign up to judge!  Those sign up numbers are used to help us determine when & where we need more community judges.  If you are signed up to judge, WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU.
• All Individual Event (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.
• 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 Distribution at least 30 minutes before each and every round to check and see if we need you to judge.

*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 and for 3 or more students competing in a family the maximum judge slots will be 20.*

Corrie Ten Boom tells a story in her book The Hiding Place about when she was young and asked her dad a question about a topic that was beyond her innocence and years. She recounted, 

"[My father] turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but, to my surprise, he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads, and set it on the floor. 

"Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?

"I stood up and tugged at it.  It was crammed with watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.

"It's too heavy, I said.

"Yes, he said, and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load.  It's the same way, Corrie, wth knowledge.  Some knowledge is too heavy for children.  When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you."

I Cor. 8:9 (NLT) "But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble."

At WSR, we understand that many speeches that are impactful and important *may* contain information or portray scenes that, while true, contain themes and/or words that are not appropriate for all ages and audiences. 

Examples of this include, but are not limited to: stories of torture or imprisonment (even Christian ones), stories involving topics like suicide, drugs, violence, or abuse (even if they are part of a Christian testimony), examples of modern day slavery/trafficking, or stories involving any kind of vulgar language. 

We are not trying to close every loophole in this short explanation, rather we are asking our competitors to err on the side of caution in a spirit of Christian love. With this in mind, if there is ANY REASONABLE POSSIBILITY that a speech may contain words, themes or scenes that may not be appropriate for every age and maturity level, the competitor is required to give a speech disclaimer before beginning their speech regardless of the age or number of peope in the room. 

The speech disclaimer is as follows: “This speech may contain content not appropriate for all audiences." 

If there appear to be any children in the room, please give them and their parents a moment to choose whether to exit before continuing.  

By signing up for Western Slope Rendezvous, families and judges consent to themselves, their competitors & other minors in attendance being photographed, videotaped, and/or audiotaped. They also consent to authorized tournament staff taking, using, disclosing, posting or publishing photographs or video recordings. Please understand that by giving such consent a photograph or video/audio recording of your child may be disseminated or disclosed to the general public or to television, radio and other news or broadcast media organizations who receive or have access to such publications, websites, or social media pages.

If such permission is not granted, a judge or parent needs to submit a written statement to that effect to the Tournament Director no later than January 26, 2026.