Honor Academy is the premier speech and debate academy because of our expert faculty, curriculum design, and track record of success.
Students at Honor Academy participate in major speech and debate tournaments throughout the year. Tournament participation makes students more confident in their speech abilities and solidifies their argumentative skills. They compete with the name Honor Academy or their full time school name as their affiliated school, depending on tournament requirements. Please review the following information and complete the form below if you are interested in participation at an upcoming tournament.
Frequently Asked Questions
Eligibility
Most tournaments offer Middle School, Novice, and Varsity divisions. During speech and debate classes, we assess each student to determine which division they will be eligible to take part in prior to the tournament date. You may sign up for a tournament before the assessment is complete to ensure an opportunity to participate, and Honor Academy will issue a refund if we decide the student should switch to a different division or skip that particular tournament. Please contact us for more information about eligibility.
Schedules
All schedules are tentative because tournaments often run behind schedule.
For one-day tournaments, all rounds are mandatory. Missing one round is considered a forfeit. After 4-5 preliminary rounds, rankings are announced based on the number of wins and speaker points.
Two or three day tournaments usually take place Sat–Sun, Sat–Mon, or Fri–Sun. These tournaments have preliminary rounds the first day and possibly the second day morning, making it 1.5 day commitment, and elimination rounds on the second or third days, making participation performance based.
Students may also have debate events on one day and speech events on a different day.
Registration Process
Every tournament has its own policies for managing registration. Some are simple, and others may require multiple documents. Tournaments may issue penalty fees for late requests. Honor Academy does not have control over tournament policies, and are required to follow them. Please review forms closely.
ONLINE Tournaments
Students can also compete in tournaments from home using a personal device. Most online competitions use a platform called NSDA Campus, developed by the National Speech and Debate Association. Students and judges have access to the video platform by logging in to tabroom.com (unless otherwise specified).
In-Person Tournaments
For in-person tournaments, please drop off your child 1 hour prior to the first round on each tournament day. If available, refer to the schedule. Parents do not need to stay with their student unless otherwise requested. We distribute additional tournament information via email prior to the event, with information about parking, meeting sites, and local restaurants.
Please review the forms closely and fill them out.
2023 Chuck Ballingall Memorial Debate Invitational (Sep 23-24)
Closed
2023 Jack Howe Speech and Debate Tournament (Sep 30-Oct 1)
Closed
2023 Georgetown (Oct 6-7) ONLINE
Only Upon Request
Nationals bid for Public Forum.
2023 CSUF Fall (Oct 14-15) ONLINE
Middle School/Novice/Varsity
Debate and Speech (IE)
possibly nationals bid for Open Speech divisions and open Public Forum
Form will be available with approximate fee range. The host has not posed the fee structure yet.
2023 Bargain Belt (Oct 21-22) In Person
Both speech and debate divisions in novice and open.
possibly nationals bid for Open Speech divisions
Please register through the following link. We will start the registration process once you complete the form.
https://form.jotform.com/232566284074157
John Lewis Invitational (Nov 17-19) ONLINE
Novice/Varsity
Debate and Speech (IE)
TOC Digital Series 1 (Dec 1-3) ONLINE
Both speech and debate divisions with nationals bids
UCLA Invitational (Dec 2-3) ONLINE
IEs and Debates in Novice and Open
La Reina (Dec 9-10)
TBA
La Costa Canyon (Dec 2-3 -to be confirmed) In Person
Varsity ONLY
Nationals bid for PF and LD.
College Prep LD (Mid of Dec -to be confirmed) Tournament
LD Only. They might have both in person (in NorCal) and online divisions.
TOC Nationals bid for Varsity LD In Person
Peninsula Invitational (Jan 13-15, 2024) In Person
Both speech and debate divisions. Progressive style.
Nationals bids
Wolfpack (Feb 10-12) In Person
Claremont High School
Novice / Open
both speech and debate
possibly nationals bid for Open Speech divisions
Stanford Invitational (Feb 10-12) ONLINE
Middle School/Novice/Open in both speech and debate divisions
Nationals bids
Cal Invitational (Feb 17-19) In Person at UC Berkeley
Both speech and debate divisions with nationals bids
High School students only
TOC Digital Series 2 (Feb 23-25) ONLINE
Both speech and debate divisions with nationals bids
Marlborough MS/Novice Invitational (March, 2024) In Person
PF and LD only.
Middle school or first year debaters only
In person in Los Angeles
TOC Digital Series 3 (Mar 8-10) ONLINE
Both speech and debate divisions with nationals bids
Ryan Mills (Mar 16-17) ONLINE
Novice/Open in both speech and debate
Philhistorian (Mar 23-24) ONLINE
Elementary/Middle School/HS Novice/Open in both speech and debate divisions
NSDA District Tournament (March 2024) In Person(maybe)
High School Students under their full time high school name only.
All the district tournaments happen in your local area.
An annual tournament to qualifier for the NSDA Nationals in June.
Wolfcub/Big Wave (April 13-to be confirmed, 2024) In Person
both speech and debate divisions
Tournament of Champions (April 20-22) In Person
Nationals at University of Kentucky
Qualified students only
Dempsey Cronin (April or May) ONLINE (Maybe)
Elementary/Middle School/HS Novice/Open in both speech and debate divisions
E Championship (May, 2024)
Online tournament at nationals level/size
Qualifications:
Middle Schoolers: Honor Academy recommendations.
High Schoolers: Has to qualify through previous bid tournaments or win at state level tournaments.
Middle School CHSSA State Championship (May 2024)
Honor Academy may not go if their schedule is same as last year Thursday through Sunday.
NSDA Nationals
High School students qualified through NSDA district tournaments may attend under their full time high school name.