Welcome to the Team Pittsburgh Winter Invitational!
January 30, 2021

For those of you in western Pennsylvania, you know that this is the weekend that we would normally be trekking up or down to Mercer for their long running tournament (and their homemade vegetable soup)! For many reasons, that is not going to happen this year.  Instead, a few of the coaches in the Pittsburgh area, with the support of our local NSDA district, have decided to sponsor a tournament this weekend, following some of the traditions of the Mercer Tournament.

And now, the particulars!

This is a HYBRID tournament!
Async rounds will be held on Thursday and Friday January 28 and 29.
Live rounds will be held on Saturday January 30.

Async events are DI, HI, Informative and POI.
Sync events will be Congress, Parli, PF, LD, Commentary, Impromptu, International Extemp, Domestic Extemp, Oratory, Duo, Prose and Poetry

Awards and Entry Fees
Because this is a substitute tournament and not sponsored by any one school, the fees are intended to cover the cost of the NSDA Campus Rooms.  If any money remains at the end of the tournament, the funds will be donated to one of the local food banks.

Entry fees - $3.00/person ($6.00 for Duo, PF, Parli)

Awards will be issued in the form of certificates and/or medals for the top finishers in all events; the number of awards determined by the number of entries.

Judge requirements
Speech - 1 judge for 5 entries
Debate - 1 judge for 2 entries in separate debate events
Congress - 1 judge for 5 entries

All judges MUST be linked to Tabroom.com in order to judge

Deadlines
ALL entries need to be registered by 5:00 PM on Wednesday January 27
Async entries must have video links in place by 5:00 PM on Wednesday January 27 - audits are not guaranteed, so be careful when you post!
Async judges are due by 5:00 PM on Wednesday
Sync judges are due by noon on Friday

Tournament schedule - subject to change - check here often for updates!
Thursday - - async rounds released - 7:00 AM (or earlier!)
Friday - async rounds due - 10:00 PM
Saturday - registration 7:15 - 7:45 AM
Opening assembly - 8:00 AM (debate) and 8:15 (speech and congress)
Round 1 - all events -  immediately after the opening assemblies, approximately 8:15 (debate) and 8:30 (speech and congress)
Rounds 1 through 3 continue by category until lunch (debate may add a 4th round if time and entries permit)
Final rounds in some events; 4th rounds in others - 12:30+ PM
Awards - 2:45 PM

Please check the website for the social distancing and masking protocol that all teams are expected to follow, no matter what their individual state rules might dictate!  Basically, people in the same room MUST be masked!  Check the details!
And check the website for pages that might provide you with some useful information for you, your judges, and your students!