Welcome Coaches and Competitors,

The Golden Desert Speech and Debate League, and its coaches, would like to invite you to the annual Golden Desert Individual Events Invitational to be held Friday, November 17 & Saturday, November 18, 2023 at West Career & Technical Academy, which is located in Las Vegas NV, at 11945 W Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89135. West CTA's principal, Amy Dockter-Rozar, coach, Chris Rawlins, and President, Sabdy Cordon, are excited to serve as hosts for this year!

This is an NIETOC Qualifying Tournament in all main event IEs. The GDSDA has been hosting the tournament for over a decade and last year Oratory had quarterfinals bids, Info, USX, & IX had Semifinals bids, Duo had Finals bids, DI & HI had 1st-3rd bids, and POI had a 1st Place bid in our first year back from online competition. Both divisions, Domestic and International Extemp, are available and the topic areas will be posted prior to the tournament. Internet usage is allowed in Extemp prep, but devices should be turned off and put away upon leaving prep. This will be a paneled tournament, allowing students to double enter in both panels and Extemp competitors may compete in a second event during the same panel at their own risk.

The panels are as follows:

Panel A: Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Oratory, US Extemp

Panel B: Dramatic Interpretation, Informative Speaking, International Extemp, POI (Program Oral Interpretation)

We will be hosting three rounds of Panel A on Friday, night and three rounds of Panel B on Saturday morning. Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Final rounds will be held as needed on Saturday afternoon due to entry levels. There will be awards based on Friday and Saturday's results. All IE events will be offered as Open in NIETOC qualifying events.

Bids are gained at the following levels:

0-19 contestants = FIRST PLACE BID

20-34 contestants = FIRST, SECOND & THIRD PLACE BIDS

35-50 contestants = FINAL ROUND BIDS

51-70 contestants = SEMIFINAL ROUND BIDS

71-99 contestants = QUARTERFINAL ROUND BIDS

100 + contestants = OCTAFINAL ROUND BIDS

The important dates for this tournament are as follows:

Entries due: Wednesday, November 15th @ 9 PM

Fees Finalized: Wednesday, November 15th @ 9PM

Final Name Changes/Drops: Thursday, November 16th @ 4PM

Drops after the deadline: $10 per entry (we would rather have a substitution than a drop)

Uncovered judges fees: $20 per round *Teams are responsible for 1 judge per every 5 entries in IEs and MUST provide judges for the first out round.

There are several hotels in the area close by the school in the Downtown Summerlin area. If your school requires a non-gaming property and you would like assistance finding a good location, please contact us for assistance. Southwest, Frontier & Spirit Airlines often have the best deals for your Las Vegas travel needs and in a 24-7 town good food is always nearby and available. We love our judges and feed them well and the experience for all of our out of state friends is top notch! Please join us in Las Vegas for a top rated NIETOC qualifying tournament experience.

We look forward to having you and your team competing at the Golden Desert NIETOC Tournament. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact either GDSDA District Chair Roosje@nv.ccsd.net or co-Tournament Directors bersesm@nv.ccsd.net or eharris-yolanda@amplus.academy.

Julie Roos Shiela Berselli & Elsha Harris-Yolanda Chris Rawlins

GDSDA District Chair Tournament co-Directors Tournament Host