Dear Colleagues, 

On behalf of the Alta High School Forensics Program, we cordially invite you to attend the 27th annual Silver and Black Invitational Tournament to be held at our beautiful facility on Thursday December 3, Friday December 4, and Saturday, December 5, 2015.  The Alta team promises to continue our tradition of providing a forum for top-notch competition, friendly hospitality, and efficient tournament administration. Entries will open on  September 15, 2015.

We are a National Tournament of Champions qualifier at quarterfinals in policy debate, quarterfinals in L-D debate, and quarterfinals in public forum debate for 2015-2016.  Among TOC qualifying tournaments, you will find that the Silver and Black Invitational is one of the most affordable in which to participate.  As a Delta Airlines western hub and with new routes established on Alaskan Airlines, it is very easy to find low-cost tickets.  Hotels typically average $80-99/night.  Salt Lake City is beautiful in December and boasts "the best snow in the US."  Please don't forget your festive winter attire because it often snows during Silver and Black.

Our tournament entry fees are very reasonable at only $35 per Lincoln-Douglas debater, $60 per policy or public forum team, and a $45.00 school fee.  These fees allow us to hire experienced tournament judges who will provide an invaluable service for competitors.

The Silver and Black Invitational draws many competitive teams from all over the Pacific Coast, Mountain region, Southwest, and several large teams from the Midwest and East Coast. Last year, 412 debaters from 13 states attended, and with our continued commitment to draw the very best from all across the country, we hope that this year's Silver and Black Invitational proves to be one of the highlights of your TOC travel schedule. 

In-state entries must be covered by qualified judges. Policy and LD judges are expected to have already completed a judging philosophy and posted it on the judge philsophies wiki no later than November 1, 2015. As a courtesy to out-of-state schools that will not be able to cover all of their entries, we will arrange judging services on a case-by-case basis.  Please contact Carol Shackelford directly if you need to arrange for a hired judge or are a judge who wishes to be hired, no later than October 31st. 

Because the tournament has reached capacity well before the entry deadline in the past and to provide for more diverse competition, we will be instituting entry limits of three PF teams, LD debaters, and three policy teams per school.  Registration will close early if the tournament reaches capacity before the deadline!  If there is any additional space after the registration deadline, we will admit applicants from the waitlist until the tournament reaches capacity. 

The tournament staff looks forward to hosting a well-run tournament which will draw many competitive teams from around the nation.

Sincerely,

Tanya Roundy & Carol Shackelford

Tournament Directors and Host

drmajnke@gmail.com 

shackelford.carol@gmail.com