CUPID'S CLASH

Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026

Emery High School

Invitation: We are pleased to invite you to Cupid's Clash, hosted by Emery High School on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.

Registration is now open.

CUSDC 5: The event is part 5 of the Central Utah Speech & Debate Circuit. However, everyone is invited to attend!

Schedule: Alternating rounds of speech and debate will begin at 8 a.m. continuing until awards at 6:45 p.m. More information will become available as the tournament gets closer.

Contact: For questions contact tournament host katherined@emeryschools.orgor Acting CUSDC Chair von.christiansen@beaver.k12.ut.us

Cupid’s Clash Events

For our Valentine’s Tournament, we will be hosting a few “extra” events in honor of this holiday. Whether you love the holiday or hate it, there is an event for everyone!

Also, due to the proximity to region competitions, we will host PF, LD, and Congress using March topics and Bills in order to be prepared for Region and State. This will likely be the first tournament where students will be able to practice these new topics. Policy will continue to use the Arctic topic.

Special events are as follows(be advised that events with fewer than 5 entries may be dropped the Wednesday before the tournament in order to make sure we are efficiently utilizing rooms):

Breakup Brawl (spar)
Debaters will debate whether or not their friends should break up after being given prompts to what has happened in the "relationship" Aff - wants to stay together, Neg - wants to break up. 1 judge will decide whose argument was more convincing, debaters may dress up as a “persona” of their choice for this debate, but it is not required, this is not character spar, but if you want to act like a frat boy, go for it!

Impromptu Date
Speakers will be given a character a date idea, and will convince the character to go on a date with them to their prompted place

Topics:
People Round 1: Famous Figures
People Round 2: Book Characters
People Round 3: Cartoon Characters

Lover's Sonnet
Speakers will present a lover's sonnet (poem) in Iambic Pentameter, which the judge will rank based on delivery, and writing skills.

Ex’s Nightmare
Speakers will give a 5-7 minute presentation on why their ex is the worst. Visual aids are encouraged and costumes are allowed, HOWEVER your ex should remain nameless(with no identifying information), purely their actions should convince your audience that they are the worst.

Combined Extemp:
Round 1: Hearthrob
Speakers will be given 30 minutes to research a "heartthrob" and write a speech on whether or not they should actually be considered a "heartthrob"
Round 2: Celebrity Breakup
Speakers will be given 30 minutes to research a celebrity breakup and write a speech on whether or not they should have stayed together
Round 3: Worst Rom-Com

Interps
Use your own interp/duo/POI to prepare for state

Promposal(panhandling) -
Speakers will prepare a 5-7 minute pitch as to why they will make the best prom date and/or valentine, the winner of this speech will be given a box of chocolates. Props, costumes, theme music, etc. are encouraged, but not required.

Debate:

The Congress Docket will be January Bills first, then the Bill to Grant Citizenship to Dreamers(Nov.), Bill to shelter Homeless Veterans(Dec.), and Bill to Post Warnings at Suppliers of Alcoholic Drinks....(Nov.).

LD topic:Resolved: The United States military ought to abide by the principle of non-intervention.

PF topic: Resolved: The United States federal government should ban corporate acquisition of single-family residences.

Policy topic: Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly increase its exploration and/or development of the Arctic.

Concessions will not be provided. Judges and Coaches will be provided lunch in Tab, but please plan for your teams. There are 2 local pizza places and a gas station nearby that does lunch as well.

Extras:

We are trying to set up a photo booth and decorations in our Valentine’s theme. We are also working on selling “Crush” sodas that you can have anonymously delivered to your “debate crush.” I will update this further when the tournament is closer.

We hope to see you all there!