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9^th Annual Phyllis Schatz Invitational at Binghamton University

9/25/2026 – 9/27/2026

DIVISIONS: We will be hosting Novice, JV, and Open divisions and follow CEDA eligibility rules. We will use a 9-3-6-10 format using the national CEDA/NDT topic for the 2026-2027 season. We will allow swing teams to participate as needed and will allow mavericks to compete only after all other possibilities have been exhausted, no more than one per division. Both will be eligible for elimination rounds. Binghamton teams will be eligible to clear to elimination rounds. We will use a 30 point scale, allowing for tenth of a decimal place, and NO TIES between debaters in the same round. We will follow CEDA’s Council of Tournament’s directions for best practices unless otherwise stated within the invite. The tab room staff will be announced soon. All squads are required to bring or pay for three rounds of judging for every team entered for the first five teams, and four rounds for every team over five.

IN PERSON PARTICIPATION: We will be hosting our tournament predominately as an in person tournament. This means all times will be denoted in EST since that is the location of the tournament. However, we will allow for online entries from any program that would require a flight or is budgetarily and/or administratively unable to travel. We request that attendees be completely vaccinated, exercise caution when attending, and masking when necessary. Given the public speaking nature of the activity, the congregations that happen during lunch and breakfast, and so on we believe it is in the best interest and safety of everyone in attendance to be vaccinated and/or masked. We will be serving food as spread out as possible and will be encouraging people to eat outside. Masks are no longer required according to New York State and SUNY policy so we will not be requiring the use of masks.

DIVERSITY & SAFER SPACE POLICY: We will go out of our way to try and hire a diverse judge pool. We also have a zero-tolerance policy for racial, sexual, or any other form of harassment. This also includes harassment that might happen outside of the individual debate round via email or other digital forms of communication that extends beyond the “round” itself in the virtual space we will be hosting tin. Violators will be expelled from the tournament, but their judging commitment will still be owed.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Registration will happen on tabroom as normal, which is also where we will be releasing all the pairings and results.

$60 per person for each participant. Checks should be made out to “Binghamton University Speech & Debate Team.” Teams with small budgets should ask for a fee reduction/waiver depending on their needs. We will mail trophies to debate programs who compete online and who have nobody in attendance. Squads who enter more than five teams will be expected to provide four rounds of judging for each additional team instead of the typical three. This will help keep ensure we can keep the tournament expense of hired judging down.

Uncovered Team: $100 per uncovered round (this however cannot be waived as we need every available judge). We encourage schools to donate extra rounds if possible and/or list themselves as available for hire. Please note that this is only for regional entries into the pool. If you need hired judging please contact us ASAP.

We will be accepting registration up until the Wednesday (9/23/26) before the tournament at 8:59pm. Any changes after that time should be phoned in to 607-765-3659 and/or e-mailed to debate@binghamton.edu as they occur. Entries should include the names of debaters and which divisions, as well as a list of judges. We will do our best to accommodate late drops but reserve the right to charge as necessary to cover expenses that take place after Thursday (9/24/26).

Tournament Hotel: Holiday Inn Downtown.We secured a rate of $139 per night for either a King or 2 Queens. Rates are a little higher this year since apparently Binghamton is going for a few World Record Puzzle challenges this same weekend so people are coming from across the region to put together a huge puzzle in the downtown memorial arena. Please book your hotel, either with the Holiday Inn or elsewhere, early.

We can now easily take credit card payments! Pay here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/6910-speech-and-debate-phyllis-schatz-invitational-at-binghamton

SCHEDULE:

Fri, Sept 25, 2025

3:00pm Pairings for Rounds 1 & 2

4:00 – 6:00pm Round 1 (Pizza Dinner Available Between Rounds 1 & 2)

6:30 – 8:30pm Round 2 (Pizza Dinner Available Between Rounds 1 & 2)

Sat, Sept 26, 2025

7:45am Breakfast

8:00am Pairings for Rounds 3 (All)

8:30am – 10:30am Round 3

11:00am – 1:00pm Round 4 JV & Open, Novice Social / Teach In

1:00pm – 2:00pm Lunch

2:00pm Pairings for Round 5 (JV & Open) & Round 4 (Novice)

3:30pm – 4:30pm Round 5 (JV & Open) & Round 4 (Novice)

5:00pm Pairings for Round 6 (JV & Open) & Round 5 (Novice)

5:30pm – 7:30pm Round 6 (JV & Open) & Round 5 (Novice)

ASAP Bracket Released

Sun, Sep 27, 2025

7:30am Breakfast & Pairings Released

7:45am Flips Have Been Completed, Sides Are Set

8:15am – 10:15am Octo-Finals

10:30am – 11:30am Lunch & Awards

12:00pm – 2:00pm Quarter-Finals

2:30pm – 4:30pm Semi-Finals

5:00pm – 7:00pm Finals

If we have enough entries to justify doubles, we will run novice with 5 rounds and doubles during round 6 and then move the novice teach-in to happen during the first round on Sunday.

IN PERSON PARTICIPATION: We will be hosting our tournament predominately as an in person tournament. This means all times will be denoted in EST since that is the location of the tournament. However, we will allow for online entries from any program that would require a flight or is budgetarily and/or administratively unable to travel. We request that attendees be completely vaccinated, exercise caution when attending, and masking when necessary. Given the public speaking nature of the activity, the congregations that happen during lunch and breakfast, and so on we believe it is in the best interest and safety of everyone in attendance to be vaccinated and/or masked. We will be serving food as spread out as possible and will be encouraging people to eat outside. Masks are no longer required according to New York State and SUNY policy so we will not be requiring the use of masks.

DIVERSITY & SAFER SPACE POLICY: We will go out of our way to try and hire a diverse judge pool. We also have a zero-tolerance policy for racial, sexual, or any other form of harassment. This also includes harassment that might happen outside of the individual debate round via email or other digital forms of communication that extends beyond the “round” itself in the virtual space we will be hosting tin. Violators will be expelled from the tournament, but their judging commitment will still be owed.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Registration will happen on tabroom as normal, which is also where we will be releasing all the pairings and results.

$60 per person for each participant. Checks should be made out to “Binghamton University Speech & Debate Team.” Teams with small budgets should ask for a fee reduction/waiver depending on their needs. We will mail trophies to debate programs who compete online and who have nobody in attendance. Squads who enter more than five teams will be expected to provide four rounds of judging for each additional team instead of the typical three. This will help keep ensure we can keep the tournament expense of hired judging down.

Uncovered Team: $100 per uncovered round (this however cannot be waived as we need every available judge). We encourage schools to donate extra rounds if possible and/or list themselves as available for hire. Please note that this is only for regional entries into the pool. If you need hired judging please contact us ASAP.

We will be accepting registration up until the Wednesday (9/25/24) before the tournament at 8:59pm. Any changes after that time should be phoned in to 607-765-3659 and/or e-mailed to debate@binghamton.edu as they occur. Entries should include the names of debaters and which divisions, as well as a list of judges. We will do our best to accommodate late drops but reserve the right to charge as necessary to cover expenses that take place after Thursday (9/26/24).

We can easily accept credit card payments now! To do so please pay at https://www.bconnectalumni.binghamton.edu/s/1796/interior.aspx?pgid=3640

SCHEDULE:

Thurs, Sept 25, 2025

7:00am Breakfast

7:30am – 9:30am RR Round 1 (BYE Assigned to Furthest Online West Coast Team)

10:00am – 12:00pm RR Round 2

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch

1:00pm – 3:00pm RR Round 3

3:30pm – 5:30pm RR Round 4

5:30pm – 6:30pm Dinner

6:30pm – 8:30pm RR Round 5

Fri, Sept 26, 2025

8:00am RR Breakfast & Awards

9:30am – 11:30am RR Finals

3:00pm Pairings for Rounds 1 & 2

4:00 – 6:00pm Round 1 (Pizza Dinner Available Between Rounds 1 & 2)

6:30 – 8:30pm Round 2 (Pizza Dinner Available Between Rounds 1 & 2)

Sat, Sept 27, 2025

8:00amBreakfast & Pairings for Rounds 3

8:45am – 10:45amRound 3

11:00 Pairings for Round 4

11:45 Am – 1:45pm Round 4

1:30pm – 2:30pmLunch

2:30pm Pairings for Round 5

3:15pm – 5:15pmRound 5

5:30pmPairings for Round 6 (JV & Open) & Doubles (Novice)

6:00pm – 8:00pmRound 6 (JV & Open) & Doubles (Novice) + Teach In

ASAPBracket Released

Sun, Sep 28, 2025

7:00am Breakfast & Pairings Released

8:00am – 10:00am Octo-Finals

10:30am – 11:30am Lunch & Awards

12:00pm – 2:00pm Quarter-Finals

2:30pm – 4:30pm Semi-Finals

5:00pm – 7:00pm Finals