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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 13 & Saturday, November 14, 2026 at Las Vegas HS, which is located in Las Vegas, NV, at 6500 E Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89142. 

This is an NIETOC and TOC Qualifying Tournament in all main event IEs. The GDSDA has been hosting the tournament for over a decade and last year USX had a Quarterfinals bis, Oratory, IX, and Info had Semifinals bids, Duo, DI, and HI had Finals bids, POI had 1st-3rd Place bids. Both divisions, US 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, International Extemp

Panel B: Dramatic Interpretation, Informative Speaking, US 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 for NIETOC:

5-10 contestants = FIRST PLACE BID                            Max Bids=1
11-20 contestants = TOP 3 BID                                 Max Bids=3
21-50 contestants = FINAL ROUND BIDS                         Max Bids=8
51-60 contestants = SEMIFINAL (or NEXT-IN/HONORS FINAL) ROUND BIDS     Max Bids=16
61-70 contestants = EXTENDED SEMIFINALS (or MERIT FINAL) ROUND BIDS     Max Bids=20
71-100 contestants = QUARTERFINAL (or CONSOLATION FINAL) ROUND BIDS     Max Bids=26
101 + contestants = OCTAFINAL ROUND BIDS                     Max Bids=50

And at these levels for TOC:

Champion (1 Bid) - Minimum 8 Entries / 3 Schools / 3 Prelims AND Finals
Top 3 (Up to 3 Bids) - Minimum 16 Entries / 4 Schools / 3 Prelims AND Finals
Finals (Up to 6 Bids) - Minimum 30 Entries / 5 Schools / 3 Prelims AND Semifinals + Finals

--As we do not hold 4 Prelims rounds, these bids are not possible:
Semifinals (Up to 12 Bids) - Minimum 60 Entries / 10 Schools / 4 Prelims AND Quarterfinals Onward
Quarterfinals (Up to 24 Bids) - Minimum of 120 Entries / 10 Schools / 4 Prelims AND Octofinals Onward

The important dates for this tournament are as follows:

Entries due: Wednesday, November 11th @ 9 PM

Fees Finalized: Wednesday, November 11th @ 9PM

Final Name Changes/Drops: Thursday, November 12th @ 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 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.

Julie Roos 

GDSDA District Chair