Welcome to the first annual online college speech and debate tournament hosted by the Illinois Communication and Theater Association (ICTA)!

FULL INVITE WILL BE POSTED BY DEC 2026-  See "Schedule" to the left.

As part of ICTA’s ongoing effort to engage more with the college speech and debate community, we are excited to offer what we hope will be an affordable and accessible weekend of online competition. Because the tournament is completely online, programs from Illinois and across the country can compete without the time and expense of travel.

The tournament will be held Friday, January 29, and Saturday, January 30, 2027, and will be hosted by Dana Trunell (Membership Chair) of Elgin Community College, Jeff Przbylo (Ex Director) of Harper College, Harry Bodell (President) of the College of Lake County, and the Illinois Communication and Theater Association.  Question can go to jprzybyl@harpercollege.edu

On Friday, we will offer synchronous rounds of IPDA (International Public Debate Association) debate. On Saturday, we will offer a full slate of individual events. Event information and a tentative schedule are posted on the tournament website. The schedule may be adjusted as we get closer to the tournament.

Tournament Format

The tournament will be held live and completely online. Registration will open as we get closer to the tournament.

Who Can Attend?

The tournament is open to two-year and four-year colleges and universities nationwide.

Each participating school must have at least one coach attending the tournament as a judge who is a current member in good standing of the Illinois Communication and Theater Association. Only one attending coach from your program needs to hold an ICTA membership.

Schools do not need to be located in Illinois to join ICTA or participate in the tournament.

An annual ICTA membership is $70.

Join ICTA:
https://illinoiscta.org/Membership

Entries and Judging

Schools may enter up to eight students per individual event.

Programs must provide one judge for every six entries.

Tournament Fees and Registration

Tournament entry fees will be announced as we get closer to the tournament.

Registration will take place through ForensicsTournament.net, and additional registration information, deadlines, tournament procedures, and other details will be posted as they become available.

Please check the Schedule link for our tentative tournament schedule.

We hope you'll join us for our first ICTA online college tournament. Our goal is to provide a competitive, welcoming, and accessible tournament experience for programs of all sizes while creating new opportunities for students and coaches from Illinois and beyond to connect with the ICTA community.

We look forward to seeing you online in January!