Dear Indiana colleagues,

You and your students are cordially invited to compete in the 44th annual Indiana Forensics Association (IFA) Individual Events Championship and the 15th annual IFA Debate Championship.  This year, our tournament is an in-person format with Individual Events (speech) competition on Saturday, February 21, 2026, and the Debate competition will offer IPDA-style debate on Sunday, February 22, 2026.  Both tournaments will take place on the Ball State University campus.

The State of Indiana has a distinguished history of intercollegiate forensic competition. In 1874, six colleges and universities (Asbury, Butler, Hanover, Indiana, Purdue, and Wabash) organized an annual oratory contest.  The winning student qualified to attend the Interstate Oratory Association’s national competition, which began the same year. That contest continues to this day, and our state has claimed 23 national championships.  Presently, the top two speakers in the varsity division of the Persuasive Speaking event at our state tournament qualify to represent the state of Indiana at the Interstate Oratory Association national tournament.  Therefore, every school this year may submit two entries in varsity Persuasive Speaking without incurring an entry fee.

For the 2026 Individual Events tournament, we will offer varsity and novice divisions in the eleven speech events sponsored by the National Forensic Association.  Additionally, we will offer one division of competition in two experimental events:  Interviewing will feature one round of mock interviews and one round of resume critique.  The other experimental event, Celebrity Eulogy, calls for students to prepare a five-minute eulogy for the celebrity of their choice, to be delivered with a manuscript.  In debate, competition will feature IPDA-style debate and a novice division will be held if there are sufficient entries.

With entry limitations and a community of helpful coaches from around the state, the IFA tournaments are an ideal setting for students and schools who may be new to the activity.  The tournaments are open to all students eligible under NFA guidelines regardless of major or if their school offers an organized team, and every school in attendance will receive a sweepstakes award.

In addition to the Individual Events and Debate tournaments, the IFA also sponsors a scholarly paper competition for student research in communication or a related discipline.  Submissions for this contest are due by February 14, 2026.  We will also hold our annual IFA meeting during the lunch hour on Saturday and all speech and debate coaches are invited to attend.  Additional information regarding tournament procedures, entries, deadlines, and rules can be found in the remainder of the invitation.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Greg or Spencer at the email addresses provided below.  We look forward to seeing you in February!

 

 

Gregory E. Moser, Esq.

Speech Tournament Director, Indiana Forensic Association

Assistant Director of Forensics, Butler University

 

Prof. Spencer Coile

President and Debate Tournament Director, Indiana Forensic Association

Director of the Speech Team, Ball State University

 

(vr24)