Dear Coach and Team,        

The Platte County High School Speech and Debate Team would like to invite you to the Platte County Talking Pirate Novice Tournament. The tournament will be held February 20-21, 2026. Although this tournament will be open to 1st and 2nd year Novices, please note that we have limited space available, resulting in decreased entries.

Due to construction and very limited rooms, we will only host the following events: Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate,Open Extemp, Original Oratory, Humorous Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry Reading, Prose Reading, Informative Speaking, Storytelling, Live Radio Speaking, and Student Congress.

We ask that each school provide at least one judge throughout the tournament.  We will always take more!  We also welcome any 3rd or 4th year varsity member with 250 NSDA points who is not competing this weekend. Please enter all your judges in Speechwire or have your judges fill out the Talking Pirates Judge Form at https://tinyurl.com/TalkingPiratesJudgeSignUp.

Entry fees are $9 per event. All entries are due by 3:00 p.m. Friday, February 13, 2026, in Speechwire. Teams will be responsible for any drops after Thursday,  February 19, 5pm.

Due to construction, each school shall be guaranteed one entry in each competitive event offered. All other entries will go to the waitlist.  Extra entries will be granted on a basis of space and judge availability beginning Monday, February 16. 

Direct any questions to Trisch Vessar (816) 858-2822 (school), (660)676-9699 (cell), or vessar.trisch@pcr3schools.org.

Full tournament invite can be found here.

Hope to see you in February!

Trisch Vessar, Head Speech & Debate Coach 

April Bobowski, Assistant Speech & Debate Coach

Staley will be the location of the Varsity tournament during this weekend.  Please contact Katie Waterman at katie.waterman@nkcschools.org for information.