Pacific Meets the Delta Swing

Invitational Forensics Tournament November 6-8, 2026

Mustang Invitational Tournament

November 6, 2026

Hosted on San Joaquin Delta College campus

Pat Kennedy & Paul Winters Invitational

LD/NPDA/IE Tournament November 6-8, 2026
Hosted on University of the Pacific campus

Dear Colleagues,

The Speech and Debate teams of the University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta College are pleased to invite you and your forensics squad to attend the Pacific Meets the Delta invitational speech & debate tournaments.The Mustang Invitational will be held IN-PERSON (Nov. 7, 2026) while the Paul Winters & Pat Kennedy Invitational will be hosted IN-PERSON (Nov. 6-Nov. 8) on University of the Pacific’s campus.

San Joaquin Delta College’s Mustang Invitational will feature two preliminary rounds of competition in Novice and Open divisions of all eleven AFA/Phi Rho Pi individual events. Events with seven or more competitors will advance to a final round. All entries are due no later than Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026 by 11:00 PM PST.

The University of the Pacific’s Pat Kennedy & Paul Winters Invitational is a full-service tournament featuring NPDA Debate, NFA LD Debate, IPDA Debate, and Individual events. NFA LD Debate runs on Friday evening through Saturday. NPDA Debate runs Saturday and Sunday and conflicts with IEs which will run concurrently with debate rounds on Sunday. Two preliminary rounds of competition in Novice and Open divisions of all eleven AFA/Phi Rho Pi individual events will be offered, advancing to semifinals (as appropriate) or finals in each event. IPDA will run concurrently with IE rounds on Sunday and will advance to a festival style elimination round. Five preliminary rounds of Novice and Open divisions of NPDA Parliamentary and NFA LD debate will advance to appropriate elimination rounds.

All entries for the Pat Kennedy & Paul Winters are due Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026 by 11:00 PM PST. Entries will be taken electronically at speechwire.com. Changes and drops can be made but additions and/or replacements must occur on a case-by-case basis. If you have never used this method for submitting tournament entries, please email either myself (sfarias@pacific.edu) or Ben Stewart (support@speechwire.com). The forensics teams from the University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta College Colleges look forward to hosting you and your students November 6-8, 2026. We will be creating separate tournament documents on google that will contain information, FAQ, best practices documents, etc. If there is anything we can do, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Dr. Steve Kalani Farias

Tournament Director and Dir. of Forensics University of the Pacific

(209) 946-3050 or (209) 471-6470 (cell)

sfarias@pacific.edu

Professor Joey Barrows

Tournament Director and Dir. of Forensics San Joaquin Delta College

(209) 629-0304 (cell)

j.barrows2011@gmail.com

NFA LD Debate FRIDAY, Nov. 6, ‘26

9:00-10:00 AM Registration

10:00-11:00 AM LD Round 1A

11:00-12:00 PM LD Round 1B

12:00-1:00 PM LUNCH

1:15-2:15 PM LD Round 2

2:30-3:30 PM LD Round 3

3:45-4:45 PM LD Round 4

5:00-6:00 PM LD Round 5

12:15 PM LD ELIM 1

3:00 PM LD ELIM 2

6:00 PM LD ELIM 3

7:15 PM LD ELIM 4

(ELIMINATION ROUNDS WILL HAPPEN AS NECESSARY AND CONCURRENTLY WITH NPDA ROUNDS WHEN POSSIBLE)

7:15-8:00 Registration

8:00 AM Topic for Rounds 1 & 2 (both rounds will use the same topic)

8:40 AM NPDA Round 1

9:40 AM NPDA Round 2

10:45 Topic Round 3

11:10 AM NPDA Round 3

12:15-1:15 PM LUNCH
1:30 PM Topic Round 4

1:55 PM NPDA Round 4

4:15 PM Topic Round 5

4:40 PM NPDA Round 5

8:30 AM Topic Announce 8:55 AM NPDA ELIM 1

10:15 AM Topic Announce 10:40 AM NPDA ELIM 2

1:00 PM Topic Announce 1:26 PM NPDA ELIM 3

2:45 PM Topic Announce 3:10 PM NPDA ELIM 4

4:30 PM Topic Announce 4:55 PM NPDA ELIM 5

(ELIMINATIONA ROUNDS WILL HAPPEN AS NECESSARY AND CONCURRENTLY WITH LD ELIMS WHEN POSSIBLE)

7:15-8:00 Registration

8:00 AM Extemp Prep

8:30 AM Pattern A1

9:45 AM Pattern B1

11:00 AM Extemp Prep

11:30 AM Pattern A2

12:30-1:30- Lunch

1:30 PM Pattern B2

2:30 PM Extemp Prep

3:00 PM Finals Pattern A & All Semifinals

4:15 PM Finals Pattern B

8:00 AM IPDA Prep

8:30 AM IPDA R1

9:15 AM IPDA Prep

9:45 AM IPDA R2

10:30 AM IPDA Prep

11:00 AM IPDA R3

11:45-12:45 PM LUNCH

1:00 PM IPDA Prep

1:30 PM IPDA R4

2:15 PM IPDA Prep Bronze

2:45 PM IPDA Bronze

3:45 PM IPDA Prep Gold/Silver

4:15 PM IPDA Gold/Silver

7:00-8:00 AM Registration (Locke Lounge)

8:00 AM Extemp Prep Start

8:30 AM Pattern A Round 1

9:45 AM Pattern B Round 1

10:45 AM Extemp Prep Start

11:15 AM Pattern A Round 2

1:15 PM Pattern B Round 2 2:15 PM Extemp Prep

Awards ASAP

Pattern A – Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative Speaking, After Dinner Speaking, Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation.

Pattern B – Impromptu Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Communication Analysis, Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, and Programmed Oral Interpretation.

University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta College Nov.6-Nov.2, 2026

Tournament Rules – AFA, NFA, NPDA, & IPDA regulations will govern their respective divisions, unless specified elsewhere in this invitation. Hybrid teams and three person teams may compete (although only two debaters may speak in a given round). Only NFA L/D debaters may compete without a partner.

Competitor Eligibility - Any undergraduate in a two-year or four-year college or university carrying 6 or more units is eligible. No person who has competed for 10 or more semesters or has competed at a collegiate national tournament in 5 different years may compete. UOP and San Joaquin Delta College students may participate but will not accrue sweepstakes points at their individual tournaments.

Both tournaments will exclusively use Speechwire.com. Entries must be completed by the following deadlines: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026 by 11:00 PM PST FOR BOTH PAT KENNEDY/PAUL WINTERS & MUSTANG. ALL Fees (judging and entry) will accrue as of Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026 at 2:00 PM. Both tournament directors reserve the right to refuse adds, name changes, and/or assess nuisance fees after this date and time.

• If your student is competing in _______ event, they may also compete in the following events:
  • Friday NFA LD Debate: NPDA Debate, Speech events on Sunday OR IPDA Debate
  • Saturday Mustang Speech: Speech events on Sunday OR IPDA Debate
  • Saturday NPDA Debate: NFA LD Debate &/OR ONE Speech event on Sunday per pattern (If you break in NPDA we will require you to drop IPDA if you are entered)
  • Sunday Speech: NFA LD Debate & NPDA Debate (ONE Speech event per pattern)
  • Sunday IPDA: NFA LD Debate OR Mustang Speech
• Students may CONDTIONALLY enter in NFA-LD, NPDA, & multiple events per pattern of Speech/IPDA however if the cross entered student breaks in NPDA, they will be dropped from events in Speech/IPDA due to scheduling conflicts.
• Students may CONDITIONALLY enter NFA-LD & the Mustang Speech tournament however if the cross entered student breaks in NFA-LD, they may be dropped from the Mustang
• Students may enter in no more than 3 events per pattern of Speech at both the Mustang & Pacific tournament

IE ENTRY CHANGES AFTER POSTINGS HAVE BEEN MADE: We all make mistakes.

However, if you do not catch the mistake BEFORE 8 pm on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, the changes ARE NOT GUARANTEED. It only creates errors and delays the tournament.

Students MAY NOT enter more than THREE events per pattern. It is the sole responsibility of competitors to ensure they arrive to each round on time. Failure to do so will result in a no-show score for that round. The following events will be offered in Novice and Open division:

Pattern A – Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative Speaking, After Dinner Speaking, Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation.

Pattern B – Impromptu Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Communication Analysis, Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, and Programmed Oral Interpretation.

Eligibility Rules - Open Division is available to all eligible students, regardless of experience.

Students are novices in an individual event area (limited preparation, interpretation, and public address) when:

1. they are in their first year (defined as two semesters) of collegiate individual event competition in the event area and
2. have not placed third or higher in a similar event two or more times in any division.
3. have limited high school experience.

Directors should use discretion regarding appropriate division. Novice division student whose success at the Mustang Invitational causes them to meet Opendivision standards do not lose their novice eligibility for the Paul Winters Invitational.

Collapsing Divisions – Every effort will be made to protect novice competitors. However, if there are fewer than seven (7) entries in an event, both divisions may collapse to create a competitive division. If this occurs, top novices will be recognized at the Awards Ceremony. We will do our best to protect the novice divisions as much as possible.

Criteria for Elimination Round - Any event with less than 7 contestants will not have a final round (we will attempt provide three judges however, it may be as a third preliminary round or it may be as an extra judge in one of the two preliminary rounds). For events with 7 to 29 competitors competing in all preliminary rounds, a final round will be held. In events where more than 30 students compete in all preliminary rounds, semifinals will be offered. This rule is NOT applied to the Mustang Invitational. Events that break to an elimination round at the Mustang Invitational will go directly to finals.

Advancement to Elimination Rounds – No more than half of the field will be advanced to finals. Students will be rank ordered first by lowest cumulative rankings, then by the highest reciprocal score (a.k.a. decimal conversion) and finally by the highest cumulative ratings. In larger events, preference will be given to clean breaks versus larger numbers in elims.

Placement/Advancement in Elimination Rounds - Students will be rank ordered first by lowest cumulative rankings, then by judge’s preference, followed by the highest reciprocal score (a.k.a. decimal conversion) and finally by the highest cumulative ratings.

Topic – The United States Federal government should substantially increase its public ownership of one or more of the following industries: electric utilities, health insurance, arms manufacturing, pharmaceuticals.

RULES: Complete rules can be found on the NFA webpage (https://nationalforensicassociation.org/competition/#debate).

Disclosure - Please help us keep on schedule. Following the return of the ballot, critics may disclose as much information as they see fit. Delays caused by coaches/judges may, at the tournament director’s discretion, result in penalties to that school’s teams including removal from the tournament.

Philosophies & Strikes: When possible, strikes will be allotted but it will be determined based on the size of the judge pool and not necessarily guaranteed. Judging Philosophies need to be submitted to sfarias@pacific.edu no later than Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2026 by 11:00 PM PST (Links will suffice in the email if you cannot copy and paste). Schools not turning in philosophies by that time will not be allowed to enter strikes. Strikes for OPEN DIVISION TEAMS ONLY will be due no later than Friday, Novober 4, 2026 by 8:00 AM. Strikes will be entered electronically. Philosophies should not be entered with the conflicts/availability information.

Preliminary Rounds - The computer will randomly match Round 1& 2. Rounds 3, 4 and 5 will be paired high-low within win-loss brackets based upon the results of all previous rounds. Lag powering may be employed, if necessary, to keep the tournament on schedule. If the diversity of schools in the division require adjustments, the tournament will prioritize pairing students still in contention to break over students who have already broke or are unable to break to elimination rounds.

Elimination Rounds - Seeding in elimination rounds will be based first upon wins, followed by opposition record, then by adjusted speaker points (dropping the low), then total speaker points,  and finally judge variance (Z-Score). In elimination rounds, brackets will NOT be broken (as per NFA practice). A partial elimination round will be held, as necessary.

Forfeit Rule – Debaters will be forfeited if they fail to arrive at their competition room more than 10 minutes after the round was scheduled to start.

STRUCTURE: Five preliminary rounds of parliamentary debate will be offered followed by necessary elimination rounds in all divisions. Competition will be administered according to the NPDA rules of Judging and Debating. Rounds 1 & 2 will use the exact same topic and students will prepare for both simultaneously. Topics for round 4 & 5 will be paired using similar actors, actions, and wordings for the topic in order to attempt to balance side biases. Round 3 will be an open topic different from Rounds 1 & 2, Rounds 4 & 5. We will ensure that teams debate both sides of the paired rounds, byes notwithstanding.

DIVISIONS: Provided that there are at least 12 entrants per division, Novice, Junior and Senior divisions will be offered. Division rules will follow NPDA guidelines. Eligibility is determined based upon the most experienced partner. For collegiate eligibility:

To be eligible for Novice: The student should have no more than two semesters of high school debate experience. The student should be in the first two semesters of collegiate debate. Once the student has won six elimination rounds (including byes), they are no longer eligible for the Novice division.

To be eligible in Junior: The student should be in the first four semesters of intercollegiate debate. Once the student has won six elimination rounds (including byes) in Junior or Open, they are no longer eligible for the Junior division.

Eligibility violations will result in the removal of the team from the tournament and forfeit wins awarded to any opponents in rounds taking place prior to the removal of the team. In the event of conflict, the resolution AS ANNOUNCED takes precedence over anything posted electronically.

Topic Areas: At this year’s NPDA tournament, there will NOT be a topic area from which all potential resolutions will be crafted.

Philosophies & Strikes: When possible, strikes will be allotted but it will be determined based on the size of the judge pool and not necessarily guaranteed. Judging Philosophies need to be submitted to sfarias@pacific.edu no later than Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2024 (Links will suffice in the email if you cannot copy and paste). Schools not turning in philosophies by that time will not be allowed to enter strikes. Strikes for OPEN DIVISION TEAMS ONLY will be due no later than Friday, November 4, at 9:00 pm. Strikes will be entered electronically. Philosophies should not be entered with the conflicts/availability information.

Disclosure - Please help us keep on schedule. Following the return of the ELECTRONIC ballot, critics may disclose as much information as they see fit. Delays attributed to coach/judges may, at the tournament director’s discretion, result in penalties to that school’s teams including removal from the tournament.

Preliminary Rounds – Power-matching for all preliminary rounds will be high-low in win-loss brackets. The computer will randomly match Rounds 1 and 2 which will debate THE SAME TOPIC BACK TO BACK. Rounds 3 through 5 will be power-matched (high-low within win-loss brackets) based upon the results of all previous rounds. The tournament, in extreme cases, reserves the right to lag power.

Elimination Rounds - Advancement to and seeding in elimination rounds will be first based upon wins, followed opposition record, next adjusted speaker points (drop low), then total speaker points, and finally by judge variance. In elimination rounds, brackets WILL be broken. Partial elimination rounds will be held, as necessary. All winning records shall advance to elimination rounds.

PREPARATION AND TRANSIT TIME - PREP TIME IS A TOTAL OF 45 MINUTES FOR DUAL PREP OF ROUND 1 & 2, AND 25 MINUTES FOR ROUNDS 3-5! This timing schedule includes potential issues not being able to locate buildings, walking, and any other issues. More guidelines are listed below about issues with technology. It is the responsibility of each team to arrive in the room on-time.

PENALTIES FOR LATENESS – At the expiration of preparation time, the judge will begin a timer. The team(s) who is/are not present will have the total of that time deducted from the speaking time of their first speech. If the late team(s) is/are not present by the expiration of their first speech’s total time, they will receive a forfeit with zero speaker points. If neither team is present by 8:00 after prep time has expired, both shall be forfeited and both teams shall receive 0 speaker points.

Refusal by a judge to do this will result in the removal of the judge from the judging pool and an uncovered judge fee will be assessed to the team who the judge is representing. NOTE: The judge does NOT have discretion about whether to enforce this rule and their decision may be overturned by the Tournament Director if they refuse to enforce it. If a judge refuses to enforce this rule, the affected team should contact the tab room immediately. Furthermore, judges are also bound by the prep clock and must arrive at their debates on time. This means that judges must also walk during prep time and must NOT continue to prep until the end of prep time and then walk to their round. Debaters shall be afforded the opportunity to inform the tab room of judges who are late to their rounds. The Tournament Director shall have the discretion of imposing penalties, equivalent to those imposed for a missed round, for lateness

IPDA Debaters must meet the IPDA eligibility standards published on their homepage for the various divisions. Novices are allowed to be in 8 or fewer tournaments including this one and also including their high school experience. Juniors may have competed in up to 16 tournaments including this one and high school competition. Senior division are for those with a desire to go senior, or who must move up due to 16 prior tournaments. This means all formats of debate, not just IPDA. And any college student enrolled in a degree may compete.

IPDA could be judged by any critic regardless of experience or credential. Some IPDA critics may have little to no experience, so debaters should thoroughly explain concepts and weigh impacts in the round.

Cleaner, clearer speaking styles seem to work better than quicker, tech or higher speed styles for many IPDA judges. Avoid gamey, techy tactics. Kritiks, Topical Counterplans, etc. . . are frowned on by the IPDA community, and some regulations. Please review their homepage. ELECTRONIC FLOWING IS PROHIBITED EXCEPT FOR SPECIFIC REQUESTS TO THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR.

No additional prep time is allocated beyond the 30 minutes of prep following reading of the topic,which by the way is negotiated by the debaters as each can strike two of the five resolutions provided per round. Judges should factor time violations into their decision calculations.

5 minute First Affirmative

2 Cross Examination

6 minute First Negative

2 Cross Examination

3 minute Affirmative Rebuttal 5 minute Negative Rebuttal

3 minute Affirmative Summary.