We are excited to extend to you and your students an invitation to the Phoenix Fire Open to be held October 18th and 19th at Lakeside Jr High in Springdale, AR

We will offer the following events: IPDA, Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, Big Questions, World Schools, Student Congress, Domestic Extemp (no Foreign), Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Duet Improv, Duo Interpretation, Original Oratory, and Oral Interpretation (student picks Prose or Poetry for full tournament)as qualifying events for the ACTAA State Tournament in Fayetteville, April 2019. Sweeps contention will be based off having seven contenders in the field and will be efficiency based.

There will be three preliminary rounds of debate and two preliminary rounds of individual events. Please read the following section carefully: Please note we will be using the "Missouri System", so each day will have IE and Debate events and Debate Finals will be held AFTER Awards on Saturday, which is unlike most Arkansas tournaments. Additionally, we will start the tournament at 3:30pm on Friday, well before most as torunaments, as Springdale Public Schools will not be in session that day. The sooner we start on Friday, the sooner we can get out of rounds Friday night! Please take note and make travel plans accordingly!

All debate students will compete in two preliminary rounds on Friday, plus an additional debate round Saturday morning before breaks post at Noon, IE breaks for Semifinals will be posted Friday night with Semifinals and Finals happening Saturday. All break rounds will reflect competitor's records and the number of entries within each division. We will break LD and PF to Quarters and BQ and World Schools to Semis within the same time slot, so please keep this in mind for the formation of BQ partnerships and World School Teams. PF Mavericks are allowed to be run at the Phoenix Fire. Due to being an Open format, we will be using all Varsity topics at this tournament.

There are many hotels in the Springdale area, but DTSOI Debate would recommend you locate one of the centrally located hotels on Sunset Ave. to be close to food options as well. Lakeside Jr. High is on the outskirts of town and is not near many restaurants and/or hotels, so be sure to calculate travel times to get to rounds both days.

Our team and parent booster clubs are working diligently to provide a quality tournament. Our coaches'/judges' hospitality room and concession stand will try to include some limited vegan options.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Sean Petersen, Head Coach and Tournament Director for DTSOI Debate & Forensics