Judges needed for The Yeti speech and debate tournament this weekend at Glacier High

Glacier High School will host The Yeti speech and debate tournament Friday and Saturday. The Yeti continues to offer exciting changes to the traditional tournament format.

Changes include allowing speech students to enter a debate event and vice-versa, a first in a Montana AA invitational tournament, Glacier head coach and tournament director Greg Adkins said. Additionally, speech students have the unique opportunity to triple-enter speech events, breaking from the conventional limit of two events per student. 

“We're excited to experiment with these adjustments, making the tournament more appealing and engaging for our students,” he said.

Missoula Hellgate, Missoula Sentinel, Columbia Falls and Whitefish are set to compete at the Kalispell tournament in addition to Washington state schools Chiawana and Delta.

This is the second year Glacier has hosted the Yeti Tournament as a replacement for its usual participation in the Conway Classic at Gonzaga University in Washington. Adkins said participation in the Washington tournament has declined due to “lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Judges are urgently sought to volunteer at the tournament. Interested individuals may sign up at www.kalispellspeechdebate.org. For more information contact judging coordinator Ivanna Fritz or Adkins by calling the high school at 758-8600.

Rounds are held every two hours. On Friday, the first round of speech events starts at 4 p.m. with the last round of the day starting at 8 p.m. Debate events begin at 4:30 p.m. with the last round of the day starting at 8:30 p.m. 

On Saturday, the first round of speech events begins at 8:30 a.m. with finals scheduled at 3:30 p.m. Debate events start at 9 a.m. with finals set for 5:30 p.m. An awards ceremony is planned to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the performance hall.

The public is invited to attend.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.