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Great Salt Lake Invitational

In-Person in 2024!

The University of Utah is proud to host the Great Salt Lake Invitational (GSL), our inter-collegiate forensics tournament, on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend each year. The GSL is one of the oldest and most historic tournaments in the western United States. Currently, the GSL offers competition in NPDA-style parliamentary debate, NFA Lincoln-Douglas Debate, IPDA-style Debate, British Parliamentary-style debate, and all NFA individual events. In addition to a full slate of excellent competition, each year the top competitor at the GSL receives the prestigious Royal Garff trophy, a traveling trophy named in honor of a former coach and supporter of the John R. Park Debate Society.

Elimination Round Archives


Beginning in 2009, Northern Arizona University joined the University of Utah to host a second tournament at the UofU alongside the GSL. In 2012, the California State University-Long Beach replaced NAU as our tournament partner. In 2014, Texas Tech University partnered to make the Great Salt Lake Invitational the home of the Mile High Swing, the most prestigious NPDA invitational tournament of the year. In 2018, The University of Texas at El Paso replaced California State University-Long Beach as the host of the annual IE swing held in Salt Lake City each January. In 2019, the Great Salt Lake Invitational added British Parliamentary, IPDA, and CEDA formats of debate to its tournament offerings.

This year, the Great Salt Lake Invitational will partner with The University of Texas at El Paso on January 13-15, 2024 to host a NFA Individual Events and IPDA debate swing, as well as tournaments in British Parliamentary, NPDA,  and NFA-LD styles of debate. On Saturday, January 13th and Sunday, January 14th, attendees will be able to participate in two complete IE tournaments, including entry options in IPDA and NFA-LD Debate. On Sunday, January 14-Monday, January 15, 2024, teams may also choose to participate in the concurrent debate tournaments, featuring competition in NPDA, BP, and CEDA debate formats.

Last Updated: 11/15/23