Ryan Mills SVUDL 2027

Dear Colleagues,

The Silicon Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL) presents:

The SVUDL Ryan Mills Memorial Invitational. February 20-21, 2027

All proceeds from this tournament will go to the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League, a local non-profit organization whose mission is to empower Silicon Valley students, regardless of their race or socioeconomic status, to reach their full potential to become professional and community leaders by teaching critical thinking and communication skills through speech and debate programming.

Ryan Mills was a volunteer with the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL) since its inception more than 10 years ago, through and until his untimely passing in March of 2021. Ryan was the consummate professional and a model volunteer, judging hundreds of rounds of competition for SVUDL over the years. He was one of the most sought after judges by our students, for not only his expansive debate knowledge, but also for the care in which he gave constructive feedback and shared resources, all with the idea of helping them grow as competitors and young adults. He was also an advocate for SVUDL in the wider community, building bridges that let our students access deeper coaching and opportunities to aid in their professional growth as well.

This tournament will be held online via NSDA Campus for all events.

New for this year, the Ryan Mills SVUDL Invitational has been granted speech bids for the University of Kentucky TOC. Speech bids will be awarded based on entry limits, as per TOC requirements.

PENDING APPROVAL- We've also applied to be a World Schools Finals bid.

This year's tournament will also be eligible for NPDL (National Parliamentary Debate League) TOC points, pending NPDL approval.

All tournament registration will be on Tabroom.com. Information regarding online platform use for the tournament will be released in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions regarding the tournament or registration, please email Tournament Director Mariel Cruz at cruznmariel@gmail.com or contact SVUDL at info@svudl.org