Association announces golden dome invitational
The Notre Dame Mock Trial Association announced the first annual Golden Dome Invitational to be hosted in Notre Dame, Indiana this October 8th and 9th.
The executive board appointed senior Max Thompson to act as Tournament Commissioner throughout the season to help plan the invitational. Thompson is a political science major from South Bend, IN who has been a mock trial competitor since his freshman year of high school.
“I wanted to be tournament commissioner because I wanted to give back to both NDMT and the AMTA circuit at large,” Thompson said. “My official goal is to foster the AMTA community on Notre Dame’s incredibly beautiful campus and let competitors from around the country enjoy the University I call home.”
The tournament will host 18 teams in addition to two teams from Notre Dame. The tournament staff has extended formal invitations to 14 programs across the country and is working on building a waitlist for other interested programs that should hear back by late July.
Charlie Stock, Notre Dame Mock Trial’s Vice-President of Travel, put together the list of teams to invite. “For our first annual golden dome invitational, Notre Dame Mock Trial wants to create a competitive tournament on the first weekend of the season. We invited powerhouse programs from across the Midwest. We hope to field a tournament where at least 50% of teams attended Nationals the year prior,” Stock said. “We hope to set a precedent of excellence and provide programs with the best opportunity to try out the new case.”
Tournament staff is looking for volunteer attorneys, law students, coaches or former competitors to judge rounds at the Golden Dome Invitational. If you’re interested in judging, fill out this form. Judges do not need to commit to every round of the competition and can indicate which round(s) they’re available to judge.
The Golden Dome Invitational will be held at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, though location is subject to change. Teams can register for the Golden Dome Invitational for $250, and may receive a $10 discount for every judge they bring, up to $40 off. Teams included in the first-round of invitations must RSVP by July 20 in order to save their spot. Payment will be collected once all 20 teams have committed.
For more information or to express your program’s interest in attending the invitational, visit our tournament page at irishmocktrial.org/golden-dome-invitational/ or email mt@nd.edu. If you have any questions email mt@nd.edu or reach out to Max Thompson at mthomp36@nd.edu.