Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs High School will host the 21st annual Steamboat Invitational Speech Tournament Saturday.

The speech team will be one of 13 teams from around the state competing in the tournament.

Besides trying to perform their best in Saturday’s competition, Steamboat students have the added pressure of making sure the tournament runs smoothly. Speech coach Shauna Lamansky said the team has been preparing all week by making signs, assigning judges, scheduling competitions and doing paper work.

“It’s a good opportunity to compete at home and not have to travel,” Lamansky said. “It is also good to see how a tournament works … to get behind the scenes.”

Although the tournament has enough volunteer judges, Lamansky said the team is always looking for volunteers and could use more when it hosts the regional tournament in March.

Because Steamboat is hosting the state qualifying regional tournament this year, Lamansky said Saturday’s tournament will be good practice for those putting on the event and for those participating in it.

The humorous interpretation category, which features top Steamboat competitors including Andrea Erickson, Beth Ludwig and Ben MacCarthy, will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Extemporaneous speaking, another event Steamboat fares well in with competitors Julia Patterson, Julie Lewis, Jenni Stanford and Justin Krause, begins at 12:30 p.m.