Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna has been appointed as the Chief Adjudicator for this year’s National Champs.
Clodagh is a very experienced schools debating adjudicator and coach. Regional teams she has coached have won the National Champs on three occasions, and she coached the New Zealand team to the quarter-finals of the World Champs in 2010. She has also adjudicated at numerous regional tournaments over the last few years.
Stephen Whittington and Will Chisholm will join Clodagh as member’s of the Motions Committee for the tournament.
Stephen is the President of the Wellington Speaking Union, which organises five schools debating grades in Wellington each year. Stephen is one of New Zealand’s best ever university debaters, having won the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Champs (and twice been a runner-up), reached the semi-finals of the World Universities Champs, and won a range of New Zealand tournaments.
Will has coached the Otago / Southland team on a number of occasions, and is a highly experienced adjudicator at both school and university level. He has adjudicated the Grand Final of the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, as well as a number of New Zealand university competitions.
