Marsden win Wellington Regionals, end Scots’ domination
The 2009 Wellington Regional Debating Championships were held on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 April at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Twenty two teams from eighteen schools competed in the tournament, the largest number of teams for many years.
Rounds 1 and 2 of the tournament were were on “advised topic areas”, where the general theme of the topic was known in advance, but not the wording of the topic. In round 1, teams debated whether or not a programme of school vouchers should be introduced in NZ. In round 2, teams debated whether or not bail-outs for failing industries should be supported. A limited preparation debate on whether models below a healthy weight should be banned from the fashion industry finished the day.
Teams came back the following morning to debate in round 4, a limited preparation debate on whether diplomatic engagement was preferable to military action.
After four rounds, two schools were unbeaten: Samuel Marsden and Scots College. The other semi-finalists, on 3 wins, were Wellington College 2, and St Mary’s College. Two schools who also had three wins missed out on win points – commiserations to Wellington East Girls’ College and Wellington College.
In the semi-finals, on the motion “This House supports quotas for women on company boards”, Marsden defeated St Mary’s (3-0) and Wellington College 2 defeated Scots (2-1).
The Grand Final was on the motion “That the media should out gay celebrities”, in front of a good crowd. Marsden prevailed in a 3-0 decision, winning the Wellington Speaking Union Cup for the first time since 2005, and the third time in the tournament’s history.
Prizes
Winners: Samuel Marsden Collegiate School (Agnes Cheung, Dipti Manchanda, Maria English)
Runners-Up: Wellington College 2 (Nick Fenten, Michael Saywell, Marcus Playle)
Promising Speakers: Vikesh Gupta (Scots College 2), Jenna Bone (Wellington East Girls’ College), Marcus Playle (Wellington College 2)
Most Promising Speaker: Henry Hillind (Scots College 1)
Highly Commended Speakers: Michael Saywell (Wellington College 2), Jonathan Watt (Rathkeale College)
Reserves to the Wellington Regional Schools’ Debating Squad: Dipti Manchanda (Marsden), Nicola Wood (St Mary’s)
2009 Wellington Regional Schools’ Debating Squad:
Maria English (Samuel Marsden Collegiate School)
Julia Wells (Wellington East Girls’ College) – not pictured
Nick Cross (Scot’s College)
Jasmin Moran (Chilton St James School)
Jodie O’Neil (Chilton St James School)
Carlos Carbanatto-Bowkett (Wellington College 1)
Best Speaker at the 2009 Wellington Regional Schools’ Debating Champs: Maria English (Marsden)
Thanks
Thank you to Marsden for hosting the Championships, for the fifth successive year, and to all of the excellent adjudicators who gave up their time: Polly Higbee, Gareth Richards, Christopher Bishop, Joe Connell, Josh Cameron, Kevin Moar, Jonathan Orpin, Kathy Scott-Dowell, Ellen Thomson, Seb Templeton, Hugh McCaffrey, Yogesh Patel, Paul Smith, and Udayan Mukherjee.