Results - Kahurangi / Marlborough

The Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools' Debating Championships was held at Nayland College on the 24th of February with 22 teams in attendance. It was a very high quality tournament and we’d like to extend a warm thanks to every school for attending.

An additional thank you to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament, and to Rachel Boyack MP for the inspiring words that she shared with the competitors. Thank you also to Lucy Jessep for her efforts as convenor.

After four exciting rounds of preliminary debates, the tournament progressed to a Junior and Senior Final. The Junior final was between Garin Bronze and Garin Indigo, and after a spirited debate the winning team was Garin Bronze. Congratulations to Jack Hall, Addison Burke, Mattaeus Kwan.

The Senior final was between Nayland Red and Waimea Gold Senior, a rematch from Round 4. After a hotly contested Senior final, Waimea Gold Senior were announced as the winners of the Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools' Debating Championships. Congratulations to Riley Nicholls, Tom Meldrum, and Rory Stock.

Congratulations also to Riley Nicholls (Waimea College), Stella Bloomfield (Nayland College), Finn Kerby-Pinguet (Nayland College) who were selected for the Kahurangi-Marlborough Team that will compete in the National Finals of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships in Wellington.

Pictured below (left to right): Rachel Boyack speaking at the start of the day; the Junior Final participants; the Senior Final participants; and the 2024 Kahurangi-Marlborough Team.

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Previous Regional Teams

Kahurangi – Marlborough (formerly Nelson – Marlborough) has competed in the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Champs since 2003. Teams from the region are listed below.

  • 2024

    Riley Nicholls (Waimea College)
    Stella Bloomfield (Nayland College)
    Finn Kerby-Pinguet (Nayland College)
    Coaches: Emilie Horsfall and North

  • 2023

    Stella Bloomfield (Nayland College)
    Finn Kerby-Pinguet (Nayland College)
    Riley Nicholls (Waimea College)
    Coaches: Ethan Foster and Lucy Jessep

  • 2022

    Stella Bloomfield (Nayland College)
    Will Irvine (Nayland College)
    Ysabella Abel (Nayland College)
    Coaches: Georgie Lomax-Sawyers and Lucy Jessep

  • 2021

    Will Irvine (Nayland College)
    Lily Chalmers (Waimea College)
    Emma Barnes-Wetere (Nayland College)
    Coaches: Bridget Scott & Vikas Shenoy 

  • 2020

    Ronan Thompson (Nelson College)
    Ella Taylor (Nelson College for Girls)
    George North (Nelson College)
    Coaches: Bridget Scott and Amy Spittal

  • 2019

    Ella Taylor (Nelson College for Girls)
    Scarlett Morrissey-Smith (Nelson College for Girls)
    Theo Gabites (Garin College)
    Coaches: Ailidh Leslie and Keir Robinson

  • 2018

    Theo Gabites (Garin College)
    Marian Clement (Nayland College)
    Jono Subritsky (Nelson College)
    Coaches: Ailidh Leslie and Georgina Lomax-Sawyers

  • 2017

    James Crosbie (Nelson College)
    Rohan O’Neill Stevens (Nelson College)
    Andre Castaing (Nayland College)
    Coach: Ailidh Leslie

  • 2016

    Josh Pressman (Nelson College)
    Harvey Barron (Nelson College)
    Fynn Sawyer (Nayland College)
    Andre Castaing (Nayland College)
    James Crosbie (Nelson College)
    Coach: Ailidh Leslie and Kimberly Savill

  • 2014

    Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College)
    Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School)
    Lucy Upton (Nelson College for Girls)
    Coach: Polly Higbee

  • 2011

    Kimberly Savill (Nayland College)
    Poppy Buckley (Marlborough Girls’ College)
    Boyd Becker (Greymouth High School)
    Coaches: Kevin Moar & Joe Connell

  • 2010

    Kimberly Savill (Nayland College)
    Boyd Becker (Greymouth High School)
    Chris Blyth (Greymouth High School)
    Coaches: Kevin Moar & Sean Maskill

  • 2009

    Poppy Buckley
    Abby Ward
    Joseph Habgood
    Coach: Jeremy Bell-Connell

  • 2008

    Abby Ward
    Ben McLaughlin
    Tom Beaumont
    Coach: Guy Carter

  • 2007

    Catherine Cumpstone (Nayland College)
    James Hurndell (Marlborough Boys’ College)
    Jono Kenyon (Marlborough Boys’ College)
    Coach: Charlotte Graham

  • 2006

    Harley Trafford (Motueka High School)
    Eliana Gray (Nayland College)
    Tom Nelson (Motueka High School)
    Coaches: Nich Whalley & Bela Mistry

  • 2005

    Simon Anderson (Marlborough Boys’ College)
    Fiona Henderson (Marlborough Girls’ College)
    Eliana Gray (Nayland College)
    Coach: Jeremy Johnson

  • 2004

    Simon Anderson (Marlborough Boys’ College)
    Fiona Henderson (Marlborough Girls’ College)
    Kinley Salmon (Nayland College)
    Coach: Jeremy Johnson

  • 2003

    Oliver Whalley (Nelson College)
    Simone Bensdorp (Nelson College for Girls)
    Thalib Mowjood (Nelson College)
    Coach: Monica Silverwood

Previous Winners

The Kahurangi / Marlborough Regional Schools’ Debating Championships have existed since 2004. Between 2004 and 2010 the region was named “Nelson – Marlborough”. The winners receive the Jeremy Johnson Cup. The previous winners of the Championships are:

  • 2024

    Waimea College

  • 2023

    Nayland College

  • 2022

    Waimea College

  • 2021

    Nayland College

  • 2020

    Nayland College

  • 2019

    Nayland College

  • 2018

    Garin College

  • 2017

    Nelson College

  • 2016

    Garin College

  • 2015

    Buller High School

  • 2014

    Buller High School

  • 2013

    Nelson College

  • 2012

    John Paul II High School

  • 2011

    Nayland College

  • 2010

    Greymouth High School

  • 2009

    Greymouth High School

  • 2008

    Nayland College

  • 2007

    Nayland College

  • 2006

    Nayland College

  • 2005

    Marlborough Boys’ College

  • 2004

    Marlborough Boys’ College

  • 2003

    Nelson College

Previous Best Speakers

Each year a student is named as the Best Speaker at the Kahurangi-Marlborough Schools’ Debating Championships.  The winners are listed below.

Previous Most Promising Speakers

Each year a student is named as the Most Promising Speaker at the Kahurangi-Marlborough Schools’ Debating Championships.  The winners are listed below.

  • 2024

    Riley Nicholls (Waimea College)

  • 2020

    Ella Taylor (Nelson College for Girls)

  • 2019

    Ella Taylor (Nelson College for Girls)

  • 2018

    Jono Subritsky (Nelson College)

  • 2017

    Rohan O’Neill Stevens (Nelson College)

  • 2016

    Josh Pressman (Nelson College)

  • 2015

    Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School)

  • 2014

    Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College)

  • 2013

    Charlie Norton (Nelson College)

  • 2011

    Kimberley Savill (Nayland College)

  • 2010

    Chris Blyth (Greymouth High School)

  • 2024

    Sophie McKeever (Waimea College)

  • 2020

    Will Irvine (Nayland College)

  • 2019

    Ronan Thompson

  • 2018

    Theo Scott (Waimea  College)

  • 2016

    Daniel Woperis (Garin College)

  • 2015

    Georgie Merry (Nelson College for Girls)

  • 2014

    Fynn Sawyer (Nayland College)

  • 2013

    Finlay Langelaah (Garin College)

  • 2011

    Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College)

  • 2010

    Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College)

  • 2007

    Lydia Stewart (Nayland College)

2023

The Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools' Debating Championships for 2023 were hosted at Nayland College in Nelson.

Well done to Nelson College Red who took out the junior final in a very high quality debate against Waimea Green, and Nayland Purple who won the equally high quality senior final against Waimea Senior.

Congratulations to the following speakers who were named onto the Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Team for 2023:

Stella Bloomfield (Nayland College)
Finn Kerby-Pinguet (Nayland College)
Riley Nicholls (Waimea College)

Thanks to Lucy Jessep and North for their hard work as convenors.

2022

The Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools' Debating Championships for 2022 were hosted online via Zoom.

Well done to Nayland College Year 10 Blue who took out the junior final in a very high quality debate, and Waimea Senior who won the equally high quality senior final.

Congratulations to the following speakers who were named onto the Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Team for 2022:

  • Stella Bloomfield (Nayland College)
  • Ysabella Abel (Nayland College)
  • Will Irvine (Nayland College)

Thanks to Lucy Jessep and Bridget for their hard work as convenors.

2020

The Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools’ Debating Championships 2020 was held on Saturday 22 February at Nayland College. Thirteen teams were in attendance, with a mix of junior and senior teams.

This year the first round was a prepared debate on prioritising income inequality over economic growth. The teams then had three limited preparation rounds, in which they debated on topics about schools encouraging student protests, banning sports teams whose players were caught cheating, and instituting fan voting for major awards shows.

Nelson College Senior 1 and Nayland College Senior 1 broke to the senior final, and had a thoughtful debate on whether we should regret the alignment of environmental parties with the political left. Nayland College Junior 1 and Nelson College Junior 1/Composite broke to the junior final, in which they had an engaging debate on banning homework.

Congratulations to Nayland College who were the Kahurangi-Marlborough champions for 2020 and to the Nelson College Junior 1/Composite team who were the Kahurangi-Marlborough junior champions. The judges were impressed by the high standard of debating across the weekend.

A big thank you to all the judges, teachers, and parents who gave up their day for the tournament, and to Nayland College for hosting the competition.

Senior Winners: Nayland College Senior One
Sophie Hampson
Will Irvine
Lily Wiegand

Runners Up: Nelson College Senior One
Ronan Thompson
Liam Brennan
Maxwell Busby

Junior Winners: Nelson College Junior One/Composite
Sam Brookes (Nelson College)
Zoe Brookes (Nelson College for Girls)
Darcy Lawry (Nelson College – spoke in the in-rounds)
Pippa Sussex (Nayland College – spoke in the final)

Junior Runners Up: Nayland College Junior One
Annabel Batt
Stella Bloomfield
Rhiannon Sinclair

Highly Commended Speakers
Lily Wiegand (Nayland College)
Rico Fraser (Nelson College)

Most Promising Speaker: Will Irvine (Nayland College)

Best Style: Jesse Sherlock (Garin College)

Reserves to the Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Team
Jesse Sherlock (Garin College)
Theo Scott (Waimea College)

Kahurangi Marlborough Regional Team
Ronan Thompson (Nelson College)
Ella Taylor (Nelson College for Girls)
George North (Nelson College)

Best Junior Speaker: Stella Bloomfield (Nayland College)

Best Speaker: Ella Taylor (Nelson College for Girls)

2019

Kahurangi-Marlborough had another fantastic regionals on the 23 February 2019. We were once again hosted at Nelson College for Girls, where there were 22 teams in attendance with a mix of junior and senior teams.

The first round once again was prepared and there were then three limited preparation rounds.

Garin College and Nayland College broke to senior finals and had a thoughtful debate on whether people should be able to lie. Nelson College and a Nayland-Garin composite team broke to the junior finals and had an interesting debate on online relationships.

Congratulations to Nayland College for becoming the winners of Kahurangi-Marlborough Regionals for 2019, and to the Nayland-Garin composite team for becoming the junior champions for 2019.

The judges were very impressed with all the high quality debating throughout the competition and were all excited about the talent in the region, so well done to all teams that competed.

A huge thank you to all the judges, teachers and parents who gave up their time for the tournament, and to Nelson College for Girls for hosting us.

Senior Winners: Nayland College
Merlyn Barrer
April Clarke
Cameron Dick

Senior Runners Up: Garin College 
Theo Gabites
Jade Alborn
Megan Ritchie

Junior Winners: Nayland/Garin Composite
Jesse Sherlock
Will Irvine
Kimberly Fitzgerald

Junior Runners Up: Nelson College 
Jacob Simpson
Sam Twamley
Ben Thomas

Highly Commended Speakers:
Megan Ritchie
Jade Alborn
April Clarke

Best Style: Antony Lam

Best Junior Speaker: Will Irvine

Most Promising Speaker: Ronan Thompson

Reserves:
Ronan Thompson
Cameron Dick

Regional Team:
Theo Gabites
Ella Taylor
Scarlett Morrissey-Smith

Best Speaker: Ella Taylor

2018

The Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools’ Debating Championships 2018 was held on Saturday 24th February, at Nelson College for Girls. Twenty teams were in attendance, with a mix of junior and senior teams.

This year the first round was a prepared debate on climate change obligations. The teams then had three limited preparation rounds, in which they debated on topics about private healthcare, and reserved places for Māori in medicine in law.

Garin College and Nayland College broke to the senior final, and had a thoughtful debate on whether artists should perform in countries with significant human rights abuses. Nelson College Junior 1 and Nelson College Junior 2 broke the junior final, in which they had an engaging debate on gendered marketing of children’s toys.

Congratulations to Garin College for becoming the Kahurangi-Marlborough champions for 2018, and to Nelson College Junior 1 for becoming the Kahurangi-Marlborough junior champions. The judges this year we very impressed with the high calibre of debates this year, and it was a hard fought competition.

We were very grateful to have the Hon Dr Nick Smith, MP for Nelson, open the tournament this year and to offer his own knowledge and experience on debating, and climate change issues.

A big thank you to all the judges, teachers, and parents who gave up their day for the tournament, and to Nelson College for Girls for once again hosting the competition.

Senior Winners: Garin College
Megan Ritchie
Theo Gabites
Jade Alborn

Runners Up: Nayland College 1
Matthew Suter
Ruben Castaing
Cameron Dee

Junior Winners: Nelson College Junior 1
Freddie Griffiths
Jack Deans
Lukas Turner

Junior Runners Up: Nelson College Junior 2
Tim McIlroy
Louis Hobson
Jacob Wiegand

Highly Commended Speakers
Nicholas Paulin (Nelson College)
Matthew Suter (Nayland College)

Most Promising Speaker: Theo Scott (Waimea  College)

Reserves to the Kahurangi Marlborough Regional Team
Megan Ritchie (Garin College)
Scarlett Morrissey-Smith (Nelson College for Girls)

Kahurangi Marlborough Regional Team
Theo Gabites (Garin College)
Marian Clement (Nayland College)
Jono Subritsky (Nelson College)

Best Style Award: Theo Gabites (Garin College)

Best Speaker: Jono Subritsky (Nelson College)

2017

Congratulations to the following who received awards at the Kahurangi/Marlborough Regional Championships held at Nelson College for Girls on 25 February:

Senior Winners – Nelson College:
Hugo Fletcher
Burgess Mills
Rohan O’Neill Stevens

Senior Runner Up – Garin College:
Theodore Gabites
Anthony Lam
Adam Carrie

Junior Winners – Nelson College 1:
Ronan Thompson
Maxwell Busby
Liam Brennan

Junior Runner Up – Nelson College 2:
George Thompson
Rico Fraser
Timothy McIIroy

Kahurangi/Marlborough Regional Team:
James Crosbie (Nelson College)
Rohan O’Neill Stevens (Nelson College)
Andre Castiang (Nayland College)

Reserves to the Team:
Emily Crawly (John Paul II)
Scarlett Morrisey-Smith (Nelson College for Girls)

Highly Commended:
Adam Carrie (Garrin College)
Josh Canton (Waimea College)
Fynn Sawyer (Nayland College)
Matthew Suter (Nayland College)

Best Speaker: Rohan O’Neill Stevens (Nelson College)

2016

The Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Debating Championships for 2016 were contested by 24 teams from 9 schools across the region. Over four preliminary rounds, junior and senior teams debated a range of topics prior to a Junior and Senior final.

The senior category was won by Nayland College, represented by Andre Castaing, Daniel Kirby and Fynn Sawyer, in a final against Nelson College (Harvey Barron, Seth Whittington and Josh Pressman). In the junior final between Nelson College for Girls (Jenna Stallard, Scarlett Morissey-Smith and Georgie Merry) and Garin College (Theo Gabites, Anthony Lam and Daniel Woperis) the Sound Air Cup was won by Garin College.

The talent, energy and dedication of the students who competed was great to see across the day, and this would not have been possible without the teachers and parents who supported each of the teams. Many thanks go to them, and in particular to Sarah Watts of Nelson College for hosting the competition. Finally, thanks also to the volunteers who judged debates in Nelson over the day: Kimberley Savill, Georgie Lomax-Sawyers, Christopher Bishop, Hamish Saunders, Nick Cross, Julia Wells, Aric Shakur, Ailidh Leslie, Scott Fletcher, Ruby Meagher, James Gavey and Siobhan Davies.

The weekend also acted as a selection for the Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Squad, three of which will attend Nationals as the Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Team. In a first for the region, a selection debate featuring students not in either final who had particularly impressed the judges over the day was also held after the preliminary rounds. The speakers called back for that debate were Zoe Palmer (Nelson College for Girls), Bonnie Harrison (Marlborough Girls’ College), Burgess Mills (Nelson College), Remus Courtenay (Waimea College), James Crosbie (Nelson College), and Rohan O’Neill-Stevens (Nelson College) all of whom deserve congratulating.

After much deliberation, the coaches and selectors settled upon five speakers to make up the Kahurangi Regional squad.

Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Squad:
Josh Pressman (Nelson College)
Harvey Barron (Nelson College)
Fynn Sawyer (Nayland College)
Andre Castaing (Nayland College)
James Crosbie (Nelson College)

Best Speaker: Josh Pressman (Nelson College)

Highly Commended:
Scarlett Morrissey-Smith (Nelson College for Girls)
Rohan O’Neill-Stevens (Nelson College)
Burgess Mills (Nelson College)
Bonnie Harrison (Marlborough Girls’ College)

Most Promising Speaker: Daniel Woperis (Garin College)

2015

The following awards were handed out at the 2015 Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Championships. Due to unforeseen weather, the Championships had to be moved from March and were instead held later in the year.

Best Junior Team (Sounds Air Cup): Nelson College for Girls - Jenna Stallard, Scarlett Morrissey-Smith, Zoe Palmer

Best Junior Speaker (Carpe Argumentum):  Zoe Palmer (Nelson College for Girls)

Promising Speaker: Georgie Merry (Nelson College for Girls)

Winning Senior Team (Jeremy Johnson Cup): Buller High School – Emma Tompkins, Georgina Lomax-Sawyers, Beth O’Connor

Highly Commended Speakers: Ben Whitmore (John Paul II High School), Gabrielle O’Brien (John Paull II High School), James Crosbie (Nelson College)

Best Speaker: Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School)

2014

The Kahurangi-Marlborough Secondary Schools’ Debating Championships for 2014 took place on Saturday March 8th at Garin College in Nelson. Attended by 20 teams from nine schools around the region, the competition saw four rounds of high quality debating before the break to separate junior and senior finals.

During the preliminary rounds all teams debated the same motions, covering topics from whether Te Reo should be compulsory in all schools, or prisoners allowed to raise their children behind bars, to bans on alcohol advertising at sporting events and plastic surgery. All debates where completely limited preparation, and the adjudicators were impressed with the level of debating talent shown as all teams got their teeth into the competition.

A clean break in the senior division saw John Paul II High School team 1 and Buller High School go through to the final as the only two teams on four wins. Debating the motion ‘This House would re-elect the National Government’, the affirming team of Samatha Kingsbury, Leroy Moynihan and Georgina-Lomax Sawyers defeated Eilish Ramsden, Josh Copp and Gabby O’Brien on the negative to bring home the Jeremy Johnson cup for Buller High School.

In the junior final Dan Merry, Hugo Peckam and James Crosbie of Nelson College faced off against Nayland College’s junior team of Fynn Sawyer, Indigo Levett and Andre Castaing to debate ‘This House believes that New Zealand needs a new flag’. After strong performances from speakers on both sides, the negating team from Nayland College won the debate to take home the Sounds Air Cup for 2014.

Individual speaker awards followed the finals, with Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College), Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School) and Lucy Upton (Nelson College for Girls) selected as the Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Team to compete at the 2014 National Championships. Josh Copp of John Paul II High School and Fynn Sawyer of Nayland College were selected as reserves to the team.

Highly Commended awards went to Will Garland (Motueka High School), Luke Cambus (Greymouth High School), Caleb Box (Nayland College) and Nicholas Erasmussen (Garin College). The best junior speaker, and winner of the Carpe Argumentum cup, was Fynn Sawyer of Nayland College, and Hugo Lawrence of Nelson College was named Best Speaker of the competition.

With a high level of debating ability displayed by both junior and speakers from regular entrants and schools newer to the competition alike, the future of debating looks strong for Kahurangi-Marlborough and this year’s regional competition was a definite success. It could not have gone so well without all the students, teachers and parents who either participated or supported their school teams, so thank you all for giving up your time and bringing your enthusiasm to the day. In particular, thanks to Justine Butler and Kim Pope of host school Garin College for their hard work in ensuring the day ran smoothly, and thanks also to all those Garin College students who helped prepare and tidy rooms for the day.

This year, Port Nelson came on board to sponsor the regional competition, so a big thank you to them for their support as well as to Sounds Air for their ongoing sponsorship of the regional team. Finally, thanks are due to all the adjudicators who travelled to Nelson from around the country to judge debates: Desley Horton, Corinne Marti, Christopher Bishop, Sarah Hoffmann, Erin Jackson, Nicky Allely, Jeremy Bell-Connell, Polly Higbee, Jodie O’Neill, and Scott Fletcher.

2013

On Saturday 23rd March, 20 teams from eight schools across the Kahurangi-Marlborough region gathered at Nelson College for Girls for the 2013 Regional Schools’ Debating Championships. Over the course of the day junior and senior teams competed together on the same motions in four preliminary rounds, before separate junior and senior finals to determine this year’s winners.

For the first round of the day an advised topic area of ‘schools’ had been set, and teams got into the swing of the competition on the motion ‘This House would ban all forms of streaming in schools’. The remaining three preliminary rounds were entirely limited preparation, so with half an hour of prep behind them for each round teams debated the motions: ‘This House believes that there should be equal primetime television coverage of men’s and women’s sports’; ‘This House supports a “starting out wage” for young people, which is lower than the minimum wage’ and ‘This House believes that important medical decisions about children’s health should be made by doctors and not by their parents’.

At the end of four rounds a strong performance from Nelson College saw their two senior teams ranked in first and second place, setting up an all Nelson College senior final on the motion ‘This House believes that the government should build state housing in wealthy suburbs and neighbourhoods.’ In a 2-1 split decision, Nelson College 1 defeated Nelson College 2 to finish the day as champions of the senior competition.

Meanwhile a memorable junior final saw defending champions John Paul II High School face the junior team from Nayland College, whose impressive performance in the preliminary rounds had left them ranked third highest at the competition behind the two Nelson College senior teams.  Debating the motion ‘This House believes that the media should not be allowed to intrude into the private lives of public figures’ John Paul II High School took the win to secure the Sounds Air Cup for a second year.

Following the finals, six speakers were named to the Kahurangi-Marlborough regional squad for 2013: Clara Van Wel (Marlborough Girls’ College), Nick Erasmuson (Garin College), Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School), Charlie Norton (Nelson College), Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College) and Henry Neas, also of Nelson College. Three members of this squad will go on to represent the region at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Debating Championships in August.

Also recognised with individual awards were two Highly Commended speakers, Lucy Upton of Nelson College for Girls and Max Clarke of Nelson College. The best junior speaker at the competition was Finlay Langelaah of Garin College, and Charlie Norton capped off a very successful day for Nelson College when he was named the best speaker of the competition.

With many speakers getting their first experience of debating at the competition it was great to see such a high turnout and level of enthusiasm across all teams, so congratulations to all who got involved on what was a really good day’s competition. Thanks go to all the teachers who gave up their time to work with teams and attend the competition, and in particular to Nelson College for Girls and staff member Jo Marris for hosting this year.

Thanks are due also to the adjudicators who travelled across from Wellington for the day: Desley Horton, Udayan Mukherjee, Jodie O’Neill, Will Chisholm, Joe Connell, Richard D’Ath, Oliva Hall, Jake Brown and Kimberley Savill. Finally, our ongoing gratitude to Sounds Air for their generous sponsorship of the regional team. Support from Sounds Air is invaluable in enabling training sessions to take place in the lead up to Nationals, which provides a fantastic opportunity for speakers in the squad to develop as well as contributing to the success of the region on the national stage in recent years.

2012

On Saturday 28 April a strong contingent of 16 teams competed in the 2012 Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools’ Debating Tournament, hosted at Nayland College. This year senior and junior teams were mixed together in a single draw, but with the top two junior teams and top two senior teams progressing to separate finals at the end of the day. Senior and junior teams debated the same moots, except in the final.

There were four preliminary rounds. Advised topic areas had been “Drugs” and “Voting”, and accordingly the motions for the first two rounds were: “This House would legalise marijuana” and “This House would make voting compulsory”. In the limited preparation debates, the motions were: “This House would ban home schooling” and “This House would establish harsher penalties for celebrity criminals”.

The winner of the junior competition was John Paul II High School, who beat Nelson Girls in a spirited final on the topic “This House support individuals choosing to be vegetarian” to take the Sounds Air Cup. The adjudication panel was split 2–1 in a close debate. The Best Junior Speaker was Lucy Upton. A special mention goes to Clara of the John Paul II junior team, who after injuring her heel, went to a local hospital and had seven stitches administered before returning to help win the final for her team!

In the senior division, John Paul II High School finished the four rounds on four wins, and on three wins were Nelson College, Nayland College, and the Swing team (which had performed particularly well during the day). Nayland College, the team with the best draw strength, progressed through to the final against John Paul II High School. In a very successful day for John Paul II High School, the John Paul II senior team also took out the senior competition, beating the Nayland College team in a 3–0 decision on the moot, “This House would assassinate dictators”. The final was of high quality. Both teams drew on impressive knowledge and spoke comfortably on a challenging issue, despite participating in their fifth debate of the day. Best Speaker in the senior competition was John Whitcombe of John Paul II High School.

A six person Kahurangi-Marlborough regional squad was named. The six individuals named in that squad were: Hamish Mellor (Nelson College), Boyd Becker (Greymouth High School), John Whitcombe (John Paul II High School), Lizzie Reich-Simko (Nelson College for Girls), Hayden de Jong (Nayland College), and Patrick Savill (Nayland College). In addition, three development team members were named. They were: Clara van Wel, Henry Neas, and Lucy Upton.

Thanks go to the adjudicators who travelled down from Wellington: Joe Connell, Udayan Mukherjee, Will Chisholm, Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna, Hugh McCaffrey, Jenna Raeburn, Jamie Eng, Fiona McAlister, Kimberley Savill, and Max Harris. Nayland College, and Hannah Hawthorn from that school, are also deserving of thanks for hosting the tournament. The adjudicators agreed that a high standard of debating was displayed at the tournament and that the quality of the debates augured well for the future of debating in this region.

We are grateful to the ongoing support of Sounds Air, which sponsors the travel of the regional team coaches to the Kahurangi-Marlborough region, and this year also sponsored travel to a pre- tournament coaching session held on Saturday 21 April. Sounds Air’s support is invaluable for debating in the region.

2011

The 2011 Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held on Sunday 27 February at Nelson College for Girls. In the biggest ever turn out for the region seventeen teams from seven schools from the West Coast, Nelson and Marlborough region competed over the day in senior and junior divisions.

Topics for the seniors included restricting foreign investment in NZ companies, that we should allow commercial whaling and the merits of compulsory voting.

Meanwhile the junior students debated paying teachers based on their performance, banning pokie machines and whether school canteens should sell unhealthy food.

After four rounds Nelson College emerged victorious in the junior competition. The team of Hugo Lawrence, Henry Neas and Dean Franklet took out the Sounds Air Cup for Best Junior Team for the second year in a row. Hugo Lawrence also won the Best Junior Speaker Award.

In the competitive senior division, after four rounds Nayland College 1 had four wins, while Greymouth High School 1, Nelson College 1 and Garin College each had three wins. After taking into account the draw strength of each team it came down to speaking points with Greymouth High School 1 progressing through to the Grand Final with the highest speaker points.

Debating the topic “that all states have a right to nuclear weapons” Nayland College beat defending champions Greymouth in the Grand Final in a 5-0 decision, winning the Jeremy Johnson Memorial Cup. The students in the winning Nayland team were: Kimberly Savill, Molly Hardy and Patrick Savill.

Sounds Air Cup for Best Junior Team: Nelson College

Jeremy Johnson Memorial Cup for Best Senior Team: Nayland College

Best Junior Speaker: Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College)

Austen Trophy for Best Speaker: Kimberley Savill (Nayland College)

The 2011 Sounds Air Kahurangi-Marlborough Regional Schools’ Debating Squad
Kimberley Savill (Nayland College)
Boyd Becker (Greymouth High School)
Lizzy Reich-Simko (Nelson College for Girls)
Joel McManus (Garin College)
Hamish Mellor (Nelson College)
Poppy Buckley (Marlborough Girls’ College)

2010

Sounds Air Cup for best junior team: Nelson College

Jeremy Johnson Cup for best senior team: Greymouth High School 1

Promising Junior speaker: Dana (Nayland College)

Most Promising Junior Speaker: Hugo Lawrence (Nelson College)

Best Senior Speaker: Chris Blyth (Greymouth High School)

Reserves to the 2010 Sounds Air Nelson / Marlborough Regional Schools’ Team:
Kimberley Savill (Nayland College)
Poppy Buckley (Marlborough Girls’ College)

2010 Sounds Air Nelson / Marlborough Regional Schools’ Debating Team
Chris Blyth (Greymouth High School)
Boyd Becker (Greymouth High School)
Molly Hardy (Nayland College)
Hamish Mellor (Nelson College)

2007

The fifth Nelson/Marlborough Schools’ Debating Championships were held on Saturday 17 March at Nayland College in Nelson. After five years of competing many of the schools are becoming ‘old-hands’ at the championships, and the adjudciators thought that there has been a definitie improvement in the skills of the debaters.

Over three rounds 10 teams competed to be the Regional Champions debating the topics ‘This House believes that New Zealand should ban smoking’, ‘This House believes the war on terror has done more good than bad’ and ‘This House believes New Zealand should become a republic’. The Bioethics Council final was between Nayland College and Waimea College who had each won all three of their rounds. Impressively 5 out of the 6 debaters in the final were Year 11. Debating ‘This House believes that parents should be able to design their children’, the students demonstrated an impressive degree of knowledge about this complex area with the Nayland College team of Catherine Cumpstone, Abby Ward and Joseph Habgood emerging victorious.

As always a number of awards were made and a Nelson/Marlborough team was selected to represent the region at the National Championships. Prizes given were:

Most Promising Team – Waimea College (Corbin Ballard, Nathan Dermead and Taylor Winter)

Most Promising Speaker – Lydia Stewart (Nayland College)

High Commended Speakers – Joseph Habgood (Nayland College), Caillin Trainer (Motueka High School), Abby Ward (Nayland College)

Nelson/Marlborough Schools’ Debating Team – Catherine Cumpstone (Nayland College), Jono Kenyon (Marlborough Boys’ College), Tom Nelson (Motueka High School) and Reserve James Hurndell (Marlborough Boys’ College)

Congratulations to all those who debated, and thanks to the teachers and others who support this competition, as well as to the regional convenor Dave Turner.

2005

The 2005 Nelson / Marlborough Schools Debating Championships were held at Marlborough Girls’ College on Saturday 19th March.  It was the largest tournament ever held in the region, with 12 teams attending, both for the championship and a junior development day that was held at the same time.

An entirely limited preparation tournament, the teams debated everything from the merits of NCEA to the importance of the environment in New Zealand society.

In a repeat of last year, the final was held between Nayland College (Nelson) and Marlborough Boys’ (Blenheim) with Marlborough once again emerging triumphant.

Although a young region, all the adjudicators were impressed by the rapid improvement in debating prowess amongst the students, as well as their enthusiasm and the support give debating by their teachers, (especially those who traveled over the hill from Nelson).

At the tournament a squad of four speakers were chosen, three of whom will represent Nelson/Marlborough at the Nationals.  These were Simon Anderson (Marlborough Boys’), David Bosma (Nayland College), Eliana Gray (Nayland College) and Fiona Henderson, (Marlborough Girls’).