On Saturday 26 March, Tauranga Girls’ College had nine teams competing in the Bay of Plenty Regional Debating Tournament.

The tournament was an opportunity to debate against nine other Bay of Plenty Schools and get quality feedback from experienced university debaters and adjudicators.

Throughout the day, teams competed in four rounds, three of which were impromptu: meaning students only had thirty minutes to prepare a case on the spot. There was some fantastic collaboration and quick thinking from the teams, who were able to create comprehensive arguments that would rival those given at Parliament! TGC1 (Inaya Sinclair, Maia Hulton-Wells, Ella Mitchell), TGC2 (Hunter Ririnui, Leah Smith, Kell Crowther) and TGC9 (Skylar Sargisson, Alana Burling, Sophie Denham) all won three of their four debates, placing them amongst the top teams at the tournament. A special mention to TGC9, our youngest team, who as Year 10, took on several senior teams in order to win their three debates. Ka pai team!

There was also great success for Gayathri Dinesh (Year 11) and Alana Burling (Year 10) who were selected to represent the Bay of Plenty on the BOP Development Squad. We are incredibly proud of our young debaters and can’t wait to see their potential grow! Ella Mitchell (Year 13) was awarded Best Overall Speaker of the tournament alongside Travis Dunningham, and was selected to represent the Bay of Plenty on the BOP Regional Team for the third consecutive year. The Bay of Plenty Regional Team comprises Arcadia Wardley (Bethlehem College), Travis Dunningham (John Paul College) and Ella Mitchell (Tauranga Girls’ College), with reserves Peter Gedye (Tauranga Boys’ College) and Sophia Mitchell (Bethlehem College). The team will undergo some vigorous training and will compete against 13 other teams in Wellington in May.

Overall, the day was lots of fun for everyone involved and challenged our ākonga to think on their feet and engage with their peers. A massive thank you to Mr Rumbold, who coaches and supports all of our teams to reach their full potential in debating. TGC debating runs every Thursday after school in B6, and all year levels and abilities are welcome to come along and improve their public speaking skills.