The Bay of Plenty Schools' Regional Debating Championships, and the Bay of Plenty Regional team, are proudly sponsored by Cooney Lees Morgan.
At Tauranga law firm Cooney Lees Morgan, we have the experience and personnel to take on virtually any legal task. Choosing Cooney Lees Morgan will always mean you have the very best legal team at your side. You will have their full attention, the support of their colleagues and the weight and resources of the Bay of Plenty's best legal firm behind you.
The Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held at Tauranga Boys’ College on Sunday 17 March with 34 teams. It was a very high quality competition and we’d like to extend a warm thanks to every school for attending, and to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament.
Thank you very much to our sponsors, Cooney Lees Morgan, for enabling us to continue supporting talented debaters in the Bay of Plenty. Students were intrigued to hear from Corporate and Commercial Partner Campbell Izzard about the pathways between debating and law. Thanks as well to Sam Uffindell for coming to say a few words to the Bay of Plenty debaters. It was incredibly valuable for students to hear about how sharing opposing opinions leads to a healthy democracy.
Finally, thanks to Ella Mitchell and Travis Dunningham for their hard work as convenors, and to Tauranga Boys’ College for hosting us.
After three rounds of preliminary debates, the two teams progressing to the finals were Mount Maunganui College and Tauranga Boys’ College. Following an incredibly close final debate, Mount Maunganui College were announced as the winners of the Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Schools’ Debating Championships.
From left to right: the members of the 2024 Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Team; the 34 participating teams; Cooney Lees Morgan Partner Campbell Izzard addressing the participants; Sam Uffindell MP addressing the participants.
Winners - Mount Maunganui College: Jenna Adlington; Luca Ririnui; Sarah Adlam.
Runners-Up - Tauranga Boys’ College: Ollie Farquharson; James Bunyan; Jack Muir.
Promising Speakers: Immanuel Huwald (Thames High School); Mani Catanach (Mount Maunganui College); Nathan Appleton (Mount Maunganui College)
Best Speaker: Luca Ririnui (Mount Maunganui College)
Most Promising Speaker: Ollie Farquharson (Tauranga Boys’ College)
Highly Commended Speakers
Luke Westrupp (Rotorua Boys’ High School)
Kiarni Sperling (Tauranga Girls’ College)
Jack Muir (Tauranga Boys’ College)
Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Team 2024
Luca Ririnui (Mount Maunganui College)
Ollie Farquharson (Tauranga Boys’ College)
James Bunyan (Tauranga Girls’ College)
Reserves: Gayathri Dinesh (Tauranga Girls’ College) and Jenna Adlington (Mount Maunganui College)
Previous Regional Teams
The New Zealand Schools' Debating Council expanded into the Bay of Plenty Region in 2018. Prior to that, it was a part of the Waikato region. The regional teams since 2018 are listed below.
2024
Ollie Farquharson (Tauranga Boys' College)
Luca Ririnui (Mount Maunganui College)
James Bunyan (Tauranga Boys' College)
Coaches: Melissa Connolly and Ella Mitchell
2023
Saad Aamir (Tauranga Boys' College)
Luca Ririnui (Mount Maunganui College)
Shiana French (Mount Maunganui College)
Coaches: Melissa Connolly and Aylish Waldron2022
Arcadia Wardley (Bethlehem College)
Travis Dunningham (John Paul College)
Ella Mitchell (Tauranga Girls' College)
Coaches: Melissa Connolly and Zar Sinclair
2021
Arcadia Wardley (Bethlehem College)
Travis Dunningham (John Paul College)
Ella Mitchell (Tauranga Girls' College)
Coaches: Harper Smith and Grace Baylis
2020
James Ngamoki (Tauranga Boys’ College)
Orla Walsh (John Paul College)
Ella Mitchell (Tauranga Girls’ College)
Coaches: Liam Rawlings and Fintan Walsh
2019
Louis Donovan (Mount Maunganui College)
Makayla Wadsworth (Otumoetai College)
Samuel Taylor (Mount Maunganui College)
Coaches: Rory Nolan and Paul Smith2018
Jonathan McLeay (Bethlehem College)
Kale Adair (Tauranga Boys’ College)
Makayla Wadsworth (Otumoetai College)
Coaches: Josh Baxter and Piper Whitehead
2023
The Bay of Plenty Regional Schools' Debating Championships for 2023 were hosted at Tauranga Boys’ College.
Well done to Mount Maunganui College, who took out the final in a very high quality debate against Tauranga Boys’ College. Congratulations to the following speakers who were named onto the Bay of Plenty Regional Team for 2023:
- Saad Aamir (Tauranga Boys' College)
- Luca Ririnui (Mount Maunganui College)
- Shiana French (Mount Maunganui College)
Thanks to Kale Adair and Ella Mitchell for their hard work as convenors.
2018
The first ever Bay of Plenty Regional Debating Championships was hosted at Tauranga Boys College on the 3rd of March as part of NZSDC’s expansion into the Bay of Plenty region. 20 teams, from 11 schools across the region, including Tauranga, Thames, Katikati, Whakatane, Waihi and Rotorua were in attendance.
We were delighted to have Todd Muller, MP for the Bay of Plenty open the Debating Championships. As an alumnus of Tauranga Boys College Debating, he spoke of the importance of being persuasive and the lifelong skills that debating teaches you.
The tournament featured four preliminary rounds of debating on diverse topics including compulsory voting, artists performing in countries with human rights abuses and media reporting0 on criminal trials. Following these debates, two teams progressed to the finals: Tauranga Boys College 1 and Bethlehem College 1. The teams that narrowly missed out on speaker points were John Paul College 1, Otumoetai College 1, and Tauranga Boys College 2 and 3.
Audience members were treated to an entertaining and lively debating on the motion that “this house believes that politicians should not have public profiles on Twitter, Facebook and any other social media networks. Congratulations to Tauranga Boys for winning the debate and the competition overall.
Thanks must go to all the judges, teachers and parents who gave up their day for the tournament, and to Tauranga Boys College who generously provided a venue.
Congratulations to the following students who received awards:
Runners Up – Bethlehem College:
Catherine Grobler
Fraser McCallum
Jonathan McLeay
Winners – Tauranga Boys College:
Fletcher Oxford
Jonathan Coe
Kale Adair
Highly Commended Speakers:
Georgia Collins (John Paul College)
Samuel Taylor (Mount Maunganui College)
Most Promising Speaker: Parvi Goundar (Tauranga Girls College)
Best Speaker: Kale Adair (Tauranga Boys College)
Reserves to the Bay of Plenty Regional Team:
Catherine Grobler (Bethlehem College)
Fletcher Oxford (Tauranga Boys College)
Fraser McCallum (Bethlehem College)
Members of the Bay of Regional Team:
Jonathan McLeay (Bethlehem College)
Kale Adair (Tauranga Boys College)
Makayla Wadsworth (Otumoetai College)