Free Speech Union Northland Development Tournament 2024

On Sunday the 20th of October, NZSDC ran the Free Speech Union Northland Development Tournament in Kerikeri! Our adjudicators were thoroughly impressed by the talent on display, especially given many competitors were debating for the first time.

Congratulations to Kerikeri High School Whero (Ella Wade, Hayley Bloch-Jorgensen and Annaliese Brewer) for winning the tournament! Congratulations to Kerikeri High School Mā (Hannah Whitehead and Nate Brewer) for also making it to the Grand Final!

Further congratulations to the following students who won speaker awards:
Best Speaker: Ella Wade (Kerikeri High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Janné Loots (Tauraroa Area School)
Highly Commended Speakers:
Stella Moreton (Whangārei Girls High School)
Lilli-Rose Voakes (Kerikeri High School)
Ciara Elliot (Whangārei Girls High School)
Promising Speakers:
Callum Scott (Kamo High School)
Pieter Du Plooy (Kerikeri High School)

We’d like to give a massive thank you to our sponsor, the Free Speech Union. FSU’s support enabled the tournament to occur, and also provided prize money for the champions and runners up.

Finally, thank you to Kerikeri High School for hosting the tournament! It was very exciting to host a debating tournament in Kerikeri for the first time since 2018.