Debating

“Do you like to argue?” Imagine asking this to a school full of boys! The debating season at Trinity began with words to this effect and unsurprisingly, the response was high, with over 30 students signing up, keen to challenge, provoke and persuade.

Mr Martin Guest Debating Coordinator

In a year filled with political controversies and social media encouraging debate through tweets, posts and memes, it was due to be an exciting year.

With over seven teams across the three levels of novice, junior and senior, Trinity College Debating teams entered the arena of the Western Australian Debating League (WADL) competition. This year, WADL included a wide range of opportunities to debate the rise of celebrity culture: ‘That we regret the popularity of celebrities such as the Kardashians’, Crime & Punishment ‘Drink Driving’ and ironically enough ‘That Donald Trump has been good for democracy’.

The novice teams of Years 7 and 8 students demonstrated a heady mixture of naïve and innocent enthusiasm with nerves, adrenalin and solid arguments. They contested whether ‘We should abolish the States and the merits or drawbacks of ‘Video referees’. Included in this season was a standout win when debating the motion ‘That coding should be a compulsory subject in high school’. Our junior team of Years 9 and 10 boys returned with a passionate desire to build on their development from previous years and for some to claim the title they almost won in seasons past. However, this was not to be the case in the end. The juniors debated motions such as ‘We should pay all politicians the median wage of their country’ as well as topics such as ‘Art funding’, and the possibility of an all ‘Female jury’ for particular cases. Congratulations are due to the Junior Trinity 1 team who was appointed Junior Division winners, having won all their debates in the first five rounds. This was an excellent achievement for the team consisting of Jeremy Hansen (10.4), Asher Fatin (10.1) and Dimitri Tsagaris (9.7). Unfortunately, an inexplicable loss in the preliminary finals meant there was to be no return to finals.

The Years 11 and 12 senior teams, built superbly on their experiences in debating, which was led by the gusto and experience of the Debating Captain, Hamish Townsend (12.5). For many of the seniors, this would be their final year representing the College in the WADL competition and they approached this season with an impressive desire. The early rounds included prepared debates and then moved into the more difficult realm of impromptu debates. These allowed the boys just one hour to plan their arguments and compose their speeches, on challenging topics such as ‘That we should require all elite private schools to accept a minimum of 25% of their students from disadvantaged and low socioeconomic status backgrounds’. These impromptu debates showcased a range of styles, from the sound and fury of Trinity’s own evangelical style of Hamish Townsend; the measured, methodical and logical style of Andrew Le (11.2) to the poetic flamboyance of debutant Rohan James (12.2).

I was honoured to have the experience of coordinating these young men and witnessing their extra-curricular efforts, their sense of desire and a spirit of brotherhood. I thank their parents and siblings, who provided transport and support. No doubt, they all listened to the chanting practice in the car on the way to the debates, the intonations, repetitions and stream of rhetorical devices, facts and statistics. Debating is a great opportunity provided by the College and I encourage even greater numbers of students to sign up and speak up in 2017.

Mr Martin Guest

Debating Coordinator

JUNIOR DEBATING TEAM LEFT TO RIGHT: Jacob Mangan, Manav Patel, Thomas Payne, Mr Martin Guest, Asher Fatin, Jeremy Hansen, Dimitri Tsagaris

SENIOR DEBATING TEAM LEFT TO RIGHT: Andrew Le, Colin Rapkoch, Rohan James, Mr Martin Guest, Leon Formato, Ashton Godfrey, Hamish Townsend