Nayland College Year 11 student Malachi Ayre has been named a non-travelling reserve in the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team heading to the world championships in Kenya next month.
He earned the “extremely rare” opportunity after his performance at the National Secondary Schools Debating Championships in Wellington in May.
Malachi was part of the Kahurangi–Marlborough team, competing against the 14 best teams in the country and impressing judges across all seven debating rounds.
He is excited to join the five-member squad for training sessions over the next two months and is not daunted by the significant time commitment, training three times a week via Zoom with students nationwide.
“I love any chance to argue, especially about politics,” Malachi says.
In competitive debating, teams are given a topic and a short time to prepare arguments before presenting structured speeches for and against it.
Judges assess argument strength, team organisation, delivery, and the ability to respond to opposing ideas.
Nayland College coach Gaye Bloomfield says it was “fantastic” to see Malachi in action at nationals, with the college’s debate club holding a pizza party and cheering him on from Nelson.
“The format of the nationals’ tournament is intense, with seven rounds of limited-preparation debating held over two and a half days,” she says.
“Malachi got to showcase his full range of skills: knowledge of topics, focused 60-minute preparation, team strategy, persuasive language, and eight-minute delivery.”
