Canterbury Schools' Debating Council - CSDC

14/09/2026

Kia ora! We invite you to please follow our new page for all future CSDC updates. ( School's Debating Council, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61594358040305)

This page provides information regarding the major secondary school debating tournaments and events in the Canterbury region!

25/05/2026

❤️🖤 Nationals Recap 🖤❤️

On day three of nationals, Canterbury took close losses to Wellington Gold and Auckland Blue, before beating Counties Manukau in round 7! This left us in 4 wins and 3 losses, but unfortunately we missed the break on speaks. Regardless, we are super proud of how well the team did!!!

In other exciting news, Orla was named as a highly commended speaker, placing her as one of the top debaters in New Zealand! Huge congratulations for this achievement!

Also shoutout to Otago for taking out nationals, we love to see the south win 🔥 And finally, thank you to CESUT for sponsoring the team, your support is truly appreciated!

23/05/2026

❤️🖤 Day 2 update 🖤❤️

In round 2, we took a win against a very talented Wellington Gold team!

In round 3, we got another victory against a great KM team!

In round 4, we unfortunately took a loss against an excellent BoP team.

The team sit on 3 wins from 4 debates and in strong position going into day 3! We are looking forward to enjoying the very exciting quiz night 🔥

22/05/2026

❤️🖤 Nationals Round 1 Update 🖤❤️

The team has had an excellent day 1 in Wellington, going to the Supreme Court for the opening ceremony and also acquiring our new mascot!

In the first round, we negated the motion: This House believes that governments should not require social media platforms to verify users’ age, against a talented Counties Manukau team!

The team were thrilled to win the debate in a unanimous panel! Good luck for round 2!

08/03/2026

This weekend we had the pleasure to hosting the NZSDC Canterbury Regional Debating Tournament at the University of Canterbury, with 32 teams competing! After a compelling 6 in- rounds of debating, St Margaret’s Kakapō won the tournament in a close final against Rangi Ruru 1!

We also want to congratulate team members Orla Miller (SMC), Samuel Amaris (St Thomas), Alex Johnstone (Christs), as well as reserves Lachie Hackston (StAC) and Liam Finding (Papanui), who have been selected to represent Canterbury at the National Champion Tournament this May, and wish them all the best for their preparation.

The level of insight, skill and enthusiasm shown by all speakers at the tournament was incredible, and a huge thank you to everyone who was involved! ❤️🖤

26/05/2025

Nationals Recap

The Canterbury team had a wonderful time at Nationals 2025! While it was disappointing to miss the break on speaks, winning 4/7 debates is still an incredible accomplishment so congratulations to Sam, Kate and Orla!

In some especially exciting news, congratulations to Sam Allan for making the New Zealand team!!!! What an incredible accomplishment this is, and a testament to Sam’s immense talent and hard-work! Good luck to Sam for their preparation to attend worlds in Panama later this year.

Finally, thanks to all the judges and teams who made nationals such a special experience, and a special shoutout to Hawkes Bay for winning the comp and Wellington Gold for having a great finals performance!

Also a special thanks to the Canterbury English Speaking Union Trust for sponsoring the team, we are so grateful for their support!

25/05/2025

Day 3 recap!

In round 5, Canterbury went up against a talented Wellington Black team, affirming the motion “This house regrets the rise of parenting influencers” and took a very close loss.

Round 6 saw a rematch with Wellington Black, and this time Canterbury took the victory affirming the motion “This house would institute a Land Value Tax.”

And to finish off the tournament, for the third time of the day, we again faced off with Wellington Black, and again took a close win negating the motion “This house prefers religions that teach that the reward for devotion to your religion comes during your lifetime rather than in an afterlife.”

This left the team on four wins and in strong break contention, and while sadly we missed the break on speaks, an overall tremendous performance for Canterbury!!!! Well done to Kate, Sam and Orla for such a fantastic tournament, along with Samuel and Alex for being such fantastic reserves.

Congrats to all the breaking teams we can’t wait to watch all the tremendous teams tomorrow!

24/05/2025

Day 2 recap:

In round 2, Canterbury went up against a talented Auckland White team, and in a 2-1 split decision had a narrow loss.

Moving onto round 3, we had an excellent win in a high quality debate against a formidable Waikato team.

On the final round of the day, in another incredibly close debate, Canterbury took a loss against defending champions Otago.

Good luck to the team with a big day 3 coming up with a good chance to break!!

Also shoutout to Alex and Samuel who are unbeaten in the reserve impromptu tournament 🔥🔥🔥

The team are all very excited to participate in the quiz night tonight!!

23/05/2025

Today was the kickoff of the New Zealand Schools debating championships!

In round 1, Canterbury affirmed the motion “THP to be born in 100 years time instead of today.”

Up against a really talented Wellington Gold team, Canterbury took the win in a really close and high quality debate!

Good luck to the team as they head into day two tomorrow.

15/09/2024

Today we held the Canterbury Junior Regionals for 2024! With 16 teams involved, it was a great showcase of all the promising debaters in the Canterbury region. It was a very enjoyable day for all students involved, so congratulations to everyone who competed!

A special congratulations to the following:

🏆 Winners of Junior Regionals 2024 = St Andrews 1 (Lachie Hackston, Cicy Chen, Matthew Bluck)
🤩 Runners-up of Junior Regionals 2024 = St Margarets (Lena Abdinor, Susanna Tully, Chloe Marfell)
🎉 Semi-Finalists = StAC 2 and Hillmorton 1
🏅 Most Promising School = Shirley Boys High

Highly Commended Speaker Awards:
🔵 Cicy Chen (St Andrews 1)
🟢 Ava Heath Williams (Burnside 1)
🟡 Joel Cameron (Shirley 1)

Best Speaker, a joint award between:
🔵 Lachie Hackston (St Andrews 1)
🟢 Lena Abdinor (St Margret’s)

Thank you to all adjudicators, supporters, and staff for giving up their time to make this weekend possible!