Earlier in the year we got some updates on how our public speakers and debaters were going. Since that time the boys have now started their GPS competition and are doing wonderfully well. We are lucky enough to have a committed group of young men who give up their free time to represent us and do this so well.

Below are two reports – the first from Tom Hall (Pymble) who sums up the boys’ victory over Kings and this is followed by a report from Henry Murphy (Randwick) who gives the ins and outs of their victory over the always strong Sydney Boys High School.

Tom wrote:

On the bus we sat full of nerves waiting to arrive at Kings. As soon as we arrived it was straight on and so was the rivalry as few smart comments were made about the soldier looking blazer. We were handed the topic and taken to our rooms. The topic was “That female sports stars should be paid the same amount of male sports stars” and we were the negative. We were handed our facts sheet and begun making our points. The first speaker was going to be Tim O’Farrell the next was going to be Patrick O’Farrell, Me as third and Henry was going to be fourth.  After we had made all of our points we realised that we had no timer or clock in the room and had no idea how much longer we had. Patrick and Tim had finished making their speeches and I still had two more palm cards to go and then the audience walked in and our time was up. While I was waiting for the debate to start I frantically wrote down the last two cards. As soon as it started the rebuttals were on and we ended up winning by a thin margin.

Henry wrote:

On Friday, Both the A’s and B’s debating teams went up against SBHS not knowing what to expect. We knew they were a selective school and would come up with some great arguments.  6:00 o’clock came and it was time for us to flip the coin to see which side of the argument we would get, positive or negative.We got negative, which meant we would be arguing that “Australia should not embrace nuclear power because it is a waste of time and money for an unnecessary risk”  In preparation, we began to realise that we had a good chance of winning. Our arguments were clear and strong, and after debating together for over 2 terms, we were confident in our team to deliver them.  Well, High gave us a run for our money, and the debate was neck and neck the whole way through. Our wrists are still sore from trying to write rebuttals.

By the time most adjudicators stand up to deliver their verdict, we all have a clear idea in our head of whether we will win or lose, however this had to be the closest one ever. Finally we heard those coveted words… “I have decided to give the debate to the negative…” and both the team, and our families tried to hold back the applause and hi-5ing till afterwards. We discovered that we only won by a margin of literally one point. Unfortunately, the B’s lost, however I am sure it was by a margin just as narrow.

Photo: Tom Hall (Pymble), Henry Murphy (Randwick), Tim O’Farrell (Gladesville) and Patrick O’Farrell (Longueville)

There is no doubt that speaking in public is a difficult task. It requires a huge amount of courage because for a few minutes you become the centre of attention and every thing you say becomes the focus of so many people. Often they will be critiquing what you say and how you say it – certainly it is not easy. Doing this in front of a group of your own peers, however, is an even tougher gig!

During Term 1 all the boys in Year 7 wrote a public speech and delivered it in front of their English class. They had to talk about another boy in their class and argue for a strong belief that this class-mate had. This was accompanied by a visual presentation.

In Week 6 we saw the best of these speeches as one boy was selected from each class to present their speech in front of the whole form. Peter Ross, Lee MacMaster and I were lucky enough to be invited to judge this competition and we were just so impressed with the speeches we heard.

But as if preparing a speech is not hard enough … part of this final round was to make an impromptu speech – a speech where the boys were given one minute to prepare a one minute speech. The topic that the boys were given to speak on was “The best/worst moments of my life”. The way that the boys handled this challenge was superb.

At the end of the two speeches from each boy we added their scores together to finish with a top three speakers for the day. In third place was Charlie Howard (Rozelle) who spoke about Nicholas Robins (Mosman) and delivered an incredibly informative speech. Second place went to Tim Wang (Sefton) who gave a very entertaining speech on Ricky Palmer (Gladesville). Special congratulations goes to Stuart McLean (Hay) who won the competition for 2011. He talked about Josh Ho (Hunters Hill) and spoke consistently well in both the prepared speech and the impromptu. Well done Stuart!

The other finalists should also be commended on a wonderful effort. Tom Carrette (Hunters Hill), Tim O’Farrell (Woolwich), Matt Sullivan (Castle Hill) and Max Tassell (Denistone) did so well to be selected from their classes and then spoke exceptionally in the final. In particular, Max Tassell should be very proud of his efforts, achieving the highest score in the prepared component of the speeches.

Hopefully this has been a wonderful experience for all boys in the form – a chance to build their confidence and develop their skills in speaking which we know becomes so important in later life.

Photo 1:  Charlie Howard delivers his speech in the final.

Photo 2:  Stuart McLean celebrates his overall victory with the cup.

Photo 3:  Max Tassell gives his prepared speech which scored the highest number of points in that section.

While many take the opportunity of a relaxed Friday evening, a BBQ at the park, a hit of tennis, some touch football or some down time in front of the tele … again on Friday night, many of our boys took on the responsibility in representing us in either Swimming, Debating or public speaking. Some more information on our swimmers and public speakers is not far off!

Below is a short report from our debating coach Mr Mark Halsted.

On Friday night, 2 teams of Year 7 debaters competed in 2 different competitions.

The Fed cup team, made up of Ben Smith (Putney), Joe Lemmich (Lake Cargellico), Tim Wang (Sefton) and Luke Castaldi (Putney), were the Negative side in a spirited debate against a tough Sydney High side on the issue that “All contact sport in schools should be banned”. Despite the fact that 2 speakers were new to competitive debating, the side parried every argument the Affirmative Sydney High side could throw up and had a clear win on the night.

The boys are to be heartily congratulated on their victory.

Our ISDA side, made up of Henry Murphy (Randwick), Charlie Laundy (Strathfield), Tom Hall (Pymble) and Tim O’Farrell (Woolwich), had a debate at the College against a talented Monte side, affirming the proposition “That fast food should be taxed.” Although the boys were bested by the Monte debaters, I was assured that again the Jeoys debaters were excellent! If they continue to improve the way they are, very soon their luck will change. Of that I am most certain.

Photo: Tim Wang, Luke Castaldi, Ben Smith and Joe Lemmich celebrate their Fed Cup Victory over Sydney Boys High School.

Joeys has a wonderful tradition in debating which spans back throughout the entire History of the College. Whether it be Sir William Dean who donned the Cerise and Blue tie in the mid-1900s, Chris Mangan who won the coveted Lawrence Campbell competition in 1980 or Jack Wright from the mid 2000s who went on to represent Australia in debating. Further to this, most things at Joeys, our debaters have always been part of the balance in education that we are so proud of with young men such as Carlos Blanco being captain of the First XV Rugby and Debating at the same time.

This year our Year 7 boys have already started to enhance this wonderful tradition. Although the GPS competition doesn’t start until Term 2, the debaters are well and truly in the swing of things with the ISDA competition starting a couple of weeks ago and the FED Cup starting last week.

The boys in the ISDA competition have had two debates against Wenona College and St Aloysius. Although they placed second in each of these debates, there is no doubt that they have impressed already. When the boys travelled to Wenona their usual coach Mr Halsted was absent and Ms Anna Nasr filled in for him. This is what Anna had to say of the Year 7 boys after their first debate:

“They blew my socks off!” What a Year 7 team! It was inspiring to watch our wonderful Year 7 debaters negate such a difficult debating topic “That advertising for gambling should be banned from sporting events” for their first debate as St. Joseph’s College students. The Wenona team proved strong, they offered some outstanding arguments and rebuttal but I must say our boys impressed with outstanding manner, well thought out matter coupled with a little pizzazz from Tom Hall. Tim O’Farrell is obviously a seasoned debater, he was inspiring as was first time debater Charlie Laundy, whose enthusiasm and adventurous nature were evident in his delivery. Although the adjudication saw Wenona triumph,  I believe it will be one of this teams few defeats.

Congratulations young men, you were outstanding!

What a great wrap from the coach of another team. Well done boys and we certainly look forward to seeing you debate throughout the year.

Photo: Our ISDA debaters Henry Murphy (Randwick), Tim O’Farrell (Woolwich), Tom Hall (Pymble) and Charlie Laundy (Strathfield)