De La Salle<\/a>, 95.2% are of Pacific descent \u2013 and the champion squad is known for its island humour and wit in competition, Wendt said. <\/p>\n\u201cNothing is watered down. They bring their South Auckland flavour to debating. They revel in their identity and don\u2019t have to put it aside to succeed in debating.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs amazing as they are on the sports field … and the cultural spaces at PolyFest, they can do the same in debate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since 2018, the school has achieved regular success in Auckland-based competitions in particular. <\/p>\n
Its junior teams are just as good as the seniors. Last year they made the grand final \u2013 up against 40 teams from 18 schools \u2013 in the Junior Championships, eventually won by Saint Kentigern College. <\/p>\n
Wendt believes debating is, at its heart, storytelling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the ability to stand before others and say: This is what I believe. This is what I have seen. This is how I understand the world. And my voice deserves to be heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cOratory is not something we need to introduce to Pasifika young people. It is already within us. For centuries, our ancestors have used language to preserve histories, pass down knowledge, resolve conflict, challenge ideas, celebrate achievement and strengthen communities. <\/p>\n
\u201cLong before our young people ever stood behind a lectern in a debating competition, they came from cultures where the spoken word carried immense mana.\u201d<\/p>\n
The success is contagious<\/p>\n
Auckland Schools\u2019 Debating chair Zachary Wong said diversity is important in debating, showcasing perspectives from all parts of society.<\/p>\n
![\"De]()
De La Salle senior student Iosefo Tominiko gives an impassioned argument. Photo \/\u00a0Annaleise Shortland<\/p>\n
\u201cDebating is about being persuasive and people can be persuasive in really different ways \u2013 a kind of humour, different perspective or a strong emotional storytelling piece is really important for that success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wong said De La Salle\u2019s success has created a ripple effect on other South Auckland schools \u2013 others have now started debating teams.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Southside Debating Competition was launched \u2013 an interschool debating tournament for South Auckland secondary schools. Participating schools this year included Tangaroa College, Manurewa High, M\u0101ngere High, Papatoetoe High and Pukekohe High.<\/p>\n
De La Salle principal Myles Hogarty described the debating squad as a beacon for the college. The boys involved were inspiring role models for younger students, he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that Pasifika cultures and history were steeped in oratory traditions, so it made sense that the boys could hold court. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey put in the hard work. They come in on the weekends, stay in the evenings to practise and get tutored by some of our old boys. It\u2019s a perfect example to the rest of the school about what hard work does for you \u2013 you get the results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hogarty said Wendt\u2019s passion for debating was behind the students\u2019 ultimate success.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hesitate to say I\u2019m surprised that these guys are good \u2013 why shouldn\u2019t they be good? They\u2019re as good as any kid in Auckland. Well, they\u2019re better, actually, because they\u2019ve won everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald\u2019s Talanoa section<\/a>, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And the squad is on a roll. Last year, at the Model United Nations Assembly that hosted 100…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3952,8136,6028,12784,28245,24828,119857,102275,10749,8454,1019,55623,14731,62086,10005,9862,111,139,69,106462,6327,308408,1240,46453,213,5436,7187],"class_list":["post-628573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aucklands","tag-blacks","tag-champion","tag-college","tag-colleges","tag-de","tag-debating","tag-greats","tag-impressive","tag-including","tag-international","tag-la","tag-league","tag-legends","tag-list","tag-meet","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-produced","tag-rugby","tag-salle","tag-south","tag-sporting","tag-sports","tag-stars","tag-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}