Review by Nimuthu Pathiraja (Web Content Team) A commendable performance made the Debating Team of TCK Kandy, take pride in their efforts at the Inter-school debating championship organised by the APIIT Law school, held on the 8th, 9th and 15th of June 2024. The team, captained by Mast. Thesath Keppetiyagama along with Mast. Sanchitha Wickrama, Nethula Hettihewage and Shahrukh Fairooz performed with great success, remaining unbeaten in the preliminary rounds of the tournament and entered out rounds breaking 1st. The team victoriously made to the finals of the competition after surreal performances in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals, triumphing over teams of Dharmaraja College and St’ Bridget’s Convent, and after an extremely tensed and heated debate against Royal College Colombo at the APIIT premises, They emerged runners up. All three debaters received accolades for their unprecedented debating prowess. Master. Thesath Keppetiyagama emerged the best debater, Master. Sanchitha Wickrama the 6th best debater and Master. Nethula Hettihewage was awarded the 14th best debater. We congratulate the Trinity College Debate team for their successful performance and wish them the best of luck in future endeavors while also appreciating the efforts of the teacher-in-charge of the English Debating Society, Mrs. Fathima Majeed, the Head Coach Mr. Suchith Tissera and all others who supported their performance
(Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship 2023) Reveiwed by Chaniru Senhas and Nimuthu Pathiraja For the fourth consecutive year, the Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship was organised by the English Debating Society. Held from the 15th-17th of December, as per Trinity tradition, the tournament consisted of a bonfire on the night of the 16th at the Junior School Ground, whilst the rounds took place in the AJ Block, Gaster Block, Fraser Block and the Main Hall. The tournament, which was graced by nearly 200 debaters from around the Island, commenced on the 15th afternoon, when 2 of the 5 preliminary rounds were held, followed by 3 other preliminary rounds on the 16th, prior to the much awaited bonfire, at which the Trinity College Senior Scout Troop played a major role. The event came to an end on the 17th with the exhilarating Final round which took place between Wesley College and Royal College, where Wesley emerged victorious. The closing ceremony of the event included a message from the platinum sponsor of the tournament followed by the distribution of certificates by the Co-Vice Principal, Mr. Ananda Marasinghe and the Head of Co-Curricular Activities, Mr. Wasana Dissanayake. The TCK debating community appreciates the commitment of the organizing committee (Ammar Zaffarullah, Thesath Keppetiyagama, Sanchitha Wickrama, Shaluka Herath, Muhammed Jameel, Kavindu Athukorala, Nethula Hewahettige, Chaniru Senhas, Nimuthu Pathiraja, Abeesha Wickramasinghe and Thithira Jayakody), Bilal Abdurahman from the Trinity College Scout Troop, Linuka Mallikarachchi, Jason Navaratne and Yeshan Ranatunage from the Trinity College Media Unit, the college debating coach, Suchith Tissera, and last but not least, Mrs. Fathima Majeed and Mrs. Pramila Vijeykumar, the Teachers-In-Charge of Debating for their unprecedented support throughout the journey.
The 17th and 18th of December 2022 were remarkably busy at Trinity College. The Scholarship exam, a leadership programme for the School Officers’ Guild, and manoeuvring around that was the first physical edition of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship. Organised by the English Debating Society for the third consecutive year, the tournament saw the participation of 28 teams from across the island, including from Kandy, Colombo and Gampaha. The tournament received endorsement from the Debaters’ Council of Sri Lanka, the governing body of the activity in the island, making it the first ever national English debating tournament held outside of the Western province. It was an incredible new experience for both the organising committee and our participants. As the last tournament for the 2022 calendar year, tensions were running high with all schools wishing to end the year on a high. After 5 preliminary rounds, the top 8 teams were selected early on Sunday morning based on their number of wins and individual performances, and these teams went into elimination rounds starting with quarter-finals. The following teams qualified for the elimination outrounds: 1. Colombo International School 2. Ananda College 3. Wesley College 4. Hillwood College 5. S. Thomas’ College 6. Methodist College 7. Ladies’ College 8. Bishop’s College After gruelling quarter-finals and semi-finals, only two teams were left standing: Hillwood College and Wesley College. After an hour of intense preparation without access to the internet or external resources, both teams presented their arguments at the Junior School Hall late into the evening. The final debate was on the question of whether the Sri Lankan Securities and Exchange Commission should ban investment advice on social media. Ultimately, the adjudication panel was unanimous in awarding the decision to the opposition – Hillwood College – marking the fourth national championship that came home to Kandy in 2022 alone, after the 3 tournaments that Trinity won this year. We introduced a new award at this competition – the best speaker of the grand final – which went to Sanithma Jayasooriya from Hillwood College. Further, Chanidu Ratnayake from Colombo International School emerged best speaker at the tournament overall, narrowly edging out Chirathi Perera from Ladies’ College. However, we believe that the highlight of the tournament was the communal environment surrounding our tournament, in which the friendships and camaraderie we had built up across a year of debating tournaments paid off. We were able to facilitate a bonfire with tremendous effort by the Trinity College Scout Troop, and both debaters and adjudicators enjoyed the spectacle and took the opportunity to relax after a full day of debating. We also captured a photograph of the entire debating circuit for the year 2022, memorialising all the individuals who took part in our competition. We believe that this tournament strengthened many of the bonds that already existed between both debaters and judges. It is this kind of reward that makes the tremendous difficulties of organising pale in comparison. The challenges of the first tournament outside of Colombo could not have been met without the unwavering support of numerous individuals. We are immensely grateful to the adjudicators who came to our tournament from across the country, often paying their own money for accommodation in Kandy. They are testament to the desire that debaters have to contribute back to the community that nurtured them for years. We also wish to thank the broader Trinity College community, especially the Scout Troop, for all their help with the bonfire, and the Media Unit for being constantly present across both days to facilitate presentations, photography and countless other tasks. They were a constant presence at our event, sacrificing their valuable time to provide us with their irreplaceable expertise. The event would not have been the same without their kind cooperation and solidarity. Our infallible teachers-in-charge, Mrs. Premeela Vijayakumar and Mrs. Fathima Majeed, made this tournament their own personal project for months on end, spending sleepless nights worrying about us and constantly assuming responsibilities to make organising easier for us. This tournament would certainly have been impossible if not for the unwavering support that our teachers provided us with. Our debating coach, Mr. Lithmal Jayawardhana, was a great source of support as well, marshalling adjudicators and liaising with the Debaters’ Council. The 3rd edition of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship had it all: bonfires, community, power cuts, and some debating on the side. We were delighted to receive a deluge of positive feedback from participants, and the organising committee is counting days until our next championship in 2023! Review by Thithira Jayakody (Captain of the Trinity College English Debating Team) Event Photographed by the Trinity College Media Unit.
The Trinity College Debating Team achieved yet another historic feat, adding to the many triumphs during this year. With the recent announcement of the Sri Lanka National Debating Pool, the following debaters from Trinity will be a part of the Sri Lanka National Debating Pool for the year 2023: A group of 22 members from across the island were selected through a thorough selection process administered by the Debaters’ Council of Sri Lanka, the regulatory body in the island for English debating, based on the performances of the debaters over the course of this year. This pool will be coached by a panel of coaches including past members of the Sri Lanka Team for a month, after which the National Team and Development Squad representing Sri Lanka internationally for 2023 will be chosen. This marks the second consecutive year that we have placed our speakers into the Sri Lanka National Pool. In 2021, we were one of the first schools outside the Western Province to qualify for the national pool. We thank the coach, Mr. Lithmal Jayawardena, and the Teachers in Charge, Mrs. Premila Vijayakumar and Mrs. Fathima Majeed, for all their commitment and efforts to guide the students.
The English Debaters of Trinity College extended their championship tally for 2022 to a third title as they emerged champions at the Shanthi Peiris Memorial Debate Championship 2022 organised by Methodist College, Colombo. The tournament was held on the 7th, 8th and 9th of October 2022 at the Methodist College premises. The ‘’Trinity A’’ team faced off against Bishop’s College ‘Gold’ in the finals after a rocky preliminary set of rounds, qualifying 7th out of the top 8 teams followed by stellar performances against Ananda College ‘A’ and Bishop’s College ‘Purple’ in the quarter finals and semi finals respectively. The final debate became an intensely close fight with a decision of a 2-1 split, in favour of the boys in Red, Gold and Blue. The Trinity A team: Ammar Zaffarullah Thithira Jayakody Jayageeth Basnayake The Trinity B team also performed well as they emerged 13th in the overall standings. The Trinity B team: Lolonyo Rahulan Thesath Keppetiyagama Pawan Thalagahawatte We would like to thank our debating coach Mr. Lithmal Jayawardhane and Teachers-in-Charge, Mrs. Premila Wijeyakumar and Mrs. Fathima Majeed for their unparalleled support to the team as always. We would also like to thank Mr. Hudson Jeba and Mr. Kapila Waidyatilleke for accompanying the team in Colombo. Review by Jayageeth Basnayake
The Trinity College English Debating team triumphed in yet another outing as they emerged Champions at the 16th K.M. De Lanerolle Debate Championship organised by the Debaters’ Union of Kingswood College, Kandy. Trinity won the title for the second year running, following their inaugural win in 2019. This title became the second in three weeks for the Trinity Debaters. The tournament spanned across 4 weeks with debates happening in the Oxford Debate format at the Kingswood College premises. Trinity College faced off against Swarnamali College, Kandy, Mowbray College, Kandy, Girls’ High School, Kandy and finally Kingswood College, Kandy in the title decider. The motion for the finals read as Greater state control of the economy is the way forward for post pandemic Sri Lanka The Trinitians opposed the motion, winning by a unanimous decision. Master Abidh Jameel walked away with the Best Speaker of the tournament award while Master Ammar Zaffarullah emerged 2nd Best Speaker and Best Speaker of the Finals. The team that emerged winners is as follows: Ammar Zaffarullah Abidh Jameel Jayageeth Basnayake Lolonyo Rahulan Thesath Keppetiyagama We would like to thank our debating Coach Mr. Lithmal Jayawardhane and Teachers-in-Charge, Mrs. Premila Wijeyakumar and Mrs. Fathima Majeed for their unparalleled support to the team as always. Review by Jayageeth Basnayake
Our congratulations to the Trinity Debating Team for winning the most prestigious tournament in Sri Lanka Schools Debating – the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship 2022, organised by the Moot Court and Debating Society of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo. The finals were held at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo on 04th September 2022 between Trinity College and Royal College, Colombo. The motion for the final round was “This house regrets the deplatforming of Andrew Tate”. Trinity proposed the motion, whereas Royal opposed. The Trinity A team won the Grand Finals against Royal College, Colombo on a 3-2 split decision. It is also noteworthy that both teams broke into the knockout rounds. Trinity B broke 12th, whereas the champion team Trinity A broke 15th. Master Thithira Jayakody and Master Ammar Zaffarullah tied for 5th best speaker at the tournament. Master Parinda Ratnayake ranked 11th as well. The following debaters represented Trinity A, (winning team):Thithira Jayakody (Captain)Parinda RatnayakeAmmar ZaffarullahPawan Thalagahawatte Trinity B was represented by,Abidh JameelJayageeth BasnayakeLolonyo RahulanThesath Keppetiyagama The teams would like to extend their thanks to the Teachers in Charge Mrs. Premila Vijaykumar and Mrs. Fathima Majeed. Also a big thank you to the debating coach of Trinity College Mr. Lithmal Jayawardhana, and all the other coaches and participants who supported the teams. Review by Abidh Jameel
Achievements at Asia World Schools Debate Tournament 2022 From winning their first championship to representing Sri Lanka, the Trinity debating contingent has been recording a sensational season thus far. On the 2nd and 3rd of July 2022, they reached another historic milestone. While representing the Sri Lanka Development Squad at the Asia World Schools Debate Tournament, Ammar Zaffarullah and Thithira Jayakody from the Senior Debate Team performed exceptionally well. Thithira Jayakody was ranked the 5th best speaker of the tournament and Ammar Zaffarullah ranked 28th out of the 279 international debaters in participation. The 🇱🇰 Development Team broke 2nd out of 92 teams at the Asia WSDC 2022! Good luck to the team as they begin their knockout rounds tomorrow. — Debaters’ Council of Sri Lanka (@debaterscouncil) July 2, 2022 The tournament was held online via Zoom and they were a part of one of two teams in the Sri Lanka squad. At the preliminary rounds held on Saturday, their team went undefeated and placed 2nd out of 92 teams in the Open Break. They were also tied for best total speaks with an astounding total score of 1081. Unfortunately, at the Octo-Finals round, they lost with a 2-1 split amongst the adjudication panel. However, this goes down as a historic run for both the Trinity pair as well as the Sri Lanka Development team. With this achievement under its belt, Trinity Debating continues to grow its much-felt presence in the local and international circuits. With many important tournaments scheduled ahead, the contingent is focused on training hard to meet its aspirations of success.
The 26th, 27th and 28th of November 2021 saw the second iteration of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship organised by the Debating Society of Trinity College. You can read last year’s review from the link below. This year’s tournament also marked the 1st time the tournament was open as an all-island tournament with 36 teams taking part. The tournament which was endorsed by the Debaters’ Council of Sri Lanka was held online this year as well as so did all the tournaments in the circuit. Ladies’ College Colombo (LC A) emerged as the champions this year after defeating Colombo International School, Colombo (CIS A) with a decisive 4:1 split in the finals. LC A also won against Hillwood College Kandy A (Hillwood A) while CIS A won against Ladies College B ( LC B) in the semi-finals. While this was the second time the tournament was organised, and the organising committee had experience from last year, tension and spirits were high as this was the first time the tournament was open for schools from all over the island. Planning started in late August, invitations were sent and dates were booked on the Debaters’ Council calendar in September, and we started contacting judges soon after. By late October most of the preparations were complete, groups were made, documents were sent, Tabby cat was prepared ( A software used to input teams, institutions, motions, adjudicators and overall rankings of the tournament) and judges were confirmed. Finally, the day of the tournament arrived. On the 26th, before the zoom call opened, the organising committee gathered at the CLC to start the tournament. Day 1 saw the 1st 2 of 5 preliminary rounds and was quite a good start for the tournament. Day 2 turned up the heat with the remaining 3 preliminary rounds and the knock out octo- finals. Day 3 was tenser than the previous 2 days as these were the knockout rounds. At last, two teams were left standing. Colombo International School, Colombo (CIS A) as proposition and Ladies College Colombo ( LC A) as opposition debating the motion, “On balance, this house believes that trade unions have done more harm than good in Sri Lanka” with the win going to opposition LC A. Apart from the finals given below are a few favourites from the tournament. Teams that broke into the knockout rounds; CIS A Ladies’ College A Ananda College A Royal College A Ladies’ College B St. Bridget’s Convent A Wesley College S. Thomas’ College A Royal College B Holy Family Convent A Hillwood College A Wesley College A Visakha Vidyalaya A Ananda College B S. Thomas’ College B Devi Balika Vidyalaya A With that, the tournament came to an end and was filled with plenty of anxiety attacks, surprises, and many more. The organising committee didn’t forget to play a bit of casual music in between rounds, to ease the pressure and provide a laid back environment. As smoothly as the tournament went it wasn’t without some setbacks and a few unforeseen circumstances, like a presentation slide mishap, Covid scares to name a few. The organising committee also had a master plan up their sleeve; to present a Gag motion as comedic relief to the teams (safe to say, the joke was a hit). After the tournament, we were very pleased to hear positive comments from the teams and even adjudicators. It was a happy sight to see that the participants enjoyed the tournament, and it was safe to say that the tournament ended on a very “positive” note (pun intended). A special thanks goes out to our Principal and Vice-Principal for supporting us in this venture, to the Debaters Council for endorsing the tournament and for helping with the motions. To the Library and IT staff for facilitating us and helping us out in the technical areas, to our two Teachers-in-Charge Mrs Premeela Vijeyakumar and Mrs Fathima Majeed for their unconditional assistance, for staying up late with the debaters disregarding their own timetables, and for tolerating our unpredictable ideas in organising. And finally to our coach, Mr Lithmal Jayawardena, without whom the very idea of holding an All-Island Tournament, wouldn’t have been possible. His wisdom in organising tournaments, paired up with his immense help in preparations, proved to be the catalyst in the tournament’s success. The Lakshman Kadirgamar Debating Championship’s 2nd year had it all; pandemics, heart attacks, and pleasant surprises. It managed to live up to its name in the hill country and will carry on a legacy for years to come. Review by Pavara Rambukwella View this post on Instagram A post shared by Trinity College Kandy (@trinitycollege.lk)
We are delighted to announce that our debating team emerged undefeated champions at the Royal Institute of Colombo Interschool Debating Championship 2022 held on the 11th, 12th and 13th of February. The Interschool Debating Championship 2022 was hosted virtually via ZOOM. Trinity Tyrian ( Team A) Janidu Jayasekera (Captain) Thithira Jayakody Parinda Ratnayake Thesath Keppetiyagama (Reserve) Trinity Titanium (Team B) Ammar ZaffarullahJayageeth BasnayakeLolonyo RahulanPawan Thalagahawatte (Reserve) Both teams performed extremely well in the tournament’s 5 preliminary rounds, with Trinity Tyrian being the sole team out of 40 to win all 5, and Titanium winning all their rounds bar an excellent 3rd round against our own team Trinity Tyrian, as they were matched up based on the number of wins they had. After which team Titanium went on to win the other rounds until the octo-finals. Both teams qualified for elimination knockout rounds 1st and 8th respectively late on Saturday evening, where Titanium lost the octo-finals to Bishop’s College. Their loss was avenged by Tyrian on Sunday morning with a unanimous victory against Bishop’s College, who followed it up with another unanimous win against Wesley College in the semi-finals. The finals against Ladies’ College was on a topic about “drafting top university graduates to teach in schools in poorer areas”, where we prevailed in an extremely close debate where the 7 judge-panel split 4-3 in our favour. The tournament marks the school’s first victory in a national debating championship and is made all the more notable by our speakers’ excellent individual performances. Thithira Jayakody ranked 2nd best speaker in the competition overall, Parinda Ratnayake 3rd best and Janidu Jayasekera 13th best. With over 120 speakers overall, all 3 of Titanium’s members were also within the top 25. Another blissful moment was the opportunity to physically attend the award ceremony, before which due to the pandemic was not possible for nearly 2 years. The ceremony was held on the 25th of February 2022. The debating teams members would like to thank everyone who supported them and helped them along the way and most importantly, their coach, Mr. Lithmal Jayawardhana, who spent countless nights ensuring that the performances were up to standard. Having won the first tournament of the year, prospects are bright for Trinity Debating in 2022! Visit https://lsaricdebating.herokuapp.com/ricisdc22/ for the tournament website. Review by Thithira Jayakody Congratulations Trinity College, Kandy on winning the RIC Interschool Debating Championship – the first tournament of the 2022 Schools League. The winning team was represented by:Thithira JayakodyParinda RatnayakeJanidu JayasekeraThesath Keppetiyagama — Debaters’ Council of Sri Lanka (@debaterscouncil) February 13, 2022