New Zealand’s team for the upcoming World Schools’ Debating Championships includes two Tauranga students after a fantastic in-rounds performance in the national competition.
Oliver Larsen from Tauranga Boys’ College and Pearl Vahey Bourne from Tauranga Girls’ College will represent New Zealand at the international championships in Kenya this July.
The Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Schools’ Debating Team, comprising Oliver Larsen (Tauranga Boys’ College), Layla Clarke (Pāpāmoa College) and Pearl Vahey Bourne (Tauranga Girls’ College), represented the Bay of Plenty at the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships in Wellington from 22–25 May.
The team won six out of seven in-rounds of debating, on topics ranging from performance-based pay to New Zealand’s laid-back cultural norms, placing them first out of all regions before bowing out to Otago in a high-quality semi-final.
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Oliver and Pearl will represent New Zealand alongside Cerisa Gu from Auckland, Michael Cash from Wellington, and Emily Roy from Otago.
2026 has been the Bay of Plenty’s most successful year to date, with all three speakers receiving individual recognition at prize giving, held at Parliament.
Oliver Larsen was named as Captain of the Aotearoa New Zealand Schools’ Debating team; the first student in Bay of Plenty history to do so. Pearl Vahey Bourne was also named as a member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Schools’ Debating team and is the first female student from the Bay of Plenty to be selected.
Layla Clarke was named as a promising speaker, an award which only three students across the country receive each year.
“I am incredibly proud of the team and their achievements,” said Melissa Connolly, who has coached the Bay of Plenty team since 2022.
“They have worked so hard to get here and it has been great to see that hard work has paid off.”
The team will begin training ahead of the World Schools’ Debating Championships which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya in July.
“I am so honoured to have been selected to represent New Zealand in Kenya.”
“It has been such an amazing experience so far, and I’m so grateful to all of my coaches and teammates who made this possible,” said Vahey Bourne.
Selection to the Aotearoa New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team has been particularly special for Oliver Larsen, and not only because he has been named as Team Captain.
Oliver was chosen as a reserve to the Bay of Plenty Schools’ Debating Team in 2023, and has served as First and Second Speaker from 2024–2026. As a member of the Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Team, Oliver represented the Bay of Plenty in the national semi-finals three times.
In 2024 and 2025, he was named as the Most Promising Speaker in New Zealand, and was selected as a reserve to the Aotearoa New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team in 2025, before being named Team Captain this year.
As well as national success, Oliver has won the Bay of Plenty Schools’ Debating Championships twice, and was named as Best Speaker in the Bay of Plenty in 2025. His selection as Team Captain makes him the most decorated speaker in Bay of Plenty history.
“I can’t emphasise enough how grateful I am to have been a part of such an amazing team for the past four years, and especially for all of the support that we have had from our amazing coaches, NZSDC members, and the local community,” said Larsen.
“In my last year of high school and my last year on the team, I feel very grateful to end on such a high note.”
“I am excited to represent the Bay in Kenya and can’t wait to see Bay of Plenty debating continue to grow and thrive.”
