University of Auckland Debating Society

Horton Cup is our weekly internal debating tournament held during semester one. The top six novice speakers over the course of the semester will be selected to speak in the Horton Cup final at the last club night of the semester. The winners of the Horton Cup are announced at our end of semester prizegiving.

The Log o’ Johnston is our weekly internal debating tournament held during semester two. The top four amateur speakers and top four pro speakers speak together on “pro-am” teams in the Log o’ Johnston final at the end of the second semester. The winners of the Log o’ Johnston final are announced at our end of year prizegiving.

Auckland Novice is a development tournament aimed at students with little to no debating experience. Speakers can sign up individually or with their friends and will be placed in divisions according to their debating experience. Auckland Novice is an excellent opportunity for students to make friends, develop their critical thinking and public speaking skills, and receive feedback from our most talented judges. We offer a cash prize for the winners and finalists of each division, and present speaker awards at the end of the day to reward speakers for their efforts.

Auckland Invitational is a tournament designed to prepare speakers and adjudicators for the World Universities’ Debating Championships. Talented teams and judges from all over the world travel or zoom in to Auckland IV in hopes of experiencing our style of debating before the World Universities’ Debating Championships. In 2023, teams from Sydney, Tokyo, Manila, and Delhi attended the tournament.

Auckland Rumble is a British Parliamentary style tournament to prepare speakers and adjudicators for the Australasian Women and Gender Minorities Debating Championships (AWGMDC) and the World Universities’ Debating Championships (WUDC). The 2023 edition was won by speakers from the winning team of 2023 Krabi Australs, and was attended by teams from every continent.

Auckland Pre-Australs (also known as Auckland Whippersnappa) is a preparation tournament for the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, featuring teams from around Asia and New Zealand.