The Club’s Youth Speaks competition was held on Wednesday 21st January 2026 in the impressive setting of the Main Hall at Howells School, Llandaff.
Invitations were sent out early in the academic year, leading to teams from Howells School, Llandaff and Llanishen High School entering teams in both the Intermediate and Senior Competitions.
Unfortunately Llanishen High School’s Intermediate Team had to withdraw at the 11th hour, leaving the Howells team unopposed. Nevertheless, they took the opportunity to present their debate within a competition environment, which will be beneficial as they now progress to the next stage.
Howells Team were Lalitha Kollo (Chair), Saee Bhosle (Proposer} and Amelia Hayat (Opposer) and they spoke on the topic “Has AI gone too far?”. A positive judges adjudication highlighted there were a number of thought provoking arguments were raised by both the Proposer and the Opposer to the motion.
In the Senior Competition, there were two teams from Llanishen High School and one from Howells, comprising:
Llanishen High School
Isla Martin (Chair), Ali Nehan (Proposer) and Emelia Standley (Opposer).
Topic – “Alcoholic drinks should be banned in football stadiums”.
Vita Patsiakina (Chair), Toni Sullivan (Proposer) and Mruthulini Sudhaker (Opposer)
Topic – “Genetically modified babies are humanity’s path to a better future”.
Howells School
Jessica Box (Chair), Arianne McQueenie (Proposer) and Emma Hughes (Opposer)
Topic – “Music should replace PE?”
The competition was to a very high standard and this was reflected in the Judges’ adjudication. All three teams were praised for aspects of their debates and presentation. It was obviously a very close competition. The winners in the Senior category were Llanishen’s Vita Patsiakina, Toni Sullivan and Mruthulini Sudhaker. They will now go on to represent the Club and the school at the next stage of the national competition.