winning the senior schools' National Debating Tournament on Saturday.

The three man team -- Trevor Leitch, Ian Ostroff-Striffler and Graeme Henderson, beat a Mount St. Agnes Academy side in the final by arguing for the motion "Tradition is holding us back''.

Trevor Leitch also picked up the trophy for best individual debater with Berkeley Institute's Vincent Richardson coming in a close second.

The competition, organised by the Junior Service League, was held at the Bermuda College and saw eight senior teams battle it out for the honour of being named national champions.

In the junior schools competition, Bermuda High School for Girls came out on top, beating a team from Warwick Academy in the debate "We should put the Third World first''.

In the individual competition, Warwick Academy's Christine Meyer was judged to be best debater while Christie Hunter picked up the runner-up prize.

Each team was given 45 minutes to prepare their argument before presenting it to a panel of five judges. There was also an unprepared round in which teams had to debate for or against the motion "We need more heroes''.

After the competition, judge Elizabeth Virgo, the vice chairman of the Bermuda Debating Society, said: "It was very successful and we all agreed that the standard of debate was high. It's very pleasing to see the progress that is being made in debating in our schools.

"The pupils benefit in a number of ways. They become aware of what's going on outside Bermuda, learn to work together in a team and put across a point of view in a pleasant and understanding way -- even if it's a point that they don't agree with. They also gain in confidence.'' A five-man team has now been selected to take part in the International Debating Tournament in Israel next year.

TOP DEBATERS -- Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith presents Saltus Grammar School's team with their trophy. From left to right are Graeme Henderson, Ian Ostroff-Stiffler and Trevor Leitch.

COMPETITION CPN EDUCATION ED