Champion debate team reunite 50 years on

50 years after their debating success, Frank Vinac (left), Ben Hickey and Winston Matthews gathered at a reunion at Taipa.

Fifty years and one week ago, three young men from Oruru (inland from Taipa) made Young Farmers' Club history by winning the organisation's national debating competition.

No team from north of Auckland had won the title before in the competition's 28-year history, and with about 15 members it was one of the smallest clubs ever to collect the trophy.

At the beginning of that year it was close to going into recess.

On Saturday the team got together again at a YFC reunion at Taipa, with first speaker Frank Vinac, second speaker Ben Hickey and third speaker Winston Matthews showing they had lost none of the verbal agility of half a century before.

The Oruru Young Farmers' Club team that won the organisation's national debating competition in 1966 - Frank Vinac (left), Ben Hickey and Winston Matthews.

They beat Sheffield YFC Christchurch, which won the 1952 final, after making the North Island semi-final in 1964 and losing the 1965 final.

Coaches Brian Renner and Graham Blair, head of English at Kaitaia College were their coaches.

In the 1966 final they took the negative to the moot that resources devoted to space research should be applied to alleviating world food shortages, winning 264-256, with Frank scoring 77, Ben 73 and Winston 72. Frank also won the James Barclay Cup for best individual speaker.

New Zealand Young Farmer reported that the three judges, who assessed the teams independently, were unanimously in favour of Oruru, and Frank as the best speaker.