The Gavel Club recently held their annual Intra-gavel tournament for the academic year 2021/2022 on the 17^th and the 24^th of October. Instead of their weekly meetings, the tournament was held on the respective Friday afternoons, with their club members in attendance, both as competitors and spectators.

Club members themselves volunteered to fill in roles such as timers and ah counters as well as contest chairs; we certainly get things done together as a club. Our Club counsellor and Coach, District Toastmaster Dinuk Silva was the judge of the tournament.

The first round of the competition was the Intermediate Category for students in between Year 8 and Year 10. The 12 contestants were given a limit of 5 – 7 minutes to speak on a topic of their choice. We saw some riveting deliveries on topics ranging from “Forget about Freedom” to “Why you should believe in yourself” as well as heart-warming speeches about “My wonderful dog” and questioning us on “Is it time to give up?”.

The senior category of the tournament was held the following week, with six contestants from Year 11 to Year 13.  The session was an absolutely engaging hour, with speeches with profound messages and well-rounded deliveries that had our attention till the final word. We had sentiments on the struggles of being a “Chameleon” as well as a mini lesson in science and history with “The age of the Anthropocene”.

We must give our multitalented speakers a mention here; we had a gorgeous rendition of Yohani’s “Menike Mage Hithe” as well as some very smooth card tricks. The audience was also given some much needed insight into popular characters such as Malala Yousufzai and Connor McGregor – we certainly got to hear more about the girl who fights for women’s education and the man who fights for a living.

Last but not least, with much trial and tribulation, the winners were selected.