NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (February 17, 2025) – The reigning champions of the Leeward Islands Debating Competition (LIDC), the Nevis Literary and Debating Society (LDS), is preparing to defend its title at the 53rd staging of the prestigious competition, set to take place in St. Maarten from March 6 to 8, 2025.
Representing Nevis will be a team of students from the Nevis Sixth Form College, including Jeran Webb, T’Geonique Hunkins, Lauchele Herbert, Shirmia Thompson, Kijari Huggins, and President of the LDS, Khalia Huggins-Simmons. As the champions of LIDC 52, Team Nevis will automatically advance to the semifinals and, if successful, the finals.
“We got the moots late last year so we’ve been working hard over the vacation and still now, preparing for those,” said Huggins-Simmons. “For the semifinals our debate topic or moot is ‘Parental leave should be equal for both mothers and fathers’, and the finals moot would be ‘Caribbean youth will not reach their fullest potential without adequate soft skills training’.
“There is a lot of pressure because not only did we win finals, but we had three debates last year and we won all three of those. So the standard is pretty high, but I believe in my team and I’m confident we’re going to win.”
The team will compete with a few new debaters, who expressed eagerness to compete, having participated in mock debates over the past few months.
Mrs. Kerilyn Edwards-David, Deputy Principal with responsibility for the Nevis Sixth Form College and LIDC Coordinator, emphasized the team’s preparation and financial challenges.
“We will be traveling on March 5th and the competition starts on March 6th. We debate on March 7th and March 8th, and then we return to Nevis on March 10th,” she stated. “This year, traveling is very expensive, so we have been working extremely hard to raise funds. We have had several fundraisers in term one.
“This term, we are currently hosting a raffle. The raffle prizes are a 55-inch smart TV, music festival tickets for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, and dinner for two at Oualie. The raffle ticket prices are $25 per entry. So I’m encouraging everyone to purchase a raffle ticket and help us raise funds.”
The raffle drawing will take place on March 2nd at the Bank of Nevis Inter-High School Championship. Edwards-David also made an appeal to businesses and individuals to contribute generously towards the team’s expenses to ensure their participation.
The 2025 Leeward Islands Debating Competition will see five territories—Nevis, Anguilla, Antigua, St. Kitts, and host St. Maarten—compete in a battle of intellect. Team Nevis will face the winner of debate number one in debate number three on March 7th. The grand finale on March 8th will feature the winners of debate two and debate three.
As Team Nevis sets its sights on retaining the championship, the island rallies behind them with full support and anticipation for another victorious performance on the regional stage.