On 17 April 2008 in Rotorua at University Games, Victoria won its 10th Officers’ Cup (Easters) title in a row. Below is the year by-year account of this amazing achievement.

1999: Victoria One defeats Otago One in Christchurch
Little is known to current Debsoccers about what would become the first title of the ten-year run. Victoria One was Matt Cuthell and Angela Ballantyne, who later that year would make the semi-finals of the World Champs. Matt Cuthell was best speaker. They were affirmative after losing the toss against Otago 1 (Chris Curran and Ben Hamlin) on the motion “that we should talk to terrorists’. Matt claims that the win was ‘phoenixed in the summary’ and won Vic the Uni Games. That same year Vic 2 (Anna Livesey and Nikki Willis) and Vic 4 (Chelsea Payne and Duncan Small) also made the semis.

2000: Victoria defeats Otago One in Wellington
On home soil, Chelsea Payne and Duncan Small defeated Otago One (Chris Curran and Rachel Carrell) to retain the Officers’ Cup for Victoria. This heralded a period of great dominance of NZ tournaments by Victoria, with the awesome foursome of Chelsea, Duncan, Nicola Willis, and Kevin Moar to the fore. Chelsea was named as best speaker and in the NZU team.

2001: Victoria Two defeats Otago One in Dunedin
Taking on Otago on their home soil, the Vic Two team of Kevin Moar and Nicola Willis defeated Otago One for the third year in a row. They downed Vic One (Chelsea Payne and Duncan Small) in the semi-final. Chelsea Payne retained her title as best speaker and made the NZU team.

2002: Victoria One defeats Massey One in Hamilton
Easter Tourney travelled northwards to the provinces in 2002, but the Vic pairing of Chelsea Payne and Nicola Willis, then at the peak of their powers, swept away the Massey One team of Chris Pearce and Shaun Healy. Nicola won the best speaker prize to make it the fourth year in a row the Dame Cath Cup was won by a Vic debater.

2003: Victoria One defeats Auckland One in Palmerston North
Uni Games again took place in a provincial North Island town. 2003 represented somewhat of a generational change for Vic, with previous stalwarts retiring, and stars of the future starting to come through. Vic One (Ranald Clouston and Sayeqa Islam) thumped Auckland One by 7-0 in the final.

2004: Victoria One defeats Otago Four in Dunedin
Uni Games made a journey south to Dunedin, and Vic once again downed Otago on home soil. Vic One (Christopher Bishop and Gareth Richards) beat Otago 1st and 2nd years Laura Fraser and Marcelo Rodriguez-Ferrere. Vic Two (Josh Cameron and Matt McGrath) also broke, but lost to Vic One in the semis.

2005: Victoria One defeats Otago One on the North Shore
Auckland University of Technology hosted Easters for the first time. Vic One (Christopher Bishop and Joe Connell) defeated the previous year’s runners-up, reincarnated as Otago One, in a 7-0 decision in the final.

2006: Victoria Two defeats Victoria Four in Wellington
Victoria hosted Easters for the first time since 2000 and we celebrated by breaking three teams to the semi-finals. Victoria Two (Tom Fitzsimons and Stephen Whittington) beat Victoria Four (Josh Cameron and Ihaia Tichborne) in the final, with Vic One (Joe Connell and Torie Olds) bowing out to Vic Two in the semis. Joe won the best speaker prize, and he and Josh made up the NZU team, with Josh being named captain.

2007: Victoria One defeats Victoria Two in Christchurch
Another year of Vic dominance. Vic One (Stephen Whittington and Yogesh Patel) beat Vic Two (Polly Higbee and Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna) in the final. Polly won the best speaker prize and made the NZU team.

2008: Victoria One defeats Victoria Two in Rotorua
Uni Games headed to a non-university town for the first time, and it was an all-Vic final for the third year in a row. Vic had four of the top five teams, including three in the break. Vic One (Polly Higbee and Richard D’Ath) defeated Vic Two (Yogesh Patel and Ihaia Tichborne) by 7-0 in the final. Vic Three (Kathy Scott-Dowell and first-year Ella Edginton) lost to Vic One in the semis. Polly and Richard made up the NZU team, with Polly being named as captain and best speaker, for the second year in a row.

And now for the next ten….

2009: Victoria One defeats Victoria Two in Hawera
Uni Games continued its sojourn around the provinces, heading to South Taranaki. It was an all-Vic final for the fourth year in a row after Auckland and Canterbury were vanquished in the semi-finals. Vic One (Seb Templeton – at his first Easters – and Richard D’Ath) defeated Vic Two (Yogesh Patel and Ella Edginton) by 6-1 in the final. It was Patel’s third Easters final appearance in a row, and D’Ath’s second. Seb and Richard made up the NZ Team, with Seb being named captain and Richard winning the best speaker trophy.

2010: Victoria Two defeats Auckland Two in Invercargill
It was a non Vic-Vic final for the first time in five years as Uni Games headed down to the deep south, making the tournament a financial and logistical nightmare for many to attend. Returning champions Seb Templeton and Richard D’Ath, this time wearing the Vic Two moniker, knocked over Auckland Two in the Grand Final in a 4-1 decision. The top-breaking Vic One, up-and-comers Udayan Mukherjee and Paul Smith, narrowly lost in the semi-finals. Seb joined the elite club of people to win Easters twice, and Richard joined Anna Adams from Auckland as the only people to win it an amazing three times. Richard and Udayan made up the NZU team, with Richard being named as best speaker for the second year in a row, and as a member of the team for the third year in a row.