This coach can talk the talk
Mitchell House's new debate team coach ticks all the right boxes.
POLOKWANE – Vaniah Thomas, (20) from Westenburg, is the perfect candidate to lead the debate teams from different schools.
“I started coaching debate teams in 2015 at Taxila Secondary School, where I initially was an assistant to my friend Kyle Lyle, and then the head coach in 2016. I started coaching debate at Mitchell House in January this year. The school needed a debate coach and they noticed me while I was at Taxila coaching other debate teams. Since then I have started working with some of the learners at Mitchell House,” he explained.
Thomas has coached learners for the Polokwane Debating League (PDL), the Mayors Cup, the Vice Chancellors Trophy and the recent World Scholar’s Cup.
He aims to get the learners to national tournaments. He is also an IT graduate from Rosebank College in Polokwane.
He says his debate teams do not like to lose, and losing demoralises them.
“What I try to do to overcome the challenges we go through as a team is to teach them that losing is the first step in getting better, and we all want to get better as we learn from our mistakes. So they shouldn’t be afraid to lose, they must understand that our aim is to win and learn,” he added.
He says he would like to go into the education field, hopefully next year, as he wants to be a teacher because of his love for children.
“I use my current position and time to experience, experiment, learn and grow as a teacher and leader. I also use my spare time to write, especially poetry.”
Thomas did not participate in debating at his previous schools, as he describes himself as a shy person but a very good leader.
“I was a shy timid child, I wish the ‘me now’ could have given my advice to the ‘me then’. I guess the best way to overcome any obstacles and challenges within debates is to keep learning and to keep growing, but most importantly, to have confidence, (which is something I didn’t have back then). I learned from it as I grew up, even now I struggle a bit, but that’s the beauty of it, I wanted to become better at debating, and I did.”
His advice to youngsters who want to join debate teams is; “Do not be intimidated, have passion and believe in your own abilities. Every individual is teachable but not every learner wants to be taught, that is what one must always remember. Learners who want to join debating have to, and must be, willing to learn and be taught.”
