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Quest Chairman for Australia
Bryan Coggle



md201yoty@bigpond.com

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National Chairman Report
 
  

Lions Youth of the Year Quest

Chairman for Australia
 

 

National Chairman’s Report

Youth of the Year was developed by the City of Brisbane Lions Club in 1964 and has been growing steadily ever since then. Today we have 650 club, zone, region and state finals and nearly 3000 students participating in every state of Australia. The National Final held at the Multiple District Convention regularly attracts an audience of 1500 Lions, Lionesses, Leos and partners.

Why is this programme so popular with Lions Members? Do we all aspire to be able to stand in front of an audience of 1500 and speak without fear of failure, or are we secretly wishing that we had the same opportunities as these fantastic young adults when we were younger?

If you ask those who have been involved with the programme for a number of years, the answer is simple, -  they enjoy being part of the development of these students.

At the beginning of the journey these students are nervous and apprehensive about what confronts them.  With gentle nurturing and encouragement from our fabulous Lions Club Chairmen, they realise  they can speak for five minutes without forgetting the words, and the two impromptu questions are not as difficult as first anticipated. The judges were full of encouragement throughout the interview process.

What follows is an amazing journey that culminates in six contestants, one from each state, competing for the title of National Winner. However, all six receive a fabulous trip to the home town of each of the other contestants during a whirlwind 35 day tour of Australia, while the overall winner has the opportunity to represent the Lions Clubs at a Youth Forum overseas.

Our amazing Lions Members who have guided these equally fantastic young people from being students to young adults, gain as much enjoyment and satisfaction from being part of the journey as do the contestants.

This year there are a number of challenges and changes confronting Youth of the Year Quest.

The changes are in relation to the new rule regarding the scoring system. From the commencement of the 2010/11 Quest years, the public speaking will be worth 30 points, increasing the overall score to 110 points. Hopefully this will improve the overall quality of the Quest. Entrants will also be able to submit a new entry form prior to the District Final.

The challenge is certainly the early timing of the Lions Multiple District Convention in Launceston from 12-17th April 2010. We are encouraging clubs to run their club finals in the second half of 2010 to ease pressure on the Zone, Region and District Finals in early 2011. The feedback received to date from Club Chairmen has been positive with schools embracing the earlier Club Final and hopefully this will encourage clubs to continue the practice.

During the last few years we have fine-tuned the programme to ensure that it maintains its high standard and is still an acceptable vehicle for students to participate in. I believe that we have achieved this by consultation with the contestants and with the State Coordinators providing feedback from their Chairmen. However, the next few years are a time for consolidation and ensuring that the changes are implemented and expected results achieved.  We need to provide training at all levels to ensure that incoming Lions members are fully conversant with the changes that we have made to the programme, and are comfortable in implementing them.

This is a fantastic programme and it will only get better if all Lions Members feel they have ownership of the programme, be it at club level or through the Zone, Region and District levels.  Everyone is part of the journey.

 

Bryan Coggle

Australian Chairman

Lions Youth of the Year Quest.

Bryan Coggle

Australian Chairman
Lions Youth of the Year Quest.