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.
