Narrabri hosts regional finals for Lions Youth of the Year

Narrabri High School vice captain Seamus Hunt was announced as the local Lions Youth of the Year for 2021, just last month, which saw him progress to compete against the winners of neighbouring towns at the regional finals held last weekend at the Narrabri RSL Club.

Seamus went head-to-head with Gunnedah High School’s Aidan R de Luzuriaga, and Immy Taylor of St Mary’s Gunnedah.

The competition comprised of an interview portion, which is marked out of 70, and a public speaking component, scored out of 30.

Local community members, Ellie Hatton, Pat Lash, and Tim Capp were tasked with judging the event.

The private interviews took place on Saturday afternoon, with only the judges and each contestant allowed to attend.

Here, the participants were judged on the initiatives they’ve undertaken at school, their involvement in the community, academic achievements, general knowledge, as well as their presentation and personality.

The public speaking round, which took place that night, had both a pre-planned element and an impromptu section.

Each participant delivered a five-minute speech on a topic of their choosing, which they had prepared prior to the event, to the audience.

The students were also given two unrehearsed questions and asked to speak for two minutes on each.

The questions for this round were “what is mankind’s greatest achievement?”, and “you have won one billion dollars, you have already taken care of your family and friends, what is the first thing you would buy yourself and why?”.

Seamus was crowned the winner of the public speaking component, with his impromptu answers and speech entitled “why I like GMOs”.

But it was Gunnedah High’s Aidan R de Luzuriaga who took out the top spot overall, naming him the regional Lions Youth of the Year winner. Aidan will now take part the district finals in Forster, later this month.

Of the roughly 30 audience members in attendance on Saturday was Lions spokesman Rob Gilbert who said it was great to see such promising local youth competing.

“Not only is it a wonderful experience for the students competing, but it’s a great addition to their CV, opening up even more opportunities as they move forward,” he said.

“They get recognised for all their hard work, and you wouldn’t believe how much these students step up to the challenge in such a short time.”

Mr Gilbert believes these programs are “a real confidence booster” for the future generations, and said the competition wouldn’t be possible without keen young participants.

“These kinds of events are exceedingly important for regional youth,” Mr Gilbert said.

“I thank everyone involved, especially the judges and contestants.”