Young Wee Waa women impress judges ahead of 2022 show

The entrants of this year’s Wee Waa Young Woman of the Year competition impressed judges on Saturday, ahead of the title announcements at the show on August 26.

Junior entrants include Caitlyn Coutts-Smith, Mackenzie Jones and Caitlin Kable, with Bryony Allen nominating for the senior title.

The Sydney Royal AgShows NSW Young Woman competition aims to find an ambassador for rural NSW, entrants need to have a genuine interest in, and knowledge of regional communities and their issues.

Formerly known as the Showgirl competition, the popular youth development program has undergone a name change recently to better reflect the spirit of the event in honouring young rural women and to ensure the relevance of the competition well into the future.

The competition is a great way to develop and refine skills in interviewing, public speaking, presentation and networking.

At a local level, it offers the opportunity to expand entrants’ understanding of their local community, as well as learn about current happenings in regional NSW, particularly in the agricultural industry.

This year’s judges for the Wee Waa entrants include 2021 Tamworth Young Woman of the Year Emma Bailey, Cotton Grower Services purchasing manager Ben Palmer and Ali Smith, a journalist with the Wee Waa News.

Entrants took part in interviews at the C and W Financial Services office on Saturday morning.

The young women were asked to share their knowledge about the Wee Waa community, their future ambitions, and goals as well as answer a variety of questions about rural life and being young country leaders.
On Saturday night, entrants attended a small cocktail party gathering at the Rose Street gardens where they mingled with show society members and did a great job of answering more community-based questions, asked by event MC councillor Brett Dickinson who made the entrants feel at ease. Wee Waa Show Society president Gary Hibbens and guest judge Emma Bailey also spoke at the event.

Readers might be familiar with Emma Bailey, she won at the Zone 4 Finals held in Wee Waa earlier this year, alongside Walgett’s Elizabeth Weber.

During her speech, Emma shared some of the great experiences she’s had through the Young Woman initiative and the opportunities she gained from being chosen to compete at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney.

2021 Wee Waa Young Woman of the Year Georgia Dickinson brilliantly coordinated this year’s entrant interviews and events.

Having been in their situation not too long ago, Georgia said she was very impressed with how the young women presented and spoke on Saturday.

“Honestly, I could not be more proud of the girls,” said Georgia.

“They are all amazing ambassadors, and they all have different and interesting points of views.

“I’d really like to thank everyone who was involved with helping – the girls and judges, through to everybody who helped make Saturday night a success.

“It’s been incredibly inspiring to see the hard work and dedication from the show society, and we are very excited for this year’s show.”