THE region’s Lions Club members were treated to a memorable performance from Gunnedah’s Haylee Murrell at Saturday’s Lions Club regional Youth of the Year finals.
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Competitors from across the region gathered at Wee Waa to battle it out for a spot in next month’s district youth of the year finals in Gunnedah.
After claiming the Gunnedah Lions Youth of the Year in November last year, Haylee put on another strong showing to finish runner-up in the highly competitive finals.
The Gunnedah High School student told The Namoi Valley Independent she was pleased with her performance.
“My impromptu speaking didn’t go so well in the first round (in November) so I was a bit surprised to win,” Ms Murrell said.
“But I was really happy with how I went at regionals, really happy.”
Ms Murrell gave a speech at the competition about women in agriculture, a topic very close to her heart.
“I spoke again about agriculture because that is absolutly what I love,” she said.
“More specifically the speech focused on women in agriculture and what has changed and what is changing within the industry at the moment.”
Gunnedah Lions Club president Nev Adams said Haylee should be proud of her performance throughout the competition.
“Her entry form for the Gunnedah competition was a classic,” Mr Adams said.
“It was a little disappointing Haylee didn’t get the nod at regionals but us as a club, as well as her school and family are extremely proud of her efforts.”
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Ms Burrell will now look to mid year school examinations as well as taking part in an internship at the Sydney Royal Easter show as a part her prize for winning a careers competition as a part of last year’s Archibull Prize.
“As part of the internship I will be helping teach junior students from all sorts of different schools about agriculture and why it’s important to Australia,” she said.
“I’m hoping it will be a really memorable experience and hopefully a nice break from school.”
The Gunnedah teenager is encouraging all interested students to get involved in the next youth of the year competition.
“It’s a great way to get more involved with the community, work on public speaking, practice your interview skills for jobs later on, even if you don’t get through it’s a beneficial experience,” she said.
“It’s such a good experience and Nev and Robin are inspirational people and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Gunnedah Lions Club will host the district finals of the Lions Youth of the Year competition at the Gunnedah Services and Bowling Club on March 24.
Anybody interested in attending the event is encouraged to contact Nev Adams on 0429 904 677.