Youth Of The Year Program To Return To Proserpine

Proserpine Lions Club will be hosting the Youth of the Year program once again. This is a special program dedicated to celebrating all the talent that the youth of Proserpine have to offer. The competition was initiated by the local lions cub to foster leadership and public speaking skills in young Australians. This year will mark the 61st Anniversary of Lions Youth of the Year which started in Brisbane in 1964.

Students are required to be between the ages of 15 and 19 at the time of the national final, and must have attended secondary school that year. The main focus of the program is to help students develop confidence in their ability to communicate with community leaders and present themselves so that they can excel in any field of interest. As students are about to enter employment or higher education, the program can help to hone their skills so that they are adequately prepared for whatever challenge they may face.

There are numerous benefits to entering the Youth of the Year program. These include friendship, networking as well as the consolidation of skills in public speaking and interviewing. The program has demonstrated results, with many students reporting how they learned to negotiate complicated environments such as school processes, university application interviews and post-graduate situations.

The Youth of the Year program is only possible through community support. The team is assisted by dedicated volunteer judges and organisations who facilitate the space for the events to occur.

Each school is blessed to have a mentoring teacher who assists students with application forms, practices impromptu speeches, prepares the 5-minute speeches and helps get participants ready for their interviews.

"The Proserpine community has a generous heart, especially for youth programs", remarked program chair Jane.

Mrs Erin Jarred had admirably served this role for several years and will now hand over the role to Mr Scott Casey, another talented individual with a background in debating.

"The youths are absolutely amazing, and they boggle me every single year," said Jane.

"They have beautiful manners, they chat and make eye contact, they recognise us in the street and say hello afterwards. Their speeches both prepared and impromptu are sensational and the amount of work that they quietly do in the impromptu community gives you faith that the world is in very good hands."

The public speaking final will be held on Wednesday the 18th of February at the Whitsunday Activity Leisure Centre.

2026 will no doubt usher in a new pool of immense youth talent, so the community should be excited to see what our young residents of the region have to offer.

A great thanks to all members of the community who lend their support to this very special occasion. It is clear that 2026 will mark another great Youth of the Year program.

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2025's competition was a wonderful success! Photo source: Proserpine Lions Club

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