Zone 8 and 9 Youth of the Year (YOTY)
Sandringham LC was very excited to host the YOTY Zone 8 and 9 final this year, with students from Wheeler’s Hill, Boroondara-Gardiners Creek, Moorabbin, Sandringham and Brighton Lions Clubs. All 5 students were very strong and the judges found it quite hard to make their decision. Students competing were Maeve Ford from Brighton SC, Yash Padwardhan from Melbourne HS, Alexandra Suddick from Canterbury Girls School, Ben White from Cheltenham SC and Jordan Bassilious from Mazenod College. In the end Jordan, sponsored by Wheeler’s Hill LC took out both Public Speaking Award and the Overall Zone Award. It was a great event with 50 people attending including teachers, Lions and families including grandma’s and grandpas.
Our Guest Speaker was Damon Moorfoot, President of Warrandyte Leos Club who spoke while the judges were deliberating about his journey with Leos and what fun they have. This was a great opportunity for all present to hear about our Leos Clubs.
Jordan will now compete at the District YOTY Final on 23rd March. We wish him well and there will be quite a few Lions and family there to support him. I will certainly be there as well as other members of Zone 8 and 9!
Thank you to our fantastic judges who have each judged this program for 3 years. Anne Sarros, James Sarros and Michael Alexandridis from NAB. NAB provided the winners prizes and have committed to sponsoring this program ongoing. The Lions Youth of the Year program is a fantastic opportunity for Lions Clubs to showcase and raise awareness of what Lions do. I encourage as many clubs as possible to host a YOTY competition next year. Starting in 3rd term this year to contact your local schools is the best way to go. District YOTY Chair Monica McQuatters can help you get started and I am happy to help the clubs in Zone 9 as well. To see more about Lions Youth of the Year program please check out the link here: https://lionsclubs.org.au/activities/youth/yoty/. These young people are not only Australia’s future, but Lions future also!
