Lions Clubs Youth of the Year is happening again across Australia for the 2016/2017 competition.

The Lions and Lioness clubs of Tea Gardens and the Lions Club of Bulahdelah are looking for youth in the local areas to participate in the club level of the 2016/2017 Lions Youth of the Year program. Participants must be over the age of fifteen and under the age of nineteen as of the 30 June 2017. Participants must be attending or have attended a secondary school standard educational institution in 2016/2017.

This includes secondary schools, correspondence schools, TAFE institutions and the like.

The Lions Youth of the Year Program is a project of the Lions Club of Australia and Papua New Guinea supported by the National Bank of Australia.

The ultimate aim of the program is to select an outstanding young individual to be an Australian ambassador with the opportunity to travel overseas under the auspices of Lions Club International.

Each stage of the program provides young people with the opportunity to further develop their citizenship and leadership qualities as they prepare for entry into the workforce or higher education.

The qualities sought include academic attainments, leadership, citizenship and community involvement, personality, sportsmanship and public speaking.

The club level competition will be held in the first week of February 2017.

Participants will be required to fill out an entry form, attend an interview to discuss the entry form and demonstrate general knowledge and public speaking skills.

For further information please go to www.lionsclubs.org.au/yoty and contact Tea Gardens Lions Youth of the Year Coordinator John Hughes on 0409 399 817.

By John HUGHES