General News
27 February, 2026
Strong performance at Youth of the Year
CAMPERDOWN Lions Club saw five students from Camperdown College and Mercy Regional College (MRC) on Tuesday for the annual Youth of the Year contest.
Matilda Curran, Joseph Moloney and Sonny Podger from Mercy Regional College and Charlie Londregan and Zackary Regan from Camperdown College presented their five-minute prepared speeches in the evening, having conducted their interviews during the day.
Matilda spoke on how listening is powerful, Sonny shared why communites should support local business, Charlie spoke on how people grow and learn from mistakes and Zackary presented a speech on how people can push themselves and embrace challenges throughout life.
Joseph was the overall winner of the night with his speech on the power of play.
Students also answered two impromptu questions on the night – apart from an immediate family member, who do you see as a role model and why, and if you could have one extraordinary ability you don’t already have, what would it be and how would you use it to improve the world around you?
Judges Geoff Barby, Helen Durant and Tony Dupleix said they were impressed with all the contestants at their interviews with their applications, general knowledge and breadth of interests.
Mr Barby, who was the chair of the judges, congratulated all contestants.
“We were impressed with the amount of work put into and content of the prepared speeches,” he said.
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“The evening public speaking section took place before, and enjoyed by an audience which included school representatives, contestant’s family members, friends, Lions club members and the public.
“The students performed very well and their efforts were appreciated by all who attended.”
As overall winner of this year’s competition, Joseph will progress to the regional final which will be held in Camperdown on Sunday, March 22 to compete against other club final winners from other Lions clubs.
The regional final winning student will then progress to the district final on April 18, with winners then competing at the state final at Frankston on May 2 before competing in the national final at Adelaide later in May.
Lions Youth of the Year coordinator Leanne Delahunty extended congratulations to the contestants and thanked school staff and families for helping to make the contest a success and emcee Colin Hayman for his conduct of the evening.
“We thank the judges for their generosity in giving their time and expertise to the contest,” she said.
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