Youth Opportunities Report 2008/2009

ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD (RYLA)

The Rotary Club of Lanark supported two young people to attend the weeklong RYLA Camps held during the summer at the Abernethy Trust property at Ardeonaig.

Lynne Barr attended the Girls' Camp held from Saturday 19th to Saturday 26th July, while Kenneth Errington attended the Boys' Camp held from Saturday 26th July to Saturday 2nd August.

Lynne and Kenneth gave an excellent presentation on their experiences at a subsequent meeting, and received their RYLA Certificates and Group Photographs from the President.

In cooperation with Lanark Grammar School, Gemma Patrick and Andrew Jackson have been nominated to attend the camps being held this year.

YOUNG GOLFER

The fourth annual Rotary District 1020 Young Golfer of the Year Tournament was hosted by Galashiels Rotary Golf Club at Torwoodlee Golf Club, Galashiels on Friday 15th August.

Although a local event had been held in cooperation with Lanark Golf Club, due to the postponement of the tournament the previous week due to torrential rain and a course closure, the Lanark representatives were unavailable to attend on the rescheduled date.

PRIMARY SCHOOL QUIZ

The Primary School Quiz was held on Thursday 26th March in Robert Owen Memorial Primary School.

Eight teams participated in the competition representing Carstairs Junction Primary School, Lanark Primary School, New Lanark Primary School, Robert Owen Memorial Primary School and Underbank Primary School.

New Lanark Primary School 'B' and Robert Owen Memorial Primary School 'B' were tied in fourth place on 44 points, Underbank Primary School 'A' and Underbank Primary School 'B' were tied in second place on 46 points, with Robert Owen Memorial Primary School 'A' being declared the winners with an excellent total of 52 points.

The winning team members were James Barr, Jules Brennan, Graham Brown and Colette D'Ambrosio, and they went forward to the next round of the Rotary District Primary School Quiz.

President Neil MacDonald was in attendance to present participation certificates to all of the participating teams, and winners certificates to the winning team.

The winning team subsequently attended the Rotary District Semi Final held on Tuesday 28th April at Falla Hill Primary School in Fauldhouse, where they finished in fourth place.

YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR

The Young Achiever of the Year for 2008/2009 was Lanark Grammar School pupil Lucy Clark, who is currently Captain of Motherwell Football Club Girls Under 17s.

Lucy was recognised for her inclusion in the Scotland Under 17s squad for a Tri-Nation International Tournament held in Italy, her selection to represent Scotland at Under 17 level for a four team tournament in Denmark, and her selection for the Clubs for Young People Under 17s International Squad.

YOUNG MUSICIAN / SINGER OF THE YEAR

The Club once again agreed to support the Lanark Grammar School Young Musician / Young Singer of the Year competition, which will be held in Greyfriars Parish Church on Tuesday 16th June.

Lanark Grammar School will be changing the format slightly this year. The first half of the concert will be for Juniors, with a winner for Young Singer of the Year - Junior Section and Young Musician of the Year - Junior Section. The second half of the concert will be the Young Singer of the Year - Senior Section and Young Musician of the Year - Senior Section.

It has been suggested to Lanark Grammar School that the two Senior Section winners would be given the opportunity to go forward to the later stages of the Rotary District Young Musician / Young Singer of the Year competition.

Rotary District 1020 has also confirmed that if the winners are of school age at the time of the local competition, they will be able to participate in the District events next Spring.

YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE

I would like to express my thanks to the members of the Youth Opportunities Committee, and indeed all members of the Rotary Club of Lanark, for their assistance at the events held during the last year.

David Strachan
Chairman
Youth Opportunities Committee