Staffordshire Young Farmers Clubs are pleased to announce that their Public Speaking Competitions Day which is held on Sunday 24th November, is being supported this year by B.C.W (Agriculture) , Crop Production, Animal Health and Seed Specialists. B.C.W (Agriculture) have been established since 1991 with their head office being based in Market Drayton, Shropshire. The busy day sees nine competitions organised by the Competitions Committee, for the members of the ten clubs across Staffordshire to compete in. Staffordshire YFC is very fortunate to be able to hold the day at the Staffordshire County Showground in the excellent facilities of the Ingestre Suite rooms, by kind permission of the Staffordshire and Birmingham Agricultural Society.
For the younger age group, there is a Junior Reading and Junior Speaking Competitions which for many of our members, is the first experience of public speaking they will ever have. Our Intermediate members aged between 17 – 21 years, will compete in a “Call My Bluff” Competition, which involved a team of four members who can develop their skills in public speaking by trying to outwit the opposition by engineering two plausible “bluff” explanations to a given word. For Senior members, a Debating Competition will be held, which involves teams of five members, who are given a debating subject three weeks prior to the competition. These members can then develop their knowledge of the subject whilst enhancing their speech writing and public speaking skills.
As well as Public Speaking, The Member of the Year Competition will also be held, split into two age categories for members aged 17 and under and 18 and over. All members are asked to submit a synopsis form prior to the day and will then be interviewed by a panel of judges. The younger members are also asked to present a PowerPoint on their experiences both in YFC and outside of the organisation and for the older members, they have a “live” interview on stage by the judges as well. Situations Vacant is the final more “formal” competition of the day, which involves members applying for a job of their choice, completing their CV and submitting a formal application. On the day of the competition they are then interviewed for that job.
Jonathan Dolbear from BCW Agriculture said “BCW, a trading division of Frontier Agriculture Ltd, are committed to supporting young people looking to enter the Agricultural industry. Supporting events organised by YFC such as this one is a great chance to promote who we are and demonstrate the opportunities available as well as further developing young people’s skills to give them a positive view of a career in Agriculture.”
To round off a busy day of competitions, two more “entertaining” ones will also be held. Firstly, a Commercial Dancing competition, where teams will be practising to perform a commercial dance, which is the type of dance performed by dancers who are hired for music videos. The routine is to be between 3-5 minutes long and may be to one track or a compilation of tracks. In addition to this, the dancing competition will be followed by a Cheerleading Competition. Each team is required to perform a Cheerleading routine which may contains the many elements of this skill including dance, jumps, cheers and stunts, again lasting between 3 – 5 minutes. Staffordshire YFC have seen club teams in the Cheerleading Competition reaching the National Finals of this competition twice before, with Cheadle YFC in 2004 and Chase YFC in 2013.
Polly Baines, County Chairman said “As a charitable organisation we are reliant on sponsorship and donations in order to continue to provide the great service and opportunities to our members. Therefore, we really appreciate companies like BCW Agriculture, who have chosen to support Staffordshire YFC, and the future generation of the rural community in this way.”
All results from the various competitions are announced on the day and awards will be made to those coming out on top. Each competition is part of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs Competitions Programme and the teams or individuals placed in first or second place will progress to the next round of competitions which is organised for the West Midlands Area, competing against four other counties.
For any further information on any of our YFC Clubs, or for more information about supporting Staffordshire YFC, please contact Julia Taylor on 01785 248645 or email countyoffice@staffsyoungfarmers.org.uk.
