LOCAL youth Deena Clemson has been winning hearts and minds through the perennially critical medium of public speaking, going all the way to the national capital in the Lions Youth of the Year competition.
Deena’s journey started with winning the overall Medowie Lions Youth of the Year on Sunday 23 November, 2025, which led to the 201N3 District Youth of the Year Finals at Wangi District Workers Club on Saturday 11 April.
There, Deena won the overall district and public speaking components of the competition, moving on to the Lions state finals in Canberra on Saturday 2 May.
As the representative for District 201N3, Deena was one of five state finalists vying for the opportunity to represent NSW at the national finals in Adelaide..
Proud dad Mark Clemson told News Of The Area, “It was a long day. Deena interviewed at 9:45am before participating in a luncheon and then returning in the evening for a dinner where each participant responded to two two-minute impromptu speeches and delivered a five minute prepared speech.”
Deena’s address was “Nine Boundaries, One Future”, an unflinching deconstruction of just how close humanity is to losing its uniquely liveable planet to pollution and inaction, among other modern concerns.
Deena’s journey in the competition finished on the weekend with Ryan from The Henry Lawson High School progressing through to the national finals.
“Lions Youth of Year has been an amazing experience,” Deena told NOTA.
“Not only was I challenging my interview and public speaking skills, but I got to meet incredible young people from across the state and gained an incredible support network.“Travelling to Canberra for state finals was definitely a highlight – not only participating in the competition but being able to explore the local area and Australian National University (ANU) where I am looking at possibly going to uni.
“Being one of the top five in the state really pushed me to stay committed, and be the best person I could be in every stage of the process.”
Members of the Tea Gardens Lions Club invited Deena to tell them all about that journey, as well as another the Tea Gardens branch of the international club helped to make happen – her involvement in the United Nations Young Diplomats Tour of Europe over December 2025 and January 2026.
A whirlwind trek beginning in the ancient city of Istanbul, then crossing through close to a dozen European countries, including Germany, France, the UK and Ireland, gave Deena a remarkable and unparalleled educational experience, which only fed more into her desire to pursue an international relations future.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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