RYLA – a district success story for clubs and awardees who attend
RYLA 2019 is on again in first week of July. This is one of the largest RYLA events in Australasia and is quite unique in many ways. Once again, we are expecting 120 candidates from a wide range of corporate and Rotary sponsors.
The support we get from all district 9920 Rotary clubs in terms of finding candidates, managing the corporate sponsors and in the overall support of the programme is greatly appreciated.
This event is organised by a dedicated team of Rotarians, Rotaractors, past RYLA attendees and members of the NZ Army. While there is a permanent team of people who lead the programme we still rely heavily on the people power provided by the clubs and this year that is coming from Richard Wilkie and his team at Half Moon Bay Rotary. The team give a huge amount of time to the planning and execution of the event and our district owes that team a huge debt of gratitude.
I recommend that all Rotary clubs sponsoring candidates, either in their own right, or through corporates, plan a dedicated Rotary meeting, post RYLA to welcome back their attendees, to hear of their experience, and to engage with these future leaders. I can assure you the experience of engaging with these young people is extremely fulfilling.
Choosing young people to attend RYLA is only the beginning. Clubs should follow up and try to maintain the connection. How else can we expect the beneficiaries of RYLA to go on and remain in contact with the Rotary organisation? Get them involved with projects you are planning. They are a great resource and full of new ideas.
NOTE; All Rotary club members are most welcome to come to Willow Park to observe, especially on the opening weekend (29th and 30th June) and if they have candidates to register and attend the final gala dinner on Friday 5th July to celebrate the completion of the event.
Next year three clubs, Papakura, Drury and Manurewa-Takanini, will resource 2020 RYLA This is the first time we have utilised a cluster approach and our thanks go to Bill Chakow for getting this started.
Peter Ross
Chair
District 9920 RYLA