Goodbye Miss Showgirl, Hello Sydney Royal AgShows NSW Young Woman Competition

In June, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS) announced it would rename the iconic Sydney Royal Easter Show Showgirl competition to better reflect the spirit of the program to honour young rural women now and into the future.

From next year the competition will be known as the Sydney Royal AgShows NSW Young Woman competition.

AgShows NSW President, Tim Capp said the inclusion of the AgShows NSW brand into the title reflected the agshow origins for each showgirl, who must first win their local title to proceed through to the zone and state levels.

“Like Sydney Royal, we will be adopting the title Sydney Royal AgShows NSW Young Woman at the seven zone finals from 2022,” Mr Capp said.

“For our 192 local shows and their own competitions, we will be recommending they adopt the name, however, we will not be mandating it.

“Our decision is a reflection of the view that this competition is important not only for shows and country communities, but also for the development of young rural women, and must evolve with the times.”

President of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, Michael Millner said that continuing the legacy of the competition into the future was a priority for his organisation also.

“This program has had a profound impact on thousands of rural women and community leaders for over half a century,” Mr Millner said.

“As custodians of it, alongside AgShows NSW, we are focused on its relevance, evolution and growth so that it can continue for another 60 years.”

COVID has wreaked havoc on the normal schedule of shows with 132 cancellations this year. Subsequently, few shows have been able to run a local competition or nominate a local young woman to represent their show, which will have ramifications for zone and state finals.

“We are encouraging all shows, whether or not they have run, to identify a talented, committed woman under the age of 25 in their community to represent them as their 2021 Young Woman and compete in the 2022 zone finals.”

The Agricultural Societies Council of New South Wales adopted a trading name, AgShows NSW, as their public facing brand.

Mr Capp said the organisation had had several name changes over the course of its 92 years.

“Most recently, the board resolved to maintain the current name Agricultural Societies Council of NSW Ltd as the legal entity and utilise a trading name that more plainly describes our purpose.”

• Topics:

• Ag Shows