Gosford girl Mackenna Martin was crowned the Junior Miss Country Girl Central Coast 2014, at the Beachcomber Hotel in Toukley on Sunday, August 31.
Hundreds of girls vied for the chance to compete in the Preliminary Final red carpet event, which was attended by family and friends of the contestants, along with numerous industry professionals. Girls from all regional areas across NSW competed for the chance to be crowned Miss Country Girl Central Coast and continue on to the Miss Country Girl Australia final in Sydney. The competition comprised four categories: The Junior category, for girls aged 8-12, the Senior category, open to girls aged 13-28, the Swimwear category, open to girls aged 16-28, and the newly established Career Girl category, open to girls ages 16-30, who are interested in a career in the business side of the fashion industry. Other category winners included Cessnock local, Alicia McCallum in the senior category, Maddison Brands from Mannering Park in the swimwear category and Chelsea-Anne Lewis from Wyee in the career category. Miss Country Girl Australia is a nationwide search, designed to give regional and rural girls a chance to build national and international careers in the fashion industry. The competition has taken place annually since its inception in 2009, traveling to all remote areas of Australia. A weekend of modelling workshops and rehearsals led to the culmination of the contest, the Preliminary Final, in which the girls had a chance to show family and friends what they had learned, and winners were crowned in each of the respective categories. Central Coast organisation team member Maddison Bryers said: “We believe the competition benefits the whole community, it’s a great night where we foster healthy body image and celebrate the local talent.” Ms Jones said making the decision to move away from her family and home at the age of 15 was difficult, but also the only way to pursue her dream career in the fashion industry. “I made the move to Sydney because it was obvious there were more opportunities in this field there.” Following her own struggle to make it in the fashion world, Ms Jones said her understanding of how cutthroat the industry can be for a country girl has fuelled her passion to help others in similar situations. Through the process of scouring the countryside for girls who will inspire and motivate their peers, Ms Jones said: “After all of these years it is still so overwhelming for me to watch the level of selfconfidence many girls take away from this experience.” “Meeting so many shy girls who are lacking in confidence at our very first introduction and then seeing them up on the catwalk at our final presentation is an amazing experience to watch,” she said. The competition will be back in the Central Coast in 2015.
Sally Codyre, 1 Sep 2014
Interviewees: Katie Jones
& Maddison Bryers
Website, 31 Aug 2014
Miss country Girl Australia
Photo: Rob Eyre