Clarence and Coffs Coast 30 most influential people under 30 revealed
From farmers to footy players, scientists to teachers there is a wealth of young talent across the Clarence and Coffs Coast. Read their amazing stories here.
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They are among our youngest and brightest shining stars from the Clarence and Coffs Coast.
From poets to scientists, swimmers to teachers there is a wealth of young talent in the region.
These young guns are making their mark on the area through determination, drive and a will to make their area a better place.
We’ve highlighted 30 of our youngest and brightest- some you may know, some you’ll be introduced to.
Take a read of their amazing story and marvel at the next generation guiding our area into the future.
Jojo Newby, 27
Born and raised locally on a small farm, selling rural properties in the Clarence Valley is something Jojo Newby feels very comfortable with.
In a career that’s taken a couple of small detours, Ms Newby is the rural property sales agent for Farrell McCrohon Stock and Station agents.
Ms Newby left school at 16 and moved to central Queensland to work on a property for almost a year.
She returned to complete a photographic and journalistic cadetship at The Daily Examiner from 2010-2013 before her rural roots came calling.
Mentored by local rural estate legend Stan Pitkin, she moved across to Farrell McCrohon in 2016 and now calls Calliope home.
“The rural market is booming and sellers are taking advantage of market conditions,” she said.
“We’re getting a huge amount of interest from buyers.”
Ms Newby said she had become good at finding her way around a paddock and learnt to deal with people from all walks of life.
“I thoroughly enjoy the rural line of work … it’s a wonderful job dealing with very like minded people,” she said.
“A big aspect of it just having these day-to-day conversations with those people about things I’m genuinely interested and involved in.”
Solli Raphael, 16
Coffs Harbour teen Solli Raphael first rose to global prominence at 12 after becoming the youngest ever winner of the Australian Poetry Slam.
His winning piece Australian Air went viral, quickly gaining four million views online.
Now 16, Solli is an award-winning and internationally published author and poet, keynote speaker, youth coach, entrepreneur, environmental conservationist and humanitarian.
In the four years since winning the poetry slam, Solli has led workshops, performed, spoken and worked with more 200 major events, conferences, schools, universities, governments and charities on six continents, across 100 countries, and reached an astounding two billion people with his work.
Solli’s first book, Limelight, was published in 2018, and his second book, Spotlight, in September 2020.
Both books have received accolades and awards for their capacity to engage students in poetry. Solli is currently working on his highly anticipated third book.
In January 2021, at just 15, Solli founded the environmental charity Earth Enablers, which publicly launched on Earth Day 2021.
Earth Enablers is an inclusive environmental conservation organisation that aims at creating a future of equality, transparency, and sustainability.
“As a young environmentalist, I was challenged when searching for ways to make a difference and contribute to a more sustainable future. Earth Enablers assists young people, particularly, in having a voice and helping create a greener future,” he said.
Solli also founded World Of Poetry, an organisation comprised of award-winning poets, PR specialists, entrepreneurs and experts within the arts and entertainment industries to provide opportunities for poets globally.
Rhiannon Mitchell, 29
Rhiannon is helping to change the future of Indigenous women through connection with culture and the marine environment.
She has been based in the Coffs Harbour region since the age of three and is a proud Mununjali woman (from the Beaudesert region in Queensland).
She juggles studying a marine science degree at Southern Cross University’s National Marine Science Centre with running Saltwater Sistas, a mentoring and ocean conservation organisation she founded.
Saltwater Sistas empowers Indigenous youth through cultural workshops and mentoring, while beach clean-ups help educate the community.
The 29-year-old’s efforts were recognised by ABC Heywire when she was named as one of 10 winners of its 2021 Trailblazers competition which celebrates young people bringing about change in their communities.
Rhiannon was recently featured on SBS during NAIDOC Week in an episode called Empowering youth through conservation.
Ashleigh Vallis, 30
Yamba mum Ashleigh Vallis took a leap of faith when she left her career as a flight attendant to become a fashion designer with her brand Summi Summi.
Ms Vallis moved to Yamba in 2016 after the birth of her daughter to join her partner Kaan, who is also a part of the Summi brand.
“I knew if I wanted to stay here I had to forge my own path,” she said.
“I started doing a children’s brand to keep me occupied and then a year or two later I did a little range of women’s wear that really took off, so I just ran with it.”
Ms Vallis said her range of ribbed cotton clothes filled a gap in the market in basic wear, which she said a lot of stores didn’t have.
“I saw that tiny little gap and I took it,” she said.
“Now we’re stocked in more than 30 stores and a few internationally.”
Taking advantage of Kaan’s hospitality background, they also opened Summi’s cafe on Yamba hill, which Ms Vallis said had paid off.
Ms Vallis has just released her first range of swimwear and is looking to expand the brand into the Northern Hemisphere in the next year.
“I’m just moving at my own pace,” she said.
Myles Oliver-King, 26
Myles has lived in Bellingen since the age of eight and has teamed up with his father Trevor to form Kingfisher Audio.
He studied a Bachelor of Agriculture at The University of Melbourne.
“I took the course slowly and while I was there I procrastinated my way into an obsession with travel, audio and speaker design,” Myles said.
He established Kingfisher Audio with his father, who is a furniture maker at Tree-O gallery, after returning to Bellingen.
“I love speaker design because it allows me an outlet for creativity in the context of a science-based process.
He said enjoyed combining form and function to get a satisfying and tangible outcome.
He said their environmentally responsible loudspeakers were aimed to last a lifetime, focusing on small-scale, quality craftsmanship.
Hayley Connor, 30
Hayley Connor doesn’t like the term influencer but it may be more applicable than the stereotype has become.
Born and raised in Grafton, the real estate marketer has turned her love of healthy eating and exercise into a platform followed by more than 17,000 people.
Originally started as the Happiest Healthy Project, Ms Connor runs her page under her own name now, and said it all started from her friends asking her for advice.
“I was telling my friends what I was doing for eating and training and I thought if I could set up a platform I could share and help more people,” she said.
“The whole purpose is to inspire and motivate people to live their happiest and healthiest life.”
Her Instagram page is filled with recipes, motivation and other advice and seems to have struck more of a chord than Ms Connor imagined.
“I set a list of goals for my page when I started, because I’ve seen other people’s pages grow quite a lot … and I thought if I got to 500 followers I would be happy, so the 17,000 is a little more than I expected,” she said.
“I’ve never wanted to cash in, to cash grab and do whatever I was paid for, I always wanted to make sure it was just about helping people.
“I just like helping people, and if I can help one person who messages me and says thanks it makes me want to keep doing it.”
Dylan Edwards, 25
One of two NRL players on the list, Dylan Edwards has already achieved so much in his short career by winning a premiership with the Penrith Panthers.
Big things were predicted for the Dorrigo lad who was always punching above his weight during his early days at the Bellingen-Dorrigo Magpies.
In 2016, off the back of his performances in the Panthers’ youth sides a year prior, the fullback earned a call up with the Junior Kangaroos and made his NRL debut.
Since then he has become an integral part of a formidable Panthers side brimming with young talent.
His achievement in the side’s dramatic grand final victory over South Sydney was made all the more remarkable after coach Ivan Cleary revealed the 25-year-old had been playing with a broken foot for a month.
Despite the injury he made several critical tackles and ran for a massive 231 metres.
Lachlan Skinner, 26
Lachlan is a proud Gumbaynggirr Man born and raised in Garlambirla (Coffs Harbour) on Gumbaynggirr Country.
His commitment to bringing high quality programs and events to the Coffs Harbour Aboriginal community has opened up training opportunities for youth in the area that has allowed access to programs usually only seen in cities.
He grew up in a strong family of leaders and has been volunteering for various organisations since the age of 12.
As a 17-year-old he joined the Coffs Harbour Aboriginal Social Events Committee, responsible for co-ordinating and working with all organisations to deliver a week of NAIDOC events.
Lachlan is well known for establishing OneMob Radio – a First Nations internet radio station based in Coffs Harbour.
OneMob Radio recently launched an app so listeners, specifically elders, could easily access the programs which included a regular hip hop show, a “tida” talk for women and a men’s program showcasing leadership in the community.
Lachie presents the weekday morning show from 7am to 9am.
Aneika Kapeen, 29
A proud Yaegl/Bundjalung woman, Aneika Kapeen set out to create a service that allowed local Indigenous services to be led by their own community.
She started the Mudyala Aboriginal Corporation by herself and has now grown to have five full-time staff and nine volunteers.
“We have programs like our Playing Yarns Family Support Group and we do 0-5 early intervention with our community preschool engagement workers about promoting early education,” she said.
“Then we have our Clarence Valley Aboriginal Children and Youth Program, which is trying to increase attendance rates at school.”
The program works outside the school gates, linking kids to support programs that are culturally appropriate.
The corporation has purchased a new businesses called “Baka Rindi”, which is a native produce market-stall style business.
Ms Kapeen said her long term plan was to grow the business and involve others.
“We’ve seen the potential and we’d like to link it with TAFE and education with agriculture and horticulture,” she said.
Ms Kapeen said it had been a risk for the initial funders of the program, but one worth taking as it was vitally important for programs for local Indigenous to be community-led.
“It’s creating something sustainable,” she said. “Everything we do is put back into the community and back into culture.”
Gurpreet Singh, 22
Born and raised in Coffs Harbour, Gurpreet Singh was the school captain at Orara High School in 2016.
Now, at the age of 22, he’s a PhD candidate and casual academic in Sports and Exercise Science at Southern Cross University with the goal of working for a sporting organisation to improve athlete and player performance.
Gurpreet is on the right track – he was awarded a University Medal recognising his high academic achievement of First-Class Honours in his undergraduate degree.
His project investigated the effects of playing, exercising and training on synthetic grass, compared to natural turf, in the heat.
Outside of university, Gurpreet is actively involved with several youth sporting programs including the Sydney Swans Academy and NRL Rise, where he passes on his knowledge about health and fitness to up-and-coming athletes of Coffs Harbour.
Grace Hickey, 24
The music industry may have taken a hit during the pandemic, but it hasn’t stopped Lower Clarence singer/songwriter Grace Hickey from carving out a career.
Born in Grafton and raised and schooled in Maclean, Ms Hickey completed a fine arts degree at the Queensland College of Art and then hit the road.
Together with Hugh Scott Murray and an old upright piano they have toured the country playing their music, also filming many creatives along the way.
An invitation to come to Nymboida and speak with those devastated by the 2019 bushfires has put the wheels in motion for a film of people’s experience.
“We played at the Rural Fire Service recovery party and ended up coming back over and over again,” Ms Hickey said.
“People were telling us to come and see their place – they wanted to talk about their experience.”
With more than 20 interviews, they wrote the song Up Armidale Road and last year collaborated with the Clarence Valley Conservatorium and the Nymboida musicians to perform the work.
Their film, which has been scripted, edited and soundtracked is due for release.
With help from the Yugilbar Foundation, they will fund a 20-stop screening tour of NSW for the film, showing it for free at other bushfire affected locations.
As for their music, Ms Hickey is keen to get back out on the road again.
“We’ve still been writing and recording as we go, so we’ll probably take a little EP out on the road and play some more songs,” she said.
“And we’ll still have the piano in tow.”
Elora Allman, 25
This passionate young teacher just loves kids.
Elora Allman studied a Bachelor of Education (Primary and Disability Studies) at RMIT in Melbourne.
She is currently teaching kindergarten at Macksville Public School, and absolutely loves teaching younger children.
“I grew up in Bellingen, and although I loved my time in Melbourne, it’s been amazing to start my career in the valley surrounded by family and lifelong friends,” Elora said.
“I have a passion for inclusive education and strive to celebrate student diversity.
“Being a teacher in the world we live is increasingly complex, but my love for kids makes it worth it.”
Kailey Pallas, 21
She’s only been in the Coffs area for the past three years but Kailey Pallas is already lighting up the local music scene alight.
With her rich vocals that hark back to an older era, the 21-year-old is keen to continue to her musical career that started at just six.
“I’ve been performing since I was six, busking around the Newcastle Farmers Markets and other small things,” she said.
“From there I did gigs with Carter Edwards and other supports and playing gigs at RSL clubs.”
Since moving to Coffs, Ms Pallas said her musical work had increased and was a regular opener for touring acts such as Jon Stevens and Diesel.
“I’ve just started hosting an open mike night at the Hoey Moey, so I’ll play a set and then others can get up and have a sing,” she said.
Ms Pallas said she was inspired by jazz, blues and soul and said she wanted to hear more of that style in modern music.
“I’d love to get a bit more of that older style in the modern scene, there’s not much around,” she said.
“I really just want to release a lot of albums, release music and get it heard.”
And just like her voice, her vibrant red hair attracts attention everywhere she goes.
“I get stopped at the shops a lot,” she laughed. “But I’ve got a hair sponsor that keeps it going.”
Angel-Star Schrader, 24
She’s been dancing since she was three but from the first time she started teaching at 14, Angel-Star Schrader knew what she wanted to do.
Five years after opening her own studio, she’s living her dream as her business grows bigger.
She said opening her own business as a teenager was a bit scary.
“But we went to all the schools and handed out flyers and we did enrolment days so I knew I had a few students in each class,” she said.
Now the studio has almost 100 budding dancers, from age 2 to 18 and Ms Schrader said it had been a lot of hard work but it had been worth it.
“I did all my training between here and the Gold Coast,” she said.
“ I had to work hard.
“But I always wanted to start super early, I didn’t want to finish school and I see myself doing this forever.”
The studio has expanded so rapidly she now has her first full-time employee also teaching dance.
“The kids are the best part, to see how much they love it and I’m so glad I get to help them enjoy something so much,” she said.
Michael Casement, 25
Michael Casement started working at ESP Cafe straight out of school in 2014 but it wasn’t until he began to manage the business in 2017 he gained a true passion for small business.
“I was really intrigued at the time to see how small business worked and how to run it successfully … and really appreciate the satisfaction you get from working for small business,” he said.
However it was in 2019, while helping out at elections, working at polling booths and volunteering that he decided he wanted to do more for the community.
“At that time I was approached to join the executive of the Grafton Chamber of Commerce and I was really looking for a way to put more into the community,” he said.
“And from the election I had been out talking to people and was looking for something really community driven.”
Mr Casement said the work between the Chamber of Commerce and Clarence Valley Council would enliven the central business districts of the area and give both Grafton prosperity after the highway bypass.
“The bypass will show the hidden gems … and I think now you’ll see some industries really start to shine,” he said.
As for his own aspirations, Mr Casement said he was encouraged to run for local government, but felt he wanted a few more years under his belt.
“I want a bit more time to learn and grow but it’s definitely something to aspire to,” he said.
Zianna Faud, 28
Passionate activist Zianna Faud grew up in the Orara Valley and joined the Bellingen Environmental Youth Experience when she was 16, creating Plastic Free Bellingen with other high schoolers.
Since then, Zianna has studied Environmental Geography and Politics at Melbourne University, taken part in national climate justice campaigns and returned back to the Coffs Coast to dedicate her life to protecting its environment
Zianna has been working with other passionate members of the community to stop industrial logging in our local public forests.
In recent times she has been involved in the Newry State Forest Blockade fighting Forestry Corporation‘s logging efforts there.
Newry State Forest covers an area of about 4000 hectares and is located south-east of Bellingen, inland from Hungry Head.
She has been involved in various fundraising activities including an art auction which attracted work from well-known artist Ben Quilty to help support the efforts to save the forest.
“I do this to ensure the Coffs Coast’s water supply is kept clean, bushfire risk is reduced and green jobs are invested in,” she said.
Maddy Richie, 28
Maddy Richie has always had an interest in health and sport and in her latest initiative she’s using those ideas to give back to her community.
Born on Gamilaroi country, she moved to Grafton and has lived on Bundjalung country since the age of two.
Through school, she was a champion hockey player, representing NSW and Australian country in under 21s.
She began her working life in real estate, but soon felt the calling to do something that could help her community.
“After my first daughter I went to uni and studied nursing with the view of becoming a midwife, because I had a such a positive experience,” Ms Richey said.
“Healthcare became my way to fulfil that passion and promote health.”
She and fiancee Asher Cribb created their Mscl. Up activewear line after she gave birth to her second child.
“We wanted something we could do to give back to community and one day create new programs and health initiatives,” Ms Richey said.
“From our first range we supported Kere to Country, who cut out the middle cost of fresh distribution for remote communities.
“Next we’re looking to do something more local, perhaps some scholarships for Aboriginal kids to attend and participate in what they want in the sport and fitness area.”
Rachel Vercoe, 27
Coffs local Rachel Vercoe is a passionate professional photographer, talented writer and skilled spearfisher - and at the age of just 26, she became a breast cancer survivor.
Raised on the Coffs Coast, Ms Vercoe briefly moved to the Gold Coast to study digital media where she developed her skills and love for photography.
Back home, she landed a job at The Advocate as a photojournalist and her talent for storytelling was undeniable.
At the age of just 25, she received the shocking and unexpected diagnosis of breast cancer. She said the news changed her life “dramatically”, and what ensued was a whirlwind of needles, scans, doctors and surgeries.
But throughout it all, Ms Vercoe has been using her experience to advocate and raise awareness about the disease and the importance of early detection.
Between shots of camping trips and horse rides, the adventure lover has been using her Instagram feed, which has more than 17,000 followers, to post candid updates on her treatment journey.
She also has an online blog on her photography business website.
Meanwhile, the avid photographer has also gained a massive online following by taking incredible photos of her beloved pets - with an Instagram account dedicated to her horse Willow amassing more than 90,000 followers.
Katie Brown, 30
Katie Brown was born and raised in Grafton, but it was a gap year that set her on a different course than what she had always thought.
“I was enrolled in Southern Cross University and went to buy the books to do exercise and sport science, but they were too expensive,” she said.
“And I went home to my parents and told them I wanted to be a reporter.”
She then studied media, majoring in journalism.
She decided that sports journalism was her calling after initially wanting to report on crime.
“I never really knew being a sports reporter could be a job … but I thought if you see it you can be it,” she said.
Ms Brown worked with various Channel 7 bureaus throughout Queensland, while playing netball at a high level.
“I had played rep for Grafton and then in Queensland I played for a few teams, the highest being captaining Queensland Country,” she said.
“I never thought I was going to be an elite player, because it was never really an option having to work full-time.”
After debuting in the presenting world for 7 News Gold Coast, she was picked up by the NRL and worked there for three years.
After Covid changed the media landscape, Ms Brown moved to SEN sports radio, and also did ground announcing duties for the Parramatta Eels.
All the while, she played in the NRL women’s competition for South Sydney, recently picking up their players’ player award.
She is about to move to Brisbane as a Queensland league reporter for Channel 7.
“It’s such a thrill for me to share their stories of resilience and reward, it’s just beautiful,” she said.
Angus Anderson, 18
Angus Anderson is a Coffs Coast footy prospect on the rise.
The young Sawtell/Toormina Saints star has been steadily progressing after plying his trade in the North Coast AFL competition since he joined its Auskick program aged five.
He has represented the Northern Heat representative squad multiple times, played with the Sydney Swans youth and reserves sides and trialled with leading VFL/East Coast League club Southport Sharks.
In 2020 he resisted overtures from the Sharks to relocate to Queensland and link up with the team on a more regular basis in order to complete his HSC.
His biggest achievement however has been to earn a spot in the AFL Draft Combine after some standout performances with the Sydney Swans Under-19 side.
He will join just four other players from NSW at the November event which gives AFL clubs a chance to assess each young player’s strengths.
If Anderson was to make the draft and be picked up by an AFL club he would become only the second player from the North Coast competition to do so.
Patrick Brennan, 23
Starting gym training from the age of 15, Patrick Brennan decided it would make a great career once he left school at Maclean High.
Moving to the Sunshine Coast, he trained to become a personal trainer before moving back to Grafton.
“I run my own personal training business at Jetts called Stack Plates Fitness,” he said.
“And then since January I’ve had a retail shop in Prince Street called Stack Plates Nutrition.”
Mr Brennan said the business was going well and liked that it offered an extra challenge.
“Personal training is a service industry and I didn’t have much experience in retailing and I wanted to test myself opening a business in a new industry,” he said.
“I’m definitely keen and the business is going well.
“I plan to be a round for a while.”
Pixie Bella, 28
Los Angeles-based photographer Pixie Bella is a world away from taking photos of her friends at Maclean High School.
But it was all an important part of the journey.
The fashion photographer did the hard yards, working retail jobs while building her reputation and name on the Gold Coast before making the jump with now husband Jesse Allen.
But it wasn’t an easy road.
They waittedmore than a year and a half to get their visa while establishing themselves in a crowded LA industry.
“It was really scary,” Pixie said.
“But I feel like when you start from the bottom again when you’re that small fish in the big pond that’s when you make you’re best work because you’re hungry to succeed.”
Pixie said her work hadn’t stopped since the US emerged from the worst of Covid’s affects and they were busier than they ever imagined.
“Everyone is playing catch-up, catch up,” she said.
“All of the clothing companies are shooting, everyone’s pumping out look books and campaigns.”
She said she was busy all week and into weekends.
“It’s everything I’ve ever wanted, but I’m so tired.”
Pixie said she and her husband had originally planned to stay in the US for three years, but with business booming, they had extended their time in LA.
“We’re looking at staying for another three if not more,” she said.
“It’s been such a fun, crazy journey.”
Daine Laurie, 22
It took a video cut from highlights of his time with the Grafton Ghosts for Daine Laurie to attract the attention of the rugby league world.
He grew up in Iluka and played juniors in the Clarence before finishing high school in Sydney where he played with the Penrith Panthers S.G Ball squad in 2017.
He was named the Panthers Jersey Flegg Cup player of the year.
He made his first grade debut for the Panthers in 2020 against the Raiders, but moved on a four-year deal to the West Tigers in 2021.
It was here his star shone, playing as the starting fullback for the club.
He was the Tigers equal best and fairest for the year despite breaking his leg and missing the last games of the season.
Alex Swadling, 29
A passion for the ocean in personal and professional life has given Alex Swadling the knowledge needed to teach less-experienced beachgoers about the dangers of the surf.
The 29-year-old left school in Year 10 to start a lifeguard traineeship and has developed his skills since then to become senior lifeguard programs co-ordinator with Coffs Harbour City Council.
He grew up surfing before and after school in Coffs and still loves getting down to Diggers Beach for a wave.
His job involves organising education programs with his team for primary and high school students that teach them surf skills.
“All of our staff are passionate about the ocean and keeping people safe,” Mr Swadling said.
His team also works with migrants and new Australians, including people from Syria and Myanmar, to teach them how to enjoy the beach safely.
“It’s really quite a diverse community we have here,” he said.
Fiona Vesper, 21
Yaegl artist Fiona Vesper draws inspiration from her family and encouragement from her partner.
“Through my art I’m able to express that I’m always thinking of them, how much I love them and how home sick I am,” she said.
“They’re literally inspiring me to get up every morning.”
Ms Vesper moved to Sydney three years ago to study theology, nursing and business, but the calling of art led her to a new career.
“I showed my partner one of my works and he really encouraged me to start doing it professionally,” she said.
Ms Vesper launched Ngabii Creations and has been overwhelmed by commissions for her contemporary take on traditional Aboriginal art ever since.
“If I do commission pieces, the client will give me a story and I add a little twist to that story by adding a little piece of me into it,” she said.
“At the moment I’m working on one inspired by my ancestors where there are layers and layers of dots and symbols which represent the tens of thousands of years of my ancestors down to my bloodline.
“It’s a huge piece, and definitely something that’s close to my heart.”
Myka Mallison, 30
Myka grew up on a hobby farm in Glennifer near Bellingen and has been rescuing and rehabilitating injured animals since the age of 18.
Ever since she was a little girl she knew she had a “thing” for birds.
Her most recent rescue was a rooster dumped on the side of the highway near the Big Banana.
“It was dying and covered in lice,” Myka said.
“I took it home and used a really simple remedy - cheap washing up liquid.
“I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on powders and things, but have found basic washing up liquid works really well.”
One of her most famous success stories was Rocky the Nana Glen Cocky who has his own Facebook page where members post updates to share their encounters with the clever cockatoo.
“He had been hand raised from a baby and had two previous owners,” Myka said.
“I took him in just before we moved to Nana Glen where I noticed lots of wild cockys.”
She started teaching him some of the things he could eat in the wild, then taught him to fly free around her property.
He doesn’t visit her as much these days but that’s the way she likes it.
“As much as I want to see him, I really want him to be a wild bird.”
In January this year, Myka established her own cleaning business MaidXTrade which allows her the flexibility to continue to care for injured animals.
“It’s great being my own boss, I am really, really loving it.”
Connor Vest, 27
Connor Vest didn’t have the smoothest path to playing high-level rugby in his early days and was knocked back from by representative sides.
However, the former Grafton Redmen and Grafton High student adapted his game to play rugby with some of the best in the country.
In 2012 he was a leader in the North Coast schoolboys team that won their first (and to date, only) NSW Combined High Schools state championship.
Switching from outside back to the backrow, he was selected for NSW Combined High Schools and then Australian schoolboys barbarians.
It led to NSW Country selection where he toured South Africa and Mauritius.
He progressed to the Australian Schoolboy’s squad but had a setback when he ruptured an ACL playing for the NSW under 20s.
However, Vest again committed to his work, and after training with the Waratahs development squad forced his way into the Northern Suburbs Shute Shield side.
He was on the field when they won their first premiership in 40 years.
From there, he played four years in the National Rugby Championship for the Sydney Rays and was selected for NSW Country.
In 2020, he moved closer to home to play with the University of Queensland, helping them to a premiership this year.
He has just been offered a three-month train and trial contract with the NSW Waratahs.
Maddie McTernan, 20
Paralympic medallist Maddie McTernan spent a lot of her youth in Coffs Coast water building her swimming skills to become a champion athlete.
Her family swapped the Coffs Coast for the Gold Coast in 2017 in an effort to help Maddie achieve her dream of representing Australia at Tokyo, following in similar footsteps to the region’s other swimming sensation, Maddy Gough.
McTernan, 20, broke her own Australian record in August to become a silver medallist in Tokyo.
The achievement came when she picked up silver in the Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle S14 class.
Her time of 1:00.32 was almost a second faster than her previous record and personal best and the Australian relay team was more than five seconds quicker than at the World Para-Swimming Championships in London in 2019.
Maddy Gough, 22
Like Maddy McTernan, Maddy Gough left Coffs Harbour to pursue her Olympic dreams.
This year those dreams were realised when the 22-year old made the Australian swimming squad bound for the postponed games in Tokyo.
Hot off a rich vein of form in qualifying, Maddy made history by making the final of the 1500m women’s freestyle which was an event being held for the very first time.
Despite finishing in eighth place, Gough’s achievement in making the team was an inspiration to many young swimmers on the Coffs Coast.
She set a number of blistering times in the lead up to the Olympics, catapulting herself into the world top-10 across the short and long course 1500m events.
Her efforts were made all the more remarkable by the fact that much of her training in 2020 had happened outside the pool, with lockdowns forcing her training regime to continue in the open ocean.
Ellena Cheers-Flavell, 18
Toormina High student Ellena Cheers-Flavell has been the voice for local youth in the fight for climate action.
The teen has played a crucial role in Coffs Harbour’s School Strike for Climate Association, which is part of the movement occurring all over the world led by young people to fight for climate justice.
Through this role she was inspired to create a petition demanding Coffs Harbour City Council to declare a climate emergency, which has attracted more than 4600 signatures to date.
“When I presented this petition at a general council meeting, it was met with resistance,” she said.
“Although we were unsuccessful in getting Coffs Harbour to declare a climate emergency, we were successful in raising awareness of the impacts of climate change, demonstrating how one person can make a difference and encouraging other young people to join the fight for climate justice.”
Ms Cheers-Flavell has received numerous accolades for her steadfast determination.
She was the recipient of Coffs Harbour’s Young Person of the Year award as part of Blue Sky Community Services Young Person of the Year awards.
She was also took home the Zonta Young Women in Public Affairs Award for 2020, and the Bonville/Sawtell Lions Club Youth of the Year.
“I was deeply honoured to receive these awards and empower other young women to become involved in their community to make a difference.”
Dog killed, pair arrested in paddock after dramatic police chase
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Australia Day tragedy as family home gutted by inferno
A long-awaited night off from five kids quickly turned to tragedy for a couple when they woke to the sound of hissing gas in the early hours of Australia Day before their family home burst into flames.