SCAA wool classer award winner Alice McKay

CENTRAL Victorian wool classer Alice McKay has been awarded the Prime Super & Shearer Woolhandler Training Inc Wool Classing Ambassador Award for 2019 for excellence in wool handling and in-shed teamwork.

SCAA Shearer-Woolhandler Training chief executive officer Glenn Haynes said Alice, 19, was selected for her outstanding presentation, attitude, willingness to improve and for her dedication to becoming an elite wool classer and for her keen interest in competing in upcoming Sportshear competitions.

She comes from a farming background and had worked in the sheds on the family farm since she was four years-old, helping out in the sheds during school holidays. Alice has inherited her love of wool classing from her father.

Alice has been wool handling for the past two years full-time, locally around the Drummatin area north of Bendigo, where the family farm is situated. After taking a gap year, Alice intended to enrol at university, but her love for the job, lifestyle and industry has her working in the sheds full time and loving it, Mr Haynes said.

Alice recently competed at the Bendigo Show as a novice in her first competition and came fourth overall against some tough competition. She was encouraged to compete by her wool classer trainer Marion Kelly, who has represented Australia. She intended to compete at the Beaufort show in November this year and Deniliquin in 2020 with help from Prime Super.

As Prime Super Wool Handling Ambassador Alice’s Cert IV Wool Classing stencil classes by registered training organisation SCAA Shearer Woolhandler Training Inc will also be fully funded, as well as entry into four Sportshear events across the Victoria.

Alice said she was happy to win the award and it was a really good opportunity. Her dream is to stay in the industry and enjoy her horseriding, shooting, and weekends on the farm driving the tractor.