Paige Sedgwick (middle) with Georgia Moody (left) and Daneka Hatty (right).
Following her recent success in becoming the Young Woman of the Year representative for Cootamundra, 24-year-old Paige Sedgwick has again wowed judges after claiming a top spot in the Royal Agriculture Society’s NSW Young Woman Zone 7 competition at Ganmain on February 7.
The mechanical engineer is now on her way with two other young women to compete at the state finals at the Sydney Easter Show later this year.
“I have competed before in the younger Showgirl’s and have been around the [Cootamundra] show for a long time,” says Paige.
“I did Junior judging and competed in the parading through school.
“[Coota] was always something I wanted to represent, and to compete in the competition.”
Formerly known as the Sydney Royal Easter Show Showgirl competition, the Young Woman Competition was renamed in 2021 in a bid to move with the times by honouring the young rural women who make a significant difference to their communities.
Previously Paige, who had done a double degree in mechanical engineering and politics at UNSW, had juggled her busy schedule around studies and exams. This year marked the first that she hadn’t been encumbered by their weight.
“I hadn’t been to the show for a while, so it was good to be able to go back and help out,” she says.
“And then I was lucky enough to be announced as the Showgirl, which was really exciting”.
Last year, Cassandra (Cassie) Bush from Cootamundra was announced as the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Young Woman for 2025. She has since been awarded an honorary life membership at the Coota show.
Cassie also served as a role model and guide for Paige after handing her title down to the new awardee.
“I didn’t really know much about what happens then, I was just excited to represent my community,” says Paige.
Attending development programs as a way to learn about the program and meet the other women who had won their own local show titles, Paige says it was a pleasure to meet the 17 other incredible women who had progressed to the Ganmain competition.
Winning, she says, was never something she would have predicted.
“I just wanted to give it my best shot and represent my community,” she says.
“I did not expect to meet all of these amazing women who I got to make friends with.
“Because you’re around such amazing women, you expect that they would be selected, so it was a big surprise to me to be selected in the top three, because there were such inspirational women who I learnt a lot from.”
An “unexpected” but “amazing” surprise, Paige is now busy preparing for the Sydney finals. Although ‘preparing’ might be limited to picking out the right outfits and accommodation, she says her days are too busy taking advantage of the program to think of anything else.
Networking, she says, will be one of her main priorities.
“Meeting lots of people who are professionals in the agricultural industry, and building those networks, as well as spending time with the girls [will be important],” she says.
Behind the scenes, Paige will be trying her hand at stewarding different sections of the show, a far bigger event than Coota’s.
“It’ll be a really interesting process to see what all the volunteers do behind the scenes to make the Easter Show function,” she says.
Following in Cassie’s footsteps as the reigning champion is no small feat, but Paige says it’s a true privilege to represent the Coota community.
“Something that I am definitely excited about is having the opportunity to go a second time and represent Coota,” she says.
“It shows what a good community we have been contributing to.”
Between the three finalists (a Masters student from Ganmain and an agronomist from Deniliquin), Paige says it feels like a community, rather than competition.
“I don’t think any of us expected to go through,” she says.
“Deneka [Hatty from Ganmain] is doing a lot with educating people in agriculture and filling in some of the gaps and Georgia [Moody] from Deniliquin with her work in agriculture and agronomy has been really cool to hear about her experiences.
“We are all nervous together and it brings us together because we don’t know what to expect.
“It’s definitely a lot more a sense of community than competition and it’ll be a really fun program for us all to get the most out of it.”
Outside of her show-life, Paige works as a graduate engineer in the future networks team at Jemena, a career she says she enjoys immensely.
For young women thinking about entering their own local competitions this year, she says it’s a worthwhile experience.
“I was a little bit nervous, because the word ‘competition’ is there, and anytime you enter a competition you put yourself out there with the risk of not getting through… but it’s definitely worth it for the connections that you get to make, but also for the self-development you’re practicing through your interview skills,” she says.
“You’re practicing how to connect with people and how to make those connections.
“I’m glad that I overcame my initial nervousness of, ‘should I do it? Should I not?’ and went ahead to put my name forward, because it’s a great program that we have in Coota to offer to someone each year.”
– Elizabeth Kovacs
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