The three Victorian teams that competed in the 2022 Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging competition have returned home, bringing awards, experience and passion for the red meat industry.
The coaches of the university teams from The University of Melbourne, Marcus Oldham College and La Trobe University all said their teams learned and developed a great deal in their meat science knowledge, red meat industry exposure, understanding and industry contacts.
Many of the students will look to build on these connections and networks as they complete their university studies and begin their careers.
William Sylvester was awarded the Tom Carr Award for Coaching Excellence for his work coaching Marcus Oldham team and said he was grateful for the opportunity to coach and to receive the national award.
"All the coaches do a great job, so to get that award was pretty exciting," he said.
Mr Sylvester said the networking opportunities and careers expo were significant for students, providing them with industry contacts, many of whom were looking for the next generation of red meat industry leaders.
He said he had received multiple job offers following his coaching excellence award.
"There are lots of opportunities and I know a lot of people got a lot of good contacts," he said.
"It was a big competition, but right throughout the week all the Marcus team had a really good time and made some great networks, so it was a great week."
Marcus Oldham team member Harriet Taylor was the individual runner up in the eating quality evaluation section as well as being named in the top 10 overall.
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La Trobe University coach Patrick Sullivan said the conference seminars, workshops, presentations and industry networks were a highlights for him and the team from La Trobe.
"All the seminars were pretty unreal and I have come back with heaps of notes and deeper knowledge," he said.
"Throughout the week, each person on the team said they learnt new concepts and ideas as well as career direction after talking to representatives from companies across the red meat industry."
Mr Sullivan said he was really happy with the way the team took advantage of the time to learn and build solid industry networks that they will now look to pursue, likely opening new career opportunities in the red meat industry.
The University of Melbourne coach Clare Jenson said Usaamah Fazal placed third for overall individual placings which was a terrific achievement.
Ms Jensen said that the team got a great deal out of the conference and competition, with some team members now looking to pursue a career in the red meat industry as a result of the experience and the contacts they have made.
She said this year has seen a number of additional opportunities in the industry as companies look to focus on university graduates as an effective method of recruitment.
"There are a lot of opportunities this year, with a lot of companies looking to recruit up to 12 or 13 graduates," she said.
"A number of the companies at the careers expo had the company HR managers attending too because they are looking to snap up people straight away and offer great jobs."
Ms Jensen said in addition to the competition and careers expo, the conference included a number of workshops that were quite effective in developing knowledge and understanding.
"They conducted a full beef carcase breakdown for the students to demonstrate that process which was cool," she said.
"They also had some virtual reality technology as well that is currently being used to help in training processes for abattoirs.
She said there was also a significant focus on ag communications training to help students develop skills in reporting and social media.
Approximately 140 students competed from 10 Australian and international universities.
The Roy McDonald Shield was awarded to the overall champion team from West Texas A&M who travelled from the USA with the overall team runner up awarded to the University of Queensland.
The John Carter Founders Buckle for the overall champion individual was awarded to Katja Zapf from the University of Queensland and the runner up was awarded to Cole Petit from West Texas A&M.
The top 10 students from the competition (and an additional selection from each of the team coaches) will reconvene in a few months for an industry tour and further training in meat judging.
A final 5 students will be chosen from this group who will then undertake an international tour and represent Australia in meat judging competitions in the USA.