Vaughan, Ontario — SATA, a global partner of WorldSkills, is proudly hosting international WorldSkills competitors at its Vaughan, Ont., training centre and headquarters this week, accompanied by WorldSkills experts and top-notch SATA equipment.
Collision Repair magazine spoke to some of the inspiring international WorldSkills experts and competitors taking the challenge this week to hear how day one of the challenge went, as well as what inspired them to join WorldSkills in the first place.
Cecile Bukmeier, Canadian WorldSkills expert for the Lyon, France, 2024 competition, said Monday’s competition was off to a stellar start.
“I see a lot of skills and expertise from the students—the competitors that will be in France. The quality of work is really high standard.”
She added that the first day of competition can bring nerves—especially when these international competitors are in a brand-new environment with new tools and materials.
“It went smoothly. I think they are all well prepared for WorldSkills. There are definitely things that can be improved upon, but that’s the purpose of these training events—to highlight some of those problem areas. I was very impressed, overall.”
Gabrielle Leclerc, a WorldSkills Lyon competitor hailing from Quebec, is on-site at SATA HQ this week to brush up her skills before representing Canada in the car painting competition this September.
“I started car painting during COVID,” she told Collision Repair magazine. “I was bored and wanted new challenges. I’ve been into cars since I was a little kid, and going to college just seemed like too many years for what I wanted to do.”
“I just followed my passion, really. I’ve been painting for two years now. WorldSkills has opened a lot of doors for me and allowed me many opportunities. It’s been a great experience for me, meeting new people and practicing my skills.”
Miguel Harvey, a WorldSkills competitor representing the United Kingdom, is having a blast during his first trip to Canada.
“My first trip to Canada has been an amazing experience,” he said. “I got into car painting because I’ve always been a massive fan of cars. I never thought about working on them, but I’ve always been a fan—especially of motorsports.”
“I’ve been painting cars since 2020 when I started my apprenticeship straight from school, so we’re looking at four-and-a-half years now. I was brought into WorldSkills two years ago, starting with U.K. nationals and moving up to the international level. That’s why I’m here now, doing this pressure test in Toronto. It’s been an amazing experience and it means everything to me. I can’t wait for Lyon 2024.”
WorldSkills U.K. expert Rich Wheeler is also offering support at the session, in partnership with Pearson.
“I take competitors from the WorldSkills U.K. national finals and train them for up to two years, taking them from the national to the international level.
“I feel very, very privileged to be part of this process. We’ve been quite fortunate in the United Kingdom in that our competitors have always come away with medals in recent years. To be part of that process is really, really heartfelt.”
Stay tuned to our daily eZine newsletter and social media for more updates from this week’s thrilling SATA WorldSkills challenge in Vaughan, Ont.
