Vaughan, Ontario — The WorldSkills car painting competitors and experts have shown immense skill this week during their training at SATA Canada’s headquarters and training centre. As a global partner of WorldSkills, SATA has hosted the competitors and experts for a four-day training session in preparation for the WorldSkills Lyon, France competition, taking place this September.
We caught up with the competitors from Barbados and Germany on Thursday to hear about their experience training in SATA’s state-of-the-art facility and what WorldSkills means to them.
Holly-Ann Bayley is a competitor at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, representing Barbados. Her college instructor first introduced her to WorldSkills and encouraged her to take a chance. So, she put herself out there.
“I’ve got to meet a lot of people that I consider friends,” she told Collision Repair. “I’ve been training with my expert, Negas, which has been absolutely amazing.”
“WorldSkills is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I feel like I can cherish it for life, and it’s something that sets you up for life. I’m very proud to be here representing my country.”
Bayley’s expert, Negas Alleyne-Browne, has been in the car painting field for nearly 15 years. He works for Automotive Art and was introduced to WorldSkills when his company was approached to be a WorldSkills sponsor.
“I found it to be a great opportunity to work with the youth and, as Holly said, meet people and build lifelong relationships. People you can lean on for skills, or visit when you’re in their country.”
Alleyne-Browne emphasized how valuable WorldSkills has been for his mentee.
“It’s great exposure for Holly. She gets to see car painting of the highest level and be mentored so she, too, can perform to that level. She can take those skills with her and become great. This experience will also allow her to build a life and career for herself, even after the competition.”
Jason Scheter will represent Germany at the upcoming competition.
“I’ve been restoring motorcycles with my cousin since I was 15 [years old]. I then decided I also wanted to learn car painting. I’ve been a car painter for about four years now and WorldSkills means many things to me. Most of all, it’s been a great opportunity to prove myself and this week has been special as we’ve gotten to know our fellow competitors. It’s really, really cool.”
His mentor, Mariusz Dechnig echoed Scheter’s sentiments.
“I’m very happy we were able to come here and do the training with SATA, and having Cecile [Bukmeier] here has been wonderful. Today, we fought strong and I feel that Jason is very ready for the WorldSkills challenge. Of course, we make small mistakes—but we always work on them and try to improve.
“Thursday’s competition will be very good for the competitors,” said Dechnig. To close out the four-day competition, competitors will be asked to paint a design on a hood.
“This week has been great. Jason has found many friends here and I feel that, when we go to Lyon in September, he will find it even more fun, thanks to this experience.”
The WorldSkills Challenge at SATA Canada finishes Thursday, with certificates and awards for the top three scorers handed out at a good old-fashioned Canadian barbecue Thursday night.
Keep your eyes peeled for the winners in the Saturday eZine newsletter.
