SATA CHALLENGES ALLOWS WORLDSKILLS COMPETITORS CHANCE TO BRUSH UP SKILLS
As a global partner of WorldSkills, SATA routinely provides equipment and expertise as well as hosting SATA Challenge events on-site at both its Canadian headquarters and in Germany.
Worldskills is the global hub of skills excellence and promotes vocational education and training for young people in 85 member countries and regions around the world. The competition, which is the world’s largest vocational skills competition, is held every two years.
This year, the SATA Challenge ran from July 15 to July 19, and offered WorldSkills participants the opportunity to practice under competition conditions and to familiarize themselves with the SATA equipment before the actual competition to be held in Lyon, France from September 10 to 15. The team at the SATA training centre in Vaughan, Ontario, then scored competitors and timed their ability to complete tasks, offering certifi cates for their overall placement on the final day.
The WorldSkills car painting finalists from Barbados, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States specifically met at the SATA training centre to test out their skills and connect with one another, with Miguel Harvey, a WorldSkills competitor representing the United Kingdom, taking home fi rst place. In second place was Jason Scheter, representing Germany, and in third, was Holly-Ann Bayley, representing Barbados.
Bodyworx Professional was on the scene to see the competitors in action and to learn what it means to them to compete both within the industry and on the world trades stage.
MEET THE COMPETITORS
HOLLY-ANN BAYLEY
HOLLY-ANN BAYLEY
Holly-Ann Bayley will represent Barbados at this year’s WorldSkills event. She fi rst got involved with WorldSkills when her college instructor introduced her to the competition. She then met her WorldSkills expert, Negas Alleyne-Browne, who became involved with WorldSkills through his workplace, Automotive Art.
“My college instructor encouraged me to put myself out there and show others what I can do. I’ve been painting for two years and WorldSkills is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” But the experience does not end at WorldSkills, adds Bayley.
“This experience is something that you can cherish for life, it’s something that sets you up for life. I’m really, really proud to be here and really proud to be representing my country.”
GABRIELLE LECLERC
GABRIELLE LECLERC
Gabrielle Leclerc fi rst started painting cars during the pandemic, when she sought new challenges in the face of boredom. “I originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but ever since beginning car painting—it feels like this is more my passion.”
Leclerc had been interested in the idea of painting cars since childhood. She’s been out of school for two years now, working on her skills as an automotive refinisher.
“WorldSkills means a lot to me,” she told Bodyworx. “It’s allowed me many opportunities and opened doors for me. This competition will end up being a great experience for me, meeting new people and constantly improving my skills.”
JASON SCHETER
JASON SCHETER
Jason Scheter will represent Germany at WorldSkills Lyon 2024. Scheter fi rst discovered the fi eld when building motorcycles with his cousin at 15 years old. “I’ve now been a car painter for about four years,” said Scheter. “I was restoring motorcycles with my cousin and decided to also learn about car painting.”
Scheter sees WorldSkills as a stellar opportunity to prove yourself. “I believe WorldSkills is a really great opportunity to prove yourself, and this week’s SATA Challenge has given us a chance to meet the other competitors. “It’s really, really cool and I’m excited to have had the opportunity to practice in Canada and compete in France this September.”
MIGUEL HARVEY
MIGUEL HARVEYRepresenting the United Kingdom is Miguel Harvey, who also came out with the top score during the SATA Challenge training week.
“I first got into car painting because I’ve always been a massive fan of cars. I never thought I’d be working on them—I was a big motorsports fan—but I’ve been painting cars since 2020, when I started my apprenticeship straight out of school.”
Harvey became involved in WorldSkills two years ago. This is his fi rst time competing at the international level. “This was my fi rst trip to Canada. It’s been an amazing experience here at SATA and I can’t wait for WorldSkills Lyon 2024.”
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
When speaking with the other countries’ experts—whose job is to mentor and chaperone the competitors throughout the competition—Negas Alleyne-Browne, expert from Barbados emphasized how important WorldSkills and regional competitions are to the field overall.
“Obviously WorldSkills is a great opportunity for my competitor, Holly, to get exposure and to see car painting at the highest level and be trained and be mentored to perform at that level. She will be able to take those skills with her to become great and build a life for herself, even after the competition.” Cecile Bukmeier, Canada’s expert, and autobody chair at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), expressed excitement for this year’s WorldSkills competition as well as the future of the industry at large.
“I’m really excited this year. I mean, I’ve been in the industry for the last 15 years and it has been a little bit lonely for me being the only woman that I could really see. I’m seeing more women come through the trade, I’m seeing more women participate in these events, and I’m excited this year.” “I believe this will be a record-setting year for WorldSkills with the women participation as competitors as well as experts. I won’t be alone anymore. I’m really, really excited.” Mariusz Dechnig, the expert from Germany, further echoed Bukmeier’s feelings of camaraderie.
“I’m very happy I can come here to Canada to do training at this organization for SATA and Cecile,” Dechnig said.
“I am well prepared for the WorldSkills challenge. The SATA competition is a great opportunity to see what our competitors can do and what we need to continue working on in order to be successful in Lyon.” Finally, Rich Wheeler, the expert from the United Kingdom told Bodyworx Professional that he feels very privileged to be part of this process.
“It is such a rewarding job and the challenge to get competitors to the international standard is amazing. I feel quite proud and privileged to be part of that process. We’ve been quite fortunate in the United Kingdom that the competitors have come away with medals in recent years and to be part of that process is really heartfelt.”
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Local collision industry representatives also showed out in support of the global competitors. “It’s great for Pfaff Autoworks to be part of the WorldSkills competition,” said General Manager of Pfaff Autoworks, Jeff Pabst, who brought a car by for the students to practice on. “We’re thrilled to help support the program, see it grow and see the young talent compete. We’re excited to see the outcome when they go to France. Go Canada!”
George Varagic, president of SATA USA and SATA Canada, said the company is honoured to partner with WorldSkills globally. “We’re very excited to host WorldSkills practice in our state-of-the-art facility, and thankful to our team members to help organize everything—especially Joern [Stoever] and our operational team in Canada.
“We worked very hard to provide the competitors and experts the best possible environment to perform their best and to their greatest potential,” added Varagic.
Joern Stoever, global key account manager for SATA, was thrilled to have the chance to celebrate top-notch skills and success. “We have certifi cates that we’ll give the competitors, showing their points [scored] for the week. They will see what tasks they scored well in, and what modules they may need to work on.
“It’s through events like this that competitors can learn how to grow, and this, for me, is the most important part of WorldSkills.”
LYON LAUNCH
With the completion of the SATA Challenge, the car painting competitors will prepare for the Lyon, France WorldSkills competition which will see over 250,000 visitors from around the world meet to watch a total of 1,400 competitors and 1,300 trades experts from over 70 countries navigate the trials of 59 different trades professions categories
