The WorldSkills New Zealand regional competitions are taking place on May 21 at Wintec in the Waikato and the Ara Institute of Canterbury.
Competitors will duel it out in categories such as Automotive Technology, Plumbing and Heating, Industrial Mechanics (fitter turner), and Welding.
They are competing to represent their industry and region in the WorldSkills NZ National Competition to be held at Wintec late in October 2016.
“Competitors in the regional competitions have the potential to make it all the way through to our high-performance national team – the Tool Blacks,” says WorldSkills CEO Malcolm Harris.
“And if they do they’ll be competing for titles at the 44th WorldSkills International Competition in Abu Dhabi in 2017,” says Harris.
The regional competitions are challenging, with competitors completing a skill based project typically taking around eight hours from start to finish.
WorldSkills NZ encourages any young person, their parents, caregivers, aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters, and teachers – anyone – to come along to the regional competitions.
“Spectators boost the morale of the competitors, and it is an excellent way to see the huge amount of skill these trades involve,” says Harris.
Experts will be on site to advise and guide competitors and support them through the competition process.
The competition at Wintec will be held at the Rotokauri Campus on Saturday 21 May from 8.30am to 4.30pm.
The competition at Ara Institute of Canterbury will be held at the Sullivan Avenue Campus on Saturday 21 May from 8.30am to 4.30pm.
The WorldSkills NZ National Competition takes place September 29 to October 2 at Wintec.
