Riding the high from last night’s opening ceremony, Team UK kicked off with a bang on the first day of the WorldSkills Lyon competition. Anviksha Patel was on the ground to speak to competitors as they came off the workshop floor.
The UK champions overcame some of their nerves of competing in the global competition against hundreds of their peers and settled to tackle what they know best.
Last night’s opening ceremony was a late one, and with a rather early start to beat Team France to the breakfast bar in the hotel they share with them, much of Team UK were not running on a full eight hours of sleep.
Combined with some blind test projects, it’s natural to feel some nerves.
Miguel Harvey, a former apprentice and competitor in car painting, felt some nerves in the first hour of his day until he started and then instantly felt comfortable once the tasks began.
Day one entailed of some minor autobody repair and ended with masking the side door of the car to prepare the surface for painting.
Harvey dislocated his leg last year and wasn’t able to participate in EuroSkills. As he also couldn’t work, he said it was “a low point” for him.
But after two international pressure tests in Canada and the United Arab Emirates this year, he feels on top of his game and “has to aim high” for the gold medal.
Harvey’s training manager Rich Wheeler from Coleg Gwent has been training him for 18 months and said that since then he has developed the “potential to do well”.
“I saw the personal attributes that I needed to see from him.”
He added: “We’re quite fortunate in the UK that we’ve had some amazing success since I’ve been involved [since 2016].”
Car painting has garnered two silvers and a bronze medal since Wheeler signed on as training manager in 2016. They are both confident that they can keep up, or even exceed, that pattern.
Meanwhile, Luke Haile, our refrigeration and air conditioning competitor didn’t have many nerves.
“If you’d asked me two years ago, I’d have said I would be terrified to go out on stage but nothing fazes me anymore,” he said.
Haile said his first day comprised of 4 and a half hours doing a a refrigeration system install, which will take 12 hours to complete.
“We get a blank table and a load of components in a box and they give you a drawing and say ‘go’,” he said.
Haile has been training for over two years and has developed a quiet confidence that is really quite impressive.
I was told by many people that he was cool as a cucumber, but I never expected how calm he was about the competition.
The reason could well be that Haile, who was a former apprentice training with Eastleigh College, has huge support network behind him.
I caught up with Haile’s proud girlfriend Chloe, who was there to support. She works as part of an airline cabin crew so she told FE Week that squeezing in time to spend together with Haile’s training schedule and her work has been the “biggest test” to their relationship.
“It’s been a long time in the making and seeing him here doing it today and yesterday was just amazing,” she beamed.
Provided Haile wins a medal, Chloe is planning to whisk him away for a well-deserved holiday to Singapore and Sydney once WorldSkills ends.
Haile told FE Week: “I’ve had to sacrifice quite a lot of my social time, missing out on a lot of events with my friends but looking back at it on where I am now, I haven’t missed out on anything. I’ve got so much more out of being here than being at home.”
Elsewhere, Team UK has received a lot of support online from officials and policymakers.
Though she was not able to fly out to Lyon to see Team UK in action, skills minister Jacqui Smith gave some warm words to the team.
“We wish the best of luck to Team UK as they go to represent us at WorldSkills Lyon 2024. Together with WorldSkills UK, you’ll be flying the flag for young people, educational institutions and employers across the UK showing just how far apprenticeship and technical training can take a young person no matter their background.”
“They’re central to this government’s missions, from driving growth to making Britain a clean energy superpower and breaking down barriers to opportunity.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also added: “You’re a testament not just to young people at educational institutions and employers in London but also to how far apprenticeship and technical training can take a young person.”
Stay on top of the latest by following @feweek on Twitter for live updates. You can tweet your support by using the hashtag #TeamUK.
FE Week is the media partner of WorldSkills UK and Team UK.
