Tool Blacks Win Medals In London

Media Release
11 October 2011
Tool Blacks Win Medals In London

The best of young New Zealand trades men and women have bagged a host of medals at the 41st WorldSkills International competition in London.

The New Zealand team, the “Tool Blacks”, competed against almost 1000 young tradespeople from around the world in seventeen different categories during the four day event. The categories covered everything from bricklaying and welding to hairdressing and cooking.

The New Zealand team won seven Medals of Excellence, which are given to competitors who are in the top half of their trade.

Worldskills Chief Executive Peter Spencer says the medals show the Tool Blacks are among the leaders of the teams from the 50 countries who took part.

“I am immensely proud of the whole team, which has punched well above its weight in the World Championships equivalent. New Zealand can be proud of the performance of the cream of our young trades men and women.”

The New Zealand medal winners are:
Name Skill Employer Region
Megan Anderson Cooking The French Cafe Auckland
Drew Avery Car Painting Stokes Valley Collision Repair Centre Wellington
Scott Nicholson Plumbing and Heating Vic Nicholson Plumbers Otago
Brad Wood Welding South Waikato Precision Engineering Ltd Waikato
Rob Hamilton Cabinetmaking NZ Yachting Developments Auckland
Shaun McInerney Electrical Installations Bremca Electrical Southland
Ben Roche Bricklaying CF King Contracting Auckland

Megan Anderson was judged “Best in Nation” by the international judging panel.

United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron, who visited the WorldSkills London 2011 competitions said, “Standing here is so inspiring. To see almost 1,000 young people from more than 50 countries competing to be the best of the best. Not just in one skill, but in more than 40 skills from robotics, to web design, from cookery to landscape gardening.”

The Princess Royal, Princess Anne and the Mayor of London were also among the over 200,000 visitors to WorldSkills London 2011.
The next WorldSkills International competition will be held in Leipzig, Germany from 2-7 July 2013. The New Zealand Tool Black team for this competition will be chosen after the New Zealand National Finals which will be held at CPIT, Christchurch from 4-8 July 2012. For more information on how to be selected for the New Zealand Tool Blacks team visit www.worldskills.org.nz.

WorldSkills – some background
• WorldSkills New Zealand is part of a worldwide group (approx 50 countries) which organise trade competitions within their own countries and form teams to compete at the biennial international competition.
• WorldSkills NZ’s mission is to challenge New Zealand to achieve world class standards by demonstrating excellence through workplace skills competitions for young people.
• WorldSkills NZ currently caters for more than 20 skills categories covering everything from automotive and building trades to floristry and catering.
• The WorldSkills National Finals were held at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology from 22-26 September 2010.
• The Tool Blacks team competed in Australia from July 5-8 this year and attended a reception at Government House, Auckland on July 9.
• WorldSkills London was held at the ExCel London Exhibition and conference centre in London’s docklands from 5-8 October 2011.
• There will be 45 official competition zones at WorldSkills London 2011, covering everything from bricklaying to hairdressing.

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