Team Yukon has developed a nickname at the Skills Canada National Competition over the past few years. It’s The Revolution.
That being the case, the Yukon has a new crop of revolutionaries ready for the national competition. They were on display at the 13th annual Yukon Territorial Skills Competition at Yukon College last Friday.
“We’re proving that we have some of the best (tradespeople) in Canada,” said Dan Curtis, president of Skills Yukon.
“The thing that frustrates me the most is we have the ability and the invitation to send a much bigger team than we actually send to the national competition. We have a tiny team because we don’t have the engagement, we can’t get people involved.
“And the people that we do send end up at the top of the heap.”
If the Yukon has produced a disproportionate amount of medals at the national level in recent years, last week’s competition should indicate there are more to come.
The Yukon Skills Competition was the largest ever, with over 1,000 students attending the event from throughout the territory, up by about 40 per cent from last year.
Ranging from welding to hairdressing to animation, secondary and post-secondary students put their handiwork to the test, vying for spots on The Revolution.
Winning medals is a challenge, getting Yukoners interested in trades is another.
“These trades are under represented in the Yukon,” said Curtis. “We have a tremendous amount resource and opportunity here, but I feel we’re failing our youth a great deal by not offering the tools they need - primarily in the communities that are dying for these opportunities. Skills clubs are very few and far between. I feel the Yukon has a long way to go. We have to do a lot more in Yukon College, a lot more in schools, a lot more in society to get these people engaged.”
After being established in 1998, Skills Yukon won just two medals over the first decade at the nationals. However, over the last three years, the Yukon has won 17.
“Seventeen medals - and it took us a decade to get two!” said Curtis. “It was the belief that we should win one medal a decade.”
One such success story comes from Whitehorse’s Carl Loos, who won a gold medal in computer numerical control milling at the nationals in 2008 and went on to compete at the world championships the next year.
“I think it’s very important because a lot of young people don’t know what they want to do,” said Loos, who machined the medals given out. “So they can come here and see what’s out there -‘I can do this. This interests me.’ I think it’s great in that aspect.
“You’ll learn different things, you’ll learn new things, and things you won’t learn in the trade, but will help you in the trade. I got to develop different skills that I probably won’t have at all. Going to the worlds and having different opportunities was a great experience.”
To provide some perspective, BC, with its 4.5 million residents, has 26 regional competitions before a provincial one like the Yukon’s last week. At last year’s nationals, with over 40 competitors, compared to the Yukon’s 23, BC won eight medals in categories “important to the Canadian economy,” said Curtis. “The Yukon won six, and we don’t have a full slate. Our teams are dwarfed by the size of the larger provinces.”
RESULTS
Plumbing PS
Gold - Geordo Matechuk
Silver - April Williams
Bronze - Patrick Sands
Electrical PS
Gold - Mike Trainor
Silver - Daniel Harms
Bronze - Adam Tremblay
Cabinet Making S
Gold - Brad Koprowsky
Silver - Jaxson Pierce
Bronze - Kai Knorr
Sheet Metal PS
Gold - Leah Battersby
Silver - Paul Savage
Bronze - Michelle Gregory
Carpentry PS
Gold - Daniel St. Pierre
Silver - Shawn Burgess
Bronze - Fletcher deGraff
Heavy Duty Mechanics
Gold - Nathan Peterson
Silver - Daniel Greff
Bronze - Ryan Gleason
Welding PS
Gold - Mike Usher
Silver - Skyler Soukoroff
Bronze - Shanti Morrison
Welding S
Gold - Tory Stavely
Silver - Jamie Tetlichi
Bronze - Reid Seal
Hairstyling PS
Gold - Joy Worthington
Silver - Katelyn Smolne
Bronze - Chantelle Tarapaski
Hairstyling S
Gold - Tamara Lynn Hiltz
Silver - Kristine Carlick-Shorty
Esthetics
Gold - Sylvia Savage
TV/Video
Gold - Casey Parker
Gold - Emile Bouffard
Mechanical CADD S
Gold - David Lister
2D Animation
Gold - Logan Fuller
Gold - Kordel Parkkar
Culinary PS
Gold - Shea Hierlihy
Culinary S
Gold - Carolyn Stanhope
Silver - Michael Roszell
Bronze - Thomas Gammel
Aircraft Maintenance
Gold - James Connor
Silver - Florian Gehmair
Bronze - Corey Kirkpatrick
Automotive Repair PS
Gold - Nathan Mole
Automotive Repair S
Gold - Savannah Fuller
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com