Top tradie ready to take on the world

GORDON TAFE STUDENT VYING FOR SELECTION INTO ‘SKILLS OLYMPICS’

THOMAS Neave will spend the next 12 months preparing to represent Australia in the joinery category at the 45th WorldSkills International Competition in Russia.

The 21-year-old, who is employed by Spence Construction and is a student at Gordon TAFE, won gold in joinery at the WorldSkills Australia National Championships in Sydney last month and is now working towards representing the country at the world’s biggest skills excellence competition, which will be held in Kazan in August 2019.

The best young apprentices and trainees from more than 70 nations will compete in Kazan for the title of World Champion.

This trip of a lifetime will mean a lot to Mr Neave, who will be leaving the country for the first time.

“It’s all pretty exciting, it felt amazing to win,” Mr Neave said.

“I’ve never been overseas before, so that will be great, we will hopefully have a few days either side to check things out.”

Twenty-three young Australians have won the right to join a team who will train towards selection to represent Australia at the 45th WorldSkills International Competition.

Following a training camp in September, the Skills Squad team members, who range in age from 17 to 23, will each work with a dedicated training manager.

Mr Neave will work with Tom Ryan from Ludbrooks Joinery in Brown Hill near Ballarat.

Mr Ryan said that if Mr Neave put in the hard work required, he would be in a great position to take out the title next year.

“Tom has an incredible natural ability and skills in the trade,” Mr Ryan said.

“At the National Competition he demonstrated composure which allowed him to show off his talents with a great final product.

“He has a clear work ethic and is very determined. The judges found it rewarding to oversee his work.

“If Tom dedicates himself for the next 12 months he has a great chance to mix it with the best in Russia.

“Provided enough training and planning in the right areas I’m sure he will do the Geelong region proud.”

With his training schedule set to gradually expand as the competition nears, Mr Neave said his success to date would not have been possible had he not had the support from his employers at Spence Construction as well as staff at The Gordon.

“If it wasn’t for my instructor at The Gordon I never would have found out about the competition,” he said.

“My work has been really great, they really want to see me do well, which means a lot.”

At the last international championships, held in 2017 in Abu Dhabi, Australia finished the competition in 10th position in the WorldSkills International rankings.

WorldSkills Australia CEO Brett Judd said the goal in 2019 was to hold or improve on the top 10 ranking.

“Representing Australia at the World Championships, which can be likened to a skill Olympics, would be a once-ina-lifetime opportunity for the Skills Squad team members and we are committed to provide them with the best opportunity to prove that they should be selected to compete in Russia next year,” Mr Judd said.

“Many of the skills being represented are in the skills shortage areas for Australia. For WorldSkills to have outstanding competitors in these areas is very encouraging and an absolute credit to the competitors, their training providers and employers.”