SkillsUSA Team Triumphs in International Skills Competition

Jack Frederick of Wichita, Kan. insists the silver medal he won in an international competition isn’t about his personal achievements in the automotive industry. 

“It wasn’t a medal for me,” says Frederick, a senior majoring in automotive technology at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan., “It was a medal for the country and for the industry.”

Frederick and 15 other members of SkillsUSA, a nonprofit organization that partners with teachers and industry professionals to support high school and college students pursuing careers in trade, technical and service occupations, challenged opponents from all corners of the globe Sept. 1 thru 7 at the WorldSkills Competition in Calgary, Canada.

The event united more than 1,000 participants from 51 countries to compete in 45 occupational skill areas. WorldSkills International, a nonprofit membership association for organizations like SkillsUSA, holds the event every two years to promote competency in trades and technology.

Team USA
The SkillsUSA WorldTeam achieved the United States’ best score since 2001. The team snagged two silver medals: Frederick won second place in automobile technology, and Joe Young of Heartland, Mich. earned his prize in welding. The team also won four medallions of excellence for high scores in car painting, cooking, printing and hairdressing.

Frederick also earned the Albert Vidal award for ranking among the top 20 contestants in the entire competition—he ranked 14th overall and scored the second highest score in the automobile technology event’s history. In addition, he received a gold metal for his No. 1 ranking on the U.S. team.

Technical Knowledge
The automotive competition was difficult because of the high level of technical knowledge it required. Frederick says he competed for four days, spending three hours at each of the seven stations in his event to diagnose and fix problems on cars. He explained his steps to judges as he worked.

“It was a very difficult, very high-tech and very challenging competition,” says Ron Downing, Frederick’s coach. Downing, SkillsUSA’s automotive expert and a professor at Pittsburg State, coached students who also won silver metals in WorldSkills competitions in 2001 and 2003.

To prepare for the competition, Downing says he and Frederick spent about 50 hours a week from May to August bugging and repairing vehicles. It was a painstaking process: Frederick estimates he took transmissions apart and put them back together again 30 to 35 times.

“You have to [train a lot] at this level because there is so much talent in the world,” Downing says. “You have to do that to stay competitive.”

In fact, SkillsUSA uses the competition to benchmark the skills of its team against others so they can better prepare students for the advanced skills required in a global market.

Industry support
Downing says support from private organizations allowed him to find cars and parts to practice on and made it possible for the team to compete. As an educator, he believes the future of the industry depends on teachers and industry professionals working together to support students.



“We in education could not survive [without] working hand and hand with industry,” he says. “We just can’t. We help train their future leaders, and they support us in [preparing them]. Industry and educators have to work hand in hand.”

Frederick, an aspiring service manager, says his achievement in the competition is a ticket to his future. An automotive dealership in Wichita where he’s had an internship for several years already promised him a job when he graduates. Frederick has told his story to many groups of high school students, and he tries to inspire them to take advantage of opportunities.

“You have to keep your options open and take advantage of the opportunities you have,” Frederick says. “You have to go in that door.”