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Another record year for the Wallie Askew regional challenges
With 32 apprentices registered, this year saw the highest-ever number of competitors in the Wallie Askew Memorial Workskills Competition
The competition has been running since 1999 as a recognition of former IRHACE president Wallie Askew –a strong supporter of the HVAC&R industry, the Institute, and apprentice training.
Each year, three regional challenges are held across the country – Northern, Central and Southern – before the top two competitors in each challenge test their skills at the final competition. The Northern regional challenge was held on July 6th at ACSL Group in Auckland; the Central challenge was held on July 13th at Steelfort in Palmerston North; and the Southern challenge was hosted by SIT in Christchurch on July 20th.
Showcasing their skills in both practical and theory, this year’s finalists are:
• Campbell Brown, McAlpine Hussmann, Auckland (Northern)
• Dylan Hendry, McAlpine Hussmann, Dunedin (Southern)
• Liam McVicar, McAlpine Hussmann, Wellington (Central)
• Matt Jackson, Active Refrigeration, Christchurch (Southern)
• Oliver Tischendorf, Dobsons Refrigeration & Electrical, Te Puke (Northern)
• Tristran Munro, Excel Wellington (Central)
A judge at the Northern challenge held in Auckland, Trent McDonald says he noticed the increase in numbers on the day, with many competitors also attending from outside the Auckland area.
“The event was very well organised and ran smoothly. Everyone had quite a bit of fun,” he says. “There were also quite a few people who came to support the participants, as well as people who are interested in the trade so they had the opportunity to see what kind of work people within the trade do.”
Some higher scores were achieved compared to last year and a competitor who had been a first-year apprentice in 2023 returned to compete this year as a second-year apprentice.
“There’s definitely a lot of a lot of young talent out there coming through that could potentially find themselves in a similar position to Jack Butler competing on a global scale – he certainly sets a good example and a good standard as well for people coming through.”
Judges at the events included:
Northern
• David Everett
• Matt Birch
• Garrett Glynn
• Trent McDonald
• Alex Arnold
Central
• Cameron Wilson-Meek
• David Everett
• Daniel Jordan
• Neill Adkins
Southern
• Rodger Wyatt
• Chris Arvidson
• Lee Todd
• Allan Kelly
• John Kelly
Operations Co-ordinator for WorldSkills New Zealand, Sally Gray, was also in attendance, alongside previous Wallie Askew Workskills winners Cameron Wilson-Meek (2022 competition winner) and Alex Arnold (2023 competition winner) who are now also judges for the event.
Special thanks to Realcold and CCCANZ for their continued support, to the venue sponsors ACSL Group, Steelfort and SIT, and to the equipment sponsors Refspecs and Actrol.
A special mention must also be given to John Jenkins (JJ) at Steelfort – without his support the event wouldn’t happen.
The Wallie Askew Memorial Workskills Competition 2024 final will be held on October 18-19 at Steelfort, Palmerston North.
