Hannah Gerritsen (right) during the international WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France. Photos: Supplied.
Wollongong bricklayer Ethan Everett and hairdresser Hannah Gerritsen were awarded the prestigious Medallion for Excellence at the international WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France this week.
Ethan, who works at Wollongong’s City Bricklaying, and Hannah, who works at Corrimal’s Belinda’s Hair Creations, were part of the 32-member Australian team, the Skillaroos, which placed 14th out of 59 countries against 1400 competitors during the 47th annual competition.
For the Skillaroos, one received a bronze medal and 14 were honoured with the Medallion for Excellence, which recognises apprentices, trainees and young professionals who demonstrate skills excellence, aligning with WorldSkills’ mission to promote and foster young talent on the global stage.
WorldSkills Australia CEO Trevor Schwenke said receiving a Medallion for Excellence from the four-day event was a mark of distinction and a motivation for competitors to continually strive for growth in their chosen fields, which ranged from floristry to welding and 3D digital game art.
“It highlights the critical role of setting international benchmarks to drive innovation and excellence in the industry,” Trevor said.
The journey to Lyon began two years ago for the 32 Skillaroos, who first competed in regional competitions before earning their place in the squad at the 2023 national competition.
Since then, they have trained intensively with their mentors, refining their techniques and learning to focus under the pressures of competition conditions.
Ethan’s father, Troy, spent 25 years competing in and organising bricklaying competitions on a regional and international level, before this year taking on the team leader role with WorldSkills Australia for the Skillaroos national team.
Ethan Everett (left) flew the flag for Australia at the WorldSkills Competition.
Prior to the competition, Troy said he was proud of all Ethan had achieved throughout the competitions.
He said with his face on the side of busses, in TV ads and social media posts with 2.5 million views now, it was hoped it would be a springboard for Ethan to become a WorldSkills ambassador and “lift the profile in a trade that often gets sold in the wrong light”.
“For Ethan, one of the ambassadorial things in the back of his mind is to help make it more attractive for young people to gravitate to rather than get talked out of by parents or thinking it’s not worth doing the hard work,” he said.
Ethan had a few opportunities overseas to test his skills prior to the event, which Troy described as “extremely tough” and “like laying bricks on a different planet”.
“But it’s really good for adaptation skills and managing jetlag and being able to perform when you have to be able to turn it on,” he said.
Hannah also used the experience to showcase hairdressing as a career pathway, after sceptics questioned her decision to leave school for an apprenticeship years earlier.
Prior to Lyon, she said her goal originally was to make it to last year’s National WorldSkills Championships and finish every task given, no matter the outcome, with winning a bonus.
“I plan to have this same mindset for Lyon – to produce work that my supporters and I can be proud of,” she said.
Bomaderry’s Michael Bowen, who studies at TAFE NSW Wollongong, also competed for the Skilaroos in industrial mechanics.
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