Construction apprentices going to trade ‘Olympics’

EAST COUNTY Some of the nations top trainee carpenters, electricians and pipe fitters will join a select group of apprentice plumbers, sheet metal workers and welders in spring for the 2014 National Craft Championships and that includes three San Diego County residents who recently won a local competition to earn berths.

Santee plumbing apprentice Richard Ederer of Sherwood Mechanical, Alpine sheet metal apprentice Kevin Sullivan of Brian Cox Mechanical and electrical apprentice Franklin Noble of Poway all took first-place finishes in the San Diego Associated Builders and Contractors Apprenticeship Craft Championship Competition, held Dec. 7 in Poway.

The trio of locals will represent San Diego in the ABC National Craft Championships from April 29 to May 2 in Birmingham, Ala. The competition is considered the craft Olympics of the apprenticeship construction industry.

The San Diego ABC Apprenticeship program has a tradition of national winners, with 13 medals won in the last 12 years. Last year, sheet metal apprentice Clayton Courter of Escondido brought home a gold medal, the third year in a row that a San Diego sheet metal apprentice has been on the national winners podium.

Sullivan, a 2003 Monte Vista High graduate, said Courter has offered to help him prepare for the national event. He finished second to Courter at the San Diego event last year.

I did the competition last year in Poway and got second place, so if I didnt win it this year, Id look really bad, Sullivan said, laughing. Im going to to my best (in the nationals) to make everybody proud.

The annual competition tests skills, emphasizing the role craft skills training plays in construction by evaluating contestants technical knowledge as well as their skill and talent.

Contestants must successfully complete hundreds of hours of classroom training and thousands of hours of practical field experience to be eligible to compete. Apprentices and craft trainees who score high marks on a written exam are invited to participate in the skills portion of the competition to determine the San Diego local champions.

The San Diego competition was tough, the contestants concurred, as they raced against the clock to complete a project as close to the specifications provided as possible, with only the specific materials provided. Judges observe the competitors, looking for safe work practices before scoring each project. The project scores and written test scores are combined to determine the winner.

We took a two-hour comprehensive test with obscure plumbing codes people dont even think about, and then did work on a mock wall as if someone made a building and we have to plumb in it, said Ederer, 26, a 2005 West Hills High alumnus. We used every type of pipe there is, so (judges) know that you can do them all. We had four hours to complete the plumbing section.

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Construction apprentices going to trade 'Olympics'