Skills Squad Training Camp

48 competitors, training experts & team management joined the team from the WorldSkills Australia office on Phillip Island, about an hour south of Melbourne, for the 2018/19 Skills Squad training camp.

The purpose of the camp was to lay the foundation for the upcoming months by providing the opportunity for; planning training sessions between competitors and experts, team building activities and personal development.

Day One:

We arrived from across Australia to join our peers at Phillip Island for day one of the Skills Squad Training Camp. On arrival, WorldSkills Australia greeted us and quickly assembled for the first activity of the day. Everybody had time for introductions and camp instructions. Then we sat down for dinner and had a quick chat with our fellow teammates. Next up on the agenda was a session on resilience and Josh Beaver (Australian Swimmer, Rio 2016 Olympian and Commonwealth Games Medalist) came and spoke with us about his time preparing for and competing at the Olympic Games. He showed us what it means to bounce back, and how to lay the foundation to be our best at competitions. He reminded us to check in with ourselves and to reach out for help. Thanks, Josh for the insight into representing your country on the world stage, hopefully, that will be me one day. Next, it was Rachel & Daves’ (The Team Leaders) turn to give us the rundown of expectations and commitment.

Day Two:

We start the day bright and early, with a fitness circuit run by Kim and then all head in for breakfast. First up on day 2 is finding out about the partners who help fund WorldSkills Australia and how we can work together. Next, we had an introduction to social media and practical tips as part of our media training. There was plenty of time to plan and strategise with our training manager, we’ve got a long road ahead of us and every moment counts. Time for some friendly competition with an Amazing Race, where our creativity, teamwork and strategies are tested. A marking scale was used to determine who was best at cooking, singing and completing the rest. After dinner, it’s time to exercise the brain with trivia and a lot of laughs.

Day Three:

Kim’s fitness circuit starts the day at 7 am, followed by a delicious breakfast thanks to the cookery and bakery team. Day 3 includes more time to speak with our training manager and work on the training plan. Then we had an afternoon of team building, in the pouring rain!  but we didn’t grumble instead we ran inside and kept going. Next, it was our turn to organise an activity, we tested the training managers ninja skills and played a few pranks. We then sat down to listen to a panel of previous competitors to find out about their journey. We threw questions their way, and they shared their experience and tell us where WorldSkills has taken them so far. Our last dinner together and we try out the Russian cuisine. We come together to share stories and start envisioning ourselves on the world stage.

Day Four:

Smiles all around as we pose for our team photos. Rachel & Dave hold a life mapping session. It was fascinating finding out about my teammate’s life stories. We’ve all had very different journeys that have lead us to this room. Lunchtime hits, and we are out the door on to the bus homeward bound. This is what my friends had to say about the training camp and our long weekend away.

“Best memorable moment would definitely be playing the 2 games we made up and getting the training experts to play”

“The respect everyone had for each other was next level, I’ve never seen a group of people get along so quickly and be so inclusive”

“Running Ninja Destruction with Josh Boon! The idea would normally terrify me.. but was just so much fun and gave me so much confidence…”

“I found it quite amazing how well the whole team bonded.”

“Cheers for a great weekend”

 

Thank you to all who volunteered their time to make the Skills Squad training camp so memorable, this time is invaluable to kickstart the journey.

26/09/2018