Zack Gears Up For National Skills Competition

A former Construction apprentice at Derby College will take part in a national skills competition next week with his sights set on qualifying for the UK team.

Zack Lysaczenko (21) from Chellaston won a place in the three-day UK Skillbuild final at Birmingham’s NEC National Skills Show (Thursday November 19 to 21) after representing the College in the regional competition earlier this year.

He will compete against students and apprentices from colleges throughout the UK in an intricate brickwork challenge to test accuracy, creativity and time management.

Competition winners are then potentially invited to join the UK Skillbuild team which trains for forthcoming international competitions around the world.

Zack, who works for his father’s building company ‘C The Lite’, has been an apprentice at Derby College since leaving school at 16 – combining work with gaining qualifications in plumbing and brickwork.

He said: “I enjoy the challenge of competitions as it is good to test what you can do under pressure and the scrutiny of judges.  I have also grown a lot in confidence by entering competitions through the College.

“The decorative features involved in the brickwork are something that I would not normally do in my day to day job.  The most important thing is accuracy and getting finished on time.

“I have therefore come back to College recently to focus on practising for the competition so that I am as prepared as possible.”

Construction Lecturer Geoff Grace added: “We have high hopes for Zack who, if all goes to plan, is in with a strong chance of winning the competition.

“The brickwork designs that the competitors have to build are always very complicated and they are under a lot of pressure.  The key is to stay calm and maintain concentration throughout the three days.

“The College has a great track record in Skillbuild including a previous apprentice Jason Stanley making it through the UK Skills squad.

“We hope that Zack will do just as well and fly the flag both for his company and for the College.”

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