Doug Sanford, Group President of IDEAL® Electrical, the world leader in electrical tools and wire termination, recently announced open registration for the third annual IDEAL National Championship. The electrical division, part of family-owned IDEAL INDUSTRIES, INC., continues the competition as a way to honor and showcase the abilities of electrical professionals and students/apprentices to crown new elite champions while awarding more than $600,000 in cash and prizes along the way.  

“The IDEAL National Championship is a highly-charged, no-holds-barred competition to discover the best electricians, students/apprentices out there,” said Sanford. “Over the past two years, nearly 60,000 men and women across America have competed. We’ve made a few updates to this year’s competition that we hope will excite previous competitors, while allowing us to broaden our reach to discover new talent.”

This year, Southern Regional Technical College will host a qualifying round on Monday, Sept 24^th at the Industrial Drive Campus of SRTC, which is located at 361 Industrial Drive Moultrie, GA 31788. The qualifying round in Moultrie is due in large part to SRTC Electrical Systems instructor, Stephen Mathis. Mr. Mathis has been asked once again to be a judge at the national competition. He commented, “As a judge at the final event in Orlando the last two years I’ve been able to witness firsthand the lives that have been changed by this competition. Ideal is also a supporter of technical education and locally has donated over 2,000 dollars’ worth of tools to the Electrical Systems program in Moultrie.” This competition is open to any student, apprentice, or professional electrical tradesmen. For more information on registering, visit online https://www.idealnationals.com/content/idealnationals/en.html, or contact Mr. Mathis by phone (229) 217-4225 or email: [email protected].

Those advancing will receive travel accommodations to compete in the Championship Weekend at Disney’s® Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL on December 2-3, 2018. In addition, 2^nd place finishers of each state/territory will receive $500 IDEALcash, and 3^rd place finishers will receive $250 IDEALcash to spend on future purchases.  Wild card winners are not eligible for the IDEALcash giveaway.

This year’s winners will go head-to-head against 2017 returning elite champions: for professionals competing as individuals: 1^st place Roman Ryszewski (Pennsylvania), 2^nd place Greg Anliker (Illinois) and 3^rd place Seth Agnew (Missouri), and for students/apprentices: 1^st place Michael Yass (New York), 2^nd place Jeremy Welle (Minnesota) and 3^rd place Donald Riggs (Indiana).

How It Works: A Roadmap to The Championship Weekend
Qualifying Round events will be held across the U.S. between March 7 and October 5, 2018. Canada will also enter the competition this year with its own qualifying round events occurring during the same time period.

The competition is designed to find the best in class among both professionals and students/apprentices. Each must register and then can compete as an individual and/or as part of a team (three individual electricians or students from the same company or school).

During the Qualifying Round, competitors will need to demonstrate both their mental problem-solving and physical skills across five categories: pulling wire, cutting, stripping, termination and testing – using IDEAL tools through a speed test judged by fastest completion time, tight wire connections, termination, connectivity, and safety.  Those competing under the professional individual or professional team category will have an additional DataComm component added to their Qualifying Round challenge.

Competitors will utilize the following IDEAL products to complete a task:

• Linesman Pliers

• Combo Head Cushioned-Grip Screwdriver

• Reflex Super T-Stripper Wire Stripper

• TightSight 660A Clamp Meter

• Twister Pro Wire Connector

• S-Class Fiberglass Fish Tape

• NEW: Professionals only (Datacomm component):

  • PrepPRO Coax/UTP Cable Stripper

  • OmniSeal Pro Compression Tool

  • VDV Multimedia Cable Tester

  • XR RTQ F Compression Connector

All tools will be available at each Qualifying Round event, but competitors have the option to use their own IDEAL tools, which can be purchased in advance to practice by visiting a local distributor or www.IDEALnationals.com.

What’s on the Line at The Championship Weekend:
For professional electrical tradesmen participating as an individual:

• 1st place - $75,000 + $5,000 IDEALcash to the contractor

• 2^nd place - $25,000

• 3^rd place - $10,000

For professional electrical tradesmen participating as a team:

• 1^st place - $60,000 (split amongst teammates) + $5,000 IDEALcash to the contractor

For students/apprentices participating as an individual:                   

• 1^st place - $30,000 + $5,000 IDEALcash to trade school

• 2^nd place - $20,000

• 3^rd place - $10,000

For students/apprentices participating as a team:

• 1^st place - $30,000 (split amongst teammates) + $5,000 IDEALcash for trade school

To register and learn more information about the IDEAL National Championship, please visit www.IDEALnationals.com. The IDEAL National Championship app is also currently available for free download through Apple, Blackberry, Google Play and Amazon app stores and is compatible with iOS and Android devices.