After A Surprise Second Chance, Apprentice Plumber Charles Goede Is Training For The Global Spotlight At Worldskills Shanghai 2026
Charles Goede thought he was done competing.
After winning the 2024 SkillsUSA Connecticut state championship and placing second in the national plumbing competition at the SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta during the annual National Leadership & Skills Conference, he assumed his run had come to an end.
Then an email — sent to an inactive school email address — gave him another shot. SkillsUSA, the nation’s leading workforce development organization for students, serves more than 400,000 career and technical education students and teachers nationwide, helping them develop technical, workplace and leadership skills through hands-on training and competition. Top competitors advance to the international stage through WorldSkills, a biennial global competition — often called the “Olympics of skilled trades” — where the world’s best young professionals compete. SkillsUSA serves as the official U.S. representative, fielding Team USA in the event.
His invitation to apply for WorldSkills went to an account he no longer used, but fortunately his former adviser was cc’d and forwarded it to him. That was followed by a Zoom call with representatives from IAPMO, the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC), and SkillsUSA.
“A couple of weeks later they called me back and they told me I was selected, and I was just shocked,” said Goede, a fourth-year plumbing apprentice with UA Local 777 Plumbers & Pipefitters in Meriden, Connecticut. He entered the apprenticeship program as a second-year apprentice after graduating in 2024.
Goede will be the U.S. competitor for Plumbing and Heating at the 2026 WorldSkills Competition, to be held Sept. 22-27 in Shanghai, China.
His interest in plumbing began at Ella T. Grasso Technical High School, where students are exposed to a variety of trades before selecting their top three to study further.
He said he chose plumbing because he liked the combination of working with his hands and using his mind to solve problems.
“Without going to that technical high school, I wouldn’t know a lot of the things that I know today,” Goede said. “I definitely wouldn’t be in the WorldSkills Competition, and I probably would be doing another career path.”
In 2023, a teacher encouraged him to compete in SkillsUSA. While he didn’t win that year, he found far more success in 2024. The national competition, held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, was a different experience.
“It was definitely a mind-opener because the Connecticut competition is pretty small compared to the national competition,” he said. “It’s a million-square-foot convention center with a bunch of different trades.”
The national competition also reinforced a key lesson.
“It taught me time management; use my time wisely,” he said. “When it comes down to it, some of the accuracy might have to be sacrificed just so that you can finish; being done is better than being perfect and not done.”
As he prepares for the international stage, Goede is training intensively, splitting time between the field and his local union hall, where he works through detailed blueprints under strict time limits. Starting in July, that training will ramp up to full time.
A major focus has been tube bending, a skill more commonly emphasized in international competition.
“That’s something we don’t really see a lot over in the United States, but they definitely use it a lot over in Europe and the Asian countries,” he said. “So that’s something that I know that I have to work on.”
The preparation is highly technical and exacting, with scoring based on precision down to fractions of an inch.
“They’re going to go through that with a fine-tooth comb,” he said. “If you’re off within an eighth inch, you’re going to get points deducted … so you’ve got to be very close to the details and you’ve got to have a lot of pride in your craftsmanship because everybody’s going to be looking at it.”
PHOTO BY PETER KELLY
Goede also gained additional international exposure in November 2025, participating in SkillsAustria, further broadening his experience ahead of WorldSkills.
That level of preparation is made possible through support from across the industry; the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA), IAPMO and PHC are sponsoring him for WorldSkills.
“It’s been a great, great help,” Goede said. “They’ve offered a lot for training and stuff like that, so I’m very, very grateful.”
Through the UA, Goede has worked closely with Director of Plumbing Services Tom Bigley and Local 777 Training Coordinator Vinnie Valente. Bigley has helped arrange additional training sessions focused on specialized skills, and Valente has served as his day-to-day trainer.
“He’s one of my main mentors and the person helping out with my training,” Goede said of Valente.
Valente said in addition to tube bending, they are focusing on adjusting to the metric system of measurement and familiarization with plumbing fixtures and carriers that are utilized outside of the United States. These can include different types of in-wall plumbing carriers as well as less familiar joining methods such as “push joints” for drainwaste-vent systems.
“At this level, the competitors must be widely versed on all possible plumbing and mechanical joining methods,” he said.
Valente also emphasized the importance of time management. He said WorldSkills projects are compartmentalized in separately timed modules, and all work must be completed on time with very exacting tolerances.
“This is really the greatest challenge — seeking a balance between timely completion and doing as excellent a job as possible with a ticking clock getting louder each minute,” he said.
PHOTO BY PETER KELLY
With that in mind, Valente said the traits that Goede possesses today are the same onethat helped elevate him to the WorldSkills level of competition.
“At 19 years of age, he has set many goals and achieved them,” he said. “He continues with this sense of purpose in the tasks at hand.” From IAPMO, Goede credited Executive Vice President of Field Services DJ Nunez for ongoing support and coordination throughout the process.
“He’s been checking in on me, getting us help wherever we can,” Goede said. “So, it’s been great working with him.”
Nunez said his involvement in Goede’s preparation reflects IAPMO’s broader mission.
“Supporting Charles reflects IAPMO’s commitment to advancing training, standards and professional development across the industry,” he said. “It’s been a collaborative effort across organizations to make sure he has access to the training and opportunities he needs. That kind of coordination is critical at this level.”
He also pointed to the broader significance for the industry.
“Opportunities like this show what’s possible when the industry comes together to invest in young professionals,” he said.
Support from PHCC has also been instrumental. Goede highlighted Larry Shoemaker, who will serve as his expert at the WorldSkills competition in Shanghai.
Shoemaker said Goede’s readiness reflects both his technical skill and his adaptability to the demands of international competition. “Charles shows it through consistency, precision and composure,” Shoemaker said. “He can hit tolerances, manage time and stay organized under pressure. The big shift from U.S. competitions to WorldSkills is priority — here we focus on accuracy first. At WorldSkills, it’s completion first, then quality of execution, and accuracy comes last. He understands that and is training to that standard.”
Shoemaker said Goede’s preparation has evolved significantly as he’s gained exposure to new techniques and expectations.
“The biggest change is exposure and focus,” he said. “Working with Local 777 out of Connecticut and his trainer, Vinnie, has been key. They’ve put in the time on skills we don’t typically use in the United States — different materials, different techniques, different expectations. That extra time and repetition on unfamiliar work has been the difference. He’s now training specifically for the world stage, not just doing what he already knows.”
He added that succeeding at the international level requires more than technical ability. “Time, resources and mindset,” Shoemaker said. “At the world level, you need the time to train properly and a partner that has the resources to support that training. Without that, you’re behind before you start. Then it comes down to mindset — being able to shift from everyday trade work to competition mode. The people who succeed are the ones who can adapt, stay disciplined and execute to the standard required, not just what they’re used to.”
“He’s going to be with me at the competitions and stuff like that,” Goede said. “He’s come down to my training center and put a lot of time into looking up different blueprints and different ideas for us to work on.”
As the competition approaches, Goede said he is focused on representing not only himself, but the organizations and industry that have supported him along the way.
“I’m honored to represent not only plumbing in WorldSkills, but IAPMO, PHCC and the UA,” he said. “I’m more than honored. I’m going to do the best that I can to represent them to the best of my ability.”
Valente said Goede has received a lot of attention in celebration of his WorldSkills journey.
“For some, this would overinflate an ego,” he said, “but Charlie manages to temper everything, maintaining humility and keeping his head centered on increasing his skill sets.” Looking at life after WorldSkills, Goede’s goals remain grounded in the trade that got him there.
“Beyond the competition, once those wheels touch down on the runway, it’s full steam ahead with my plumbing and pipefitting career.”
Mike Flenniken
Mike Flenniken is a staff writer, Marketing and Communications, for IAPMO. Prior to joining IAPMO in 2010, Flenniken worked in public relations for a group of Southern California hospitals and as a journalist in writing and editing capacities for various Southern California daily newspapers.
Last modified: July 14, 2026