Each year, Ideal Industries sponsors the Ideal National Championship for electricians. Established in 2016, and now dubbed the Ideal Nationals, there’s no more intense or visible display of trade skill in this field. The Ideal Nationals pit tradesman against tradesman in a national electricians competition to crown a champ. Even better—cash prizes and tool prizes were at stake.
We like the idea of honoring talented tradesmen and giving them an opportunity to win cash and tool prizes. Each year, Ideal hosts its annual electrician’s competition in Tampa, Florida. The Ideal National Championship tests installation speed while also monitoring safety skills. Each year, the Ideal National Championship sees more than 30,000 participants and awards over $600,000 in prizes.
The IDEAL National Championship is now part of the Elite Trades Championship Series, expanding support for the skilled trades and career path opportunities to other areas, including auto and HVAC technicians in 2022.
The Ideal Nationals Championship Competition
Ideal Electrical organized the annual Nationals competition to encourage young people to seek careers as electricians and related careers. By most job data analyses, the country lacks enough skilled labor to fill needs over the next generation. Also, the U.S. Department of Labor has identified more than 70,000 electrical trade-related job availabilities available to high schoolers and trade school graduates over the next several years. Competition is a great encourager and Ideal Industries brings a lot of interest and excitement with their annual electrician’s competition.
“We need people to fill the job gap, otherwise building and renovation projects will eventually impact local and regional economies. This is a great industry and for people who like to solve problems and work with their hands. There are rewarding careers to be had in the electrical profession.”
Doug Sanford, Ideal Electrical Group President
To get to the Ideal Nationals as a finalist, competitors have to earn their way. They do this by demonstrating their range of knowledge by installing a receptacle, splicing, and testing for continuity. The qualifying scores combine the quality of work and the speed at which the tasks were completed accurately. The winner of each state advances to Finals Week.
Ideal hosted over 800 Qualifying events across the United States and Canada. Events typically take place at electrical distributor locations and retailers like Lowe’s. Trade schools and industry organizations like the IEC, NECA, and IBEW can also host events.
In addition to the standard Qualifying events, IDEAL added 6 “Automatic Qualifying Events.” Winners of these events would automatically advance to the Finals competition. All electricians who competed but didn’t win their state get entered into IDEAL’s “Champions Recharged” drawing. Of that pool, 10 electricians and an additional 10 apprentices get advanced to the Ideal Nationals as “Wild Card” competitors.
The Ideal National Championship Prizes
Individual Professional Prizes
- First Place: One professional contestant placing first will receive a $60,000 cash prize, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win.
- Second Place: One professional contestant placing second will receive a $25,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
- Third Place: One professional contestant placing third will receive a $10,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
Individual Apprentice Prizes
- First Place: One apprentice placing first will receive a $40,000 cash prize, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win.
- Second Place: One apprentice placing second will receive a $20,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
- Third Place: One apprentice placing third will receive a $10,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
Team Prizes
- First Place: One Pro Team placing first will receive a $60,000 cash prize, to be divided equally among the three Team competitors, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win. The Pro Team’s contractor will receive $5,000 in IDEALcash.
- Second Place: One Pro Team placing second will receive a $30,000 cash prize, to be divided equally among the three Team competitors, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win. The Pro Team’s contractor will receive $5,000 in IDEALcash.
Check out the official rules here.
The Ideal Nationals Competition
Each year tens of thousands of union and non-union electricians, as well as students and apprentices, enter the Ideal Nationals Competition. The qualifying rounds take place each year at electrical distributors and trade schools across the country. We’re talking over 1,000 local and regional competitions designed to identify finalists who then progress to the Ideal National Championship.
Judging the Competition
The judging at the Ideal National Championship is fierce. At various times across the different levels of competition, the judges looked at the following metrics:
- Box placement
- Conduit Offsets
- Circuit breaker selection and installation
- Conductor installation
- Grounding & Binding
- Device installation
- Proper torquing
- Overall workmanship
- Correct circuit operation
- Work area and safety
All judging is based on both speed and accuracy.
Get More Information
For more information on The Ideal National Championship, visit the IDEALnationals.com website.
