Picard Takes Home First Place in GDAS Competition, Now Will Travel to AGTO

Brendan Picard of Novus Auto Glass in Regina took home first-place in the Glass Dealers Association of Saskatchewan's second annual auto glass technician feeder competition on May 3 and will now head to the Auto Glass Technician Olympics (AGTO) in Las Vegas November 7-8 (CLICK HERE for more information on the AGTO.) Picard took home first place in last year's GDAS competition as well and competed in last year's Auto Glass Technician Olympics. (CLICK HERE for related story.)

Brendan Picard (shown here during the competition) will travel to Las Vegas this November to compete in the Auto Glass Technician Olympics.

The competition was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, as part of the GDAS' annual general meeting, at the Saskatchewan Government Insurance Claim Center. (CLICK HERE for related story.)

Picard says his main training for the competition comes from reviewing the rules, which were based on those of the AGTO.

"I kind of go over the rules everyday and keep everything in mind what has to be done," he says.

But, he also notes, the main key is knowing how to do your job.

"As long as you know your job, you'll do fine," he says.

And, as a second-time GDAS winner and a soon-to-be second-time contestant in AGTO, what's his advice for others.

"Try to relax and make sure you know what you're going into," he says.

Peter Galesloot (left) awards Brendan Picard (right) first-place in this year's GDAS auto glass technician competition.

He also mentioned that the competition continues to get stiffer-and competitions such as these are improving the quality of the work that he sees.

"It was a very close competition this year," says Picard, who is in his eleventh year in the industry. "Everyone's taking their jobs more seriously. That's the whole purpose of these competitions."

Nathaniel Vey and Jordy Racette, both of Speedy Glass, took second and third place, respectively, in the competition. There were seven contestants total.

The AGTO will be held November 7-8 at the Mandalay Convention Center in Las Vegas, as part of Auto Glass Week in Las Vegas.

CLICK HERE for more information on this year's AGTO.

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