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Force Maine “National Champs”
by André Brousseau
Maine Wastewater Control Association Ops Challenge Coordinator

Let me start with how this team achieved its great accomplishment. Three years ago, MWWCA needed to put together a team to send to NEWEA’s regional Operations Challenge. We put the word out and the following five people began their journey: Coach Skip Clough (South Berwick WWTP), Team Captain Brian Cataldo (Wright Pierce Engineers), Mary-Anne Peck ( OMI Biddeford ), Travis Peaslee ( Saco WWTP ), and Dan LaFlamme ( LaFlamme Electric). By the spring of ’05 they came up with their team name and agreed to meet at NEWEA’s annual training day.

Training day is an opportunity for teams to ask questions and run through each of the five events several times. But learning the events at Training Day is just the beginning. Next, they have to set their practice schedule. It is rumored that teams from larger wastewater treatment systems and organizations might be able to practice every day leading up to a competition. That’s because most of these teams have players that work together every day. This is not the case in Maine. As I mentioned, these people are from five separate employers. None of them have the same work schedule. All of the practices are on their own time.

Leading up to NEWEA’s regional competition, Force Maine would practice 1-2 times per week. Setting a consistent practice schedule was not easy. For instance, a practice was at 3:30 p.m., but often one or two members could not show up, or were substantially late, or had to respond to cell phones and pagers. But there were more good sessions than bad ones. During practice, the team runs through the competitive events over and over. This allows them to get into a routine that will allow them to do the job perfectly as fast as possible. Practice also develops good team player skills. If something doesn’t work the way it usually does, another player may need to help out with a task assigned to someone else. At the real competition at WEFTEC there is only one chance to complete on each event, in front of both hypercritical judges and a large audience. Sometimes that can be nerve racking.

Force Maine’s first competition was at NEWEA’s Spring Conference at the Cliff House in Southern Maine in June of 2005. They came away with a first place finish. That October, at WEFTEC’s Operations Challenge in Washington D.C, they took first place in the process control event (similar to a Grade V operator’s exam—but played as a team with a 20 minute time limit) and placed 5th overall in their division. In their second year of competition Force Maine fared well at the regional event. That year, 2006, NEWEA held a joint conference with the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA). The Ops Challenge teams faced stiff competition among teams from New England, New York and Pennsylvania. After the day was done, Force Maine placed high enough to go on to the national competition. There, in Dallas, Texas, they finished in eleventh place in their division, and for the second straight time took home the trophy for first place in the process control event.

This past June, NEWEA held its regional competition in North Conway, NH.
The association had four very competitive teams vying for three spots to represent NEWEA at WEFTEC 07 in San Diego California. Force Maine finished in third place and was very disappointed with their showing. These people take great pride in what they have trained and practiced for.

On October thirteenth, Force Maine flew out to the west coast. They had a day and a half to settle in and re-group as one of 42 teams representing the best operators in the U.S., Canada and South America. On Monday, they met with all the teams to receive a full briefing from the Ops Challenge judges. The briefing provides the teams with a last chance to ask questions and hear event coordinators explain any last minute changes to the rules and procedures. Following the briefing, all the teams sat down at individual tables in a roped off area of the large exhibition hall to take the exam that is the process control event. The rules for scoring this test, made up by wastewater treatment operators and engineers, are very complicated, but basically, each team has up to 20 minutes to turn in their test. They do not learn how they did until the following day. Even then, they only get their raw scores (in seconds) and are only told what the best time was. Teams usually do not share individual results with other teams, so it is difficult to know where each team stands or who won the event.

On Tuesday, the remaining four events started at 9:00 am. Tuesday is typically a long day for all of the teams. Some may have an event at the start or they may have to wait an hour or so. The nerves are running throughout but Force Maine shows very little. They do not get flustered (or they at least put on a good front). Preparing at their table for each event, the team members talk quietly amongst themselves, running through each step of each event; trying to be sure they can “run clean”. What I mean by clean is, NO PENALTIES. That’s their goal. Sometimes teams will do some small talk with other teams, trading experiences on a particular event, possibly suggesting a strategy to do a task better. This usually does not work because the team has practiced and choreographed a particular method for the event, over and over. For them to change up now could be devastating. Each team must compete in their event, then wait while the captain confers with the judges, and finds out how well they did, and how many little things they may have done imperfectly. Again, only the best raw time (in seconds) for each event is posted. No one can be sure who has won any of the events. Once the Operations Challenge is finally over (about 4:30 p.m.), the teams are told to re-convene at the awards ceremony at a nearby hotel.

Now finally the teams hear the overall results: for a third year in a row, Force Maine places first in the process control event. That is unbelievable! With the first in process and knowing they did well on the remaining events, Force Maine waited anxiously to learn who placed third, second and first in each event. There is much speculation on who may have come in first overall among all the teams, especially those placing in one of the top spots in each individual event. Finally, the third, and second place finishers overall are called to the podium. Force Maine members and others start to place bets on who is going to be the winner: Utah? Toronto? It’s hard to guess. And then it happened. The first place winner’s name is revealed to a stunned team. Force Maine has won the competition. They are the best. They are being called to the podium to accept the trophy for first place.

So it really is true what they tell you. Practice makes perfect, it’s not about the individual it’s about the team, the greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it.

Force Maine's final standings were: Lab 10th, Safety 8th, Maintenance 12th, & Collection Systems 10th. The Division I Seacoast Sewer Snakes of NH came home with a third place finish in the collection systems event (pipe repair). Fecal Matters of RI also brought home hardware, with a second place finish in the Division II collection systems event. All and all it was an awesome showing for New England. Congratulations to all three teams.

 

Force Maine accepting Div II First Place Over All award
presented by
Jeff Pratt, Ops Challenge Chair (l.)
and
Mohamed Dahab, WEF President (r.).
 

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