Joshua WalboltWhat is Pro Start
A competition hosted by the national restaurant association education foundation. These competitions happen all over the United States including Guam and Puerto Rico. Some high schools and technical schools have the opportunity to prepare teams in culinary and restaurant management to compete at a state level to then compete at the national level. You can check out their website here for more information about the program. (Pro-Start) I will say this program jump started my career and got me involved in ways I never thought possible. It really honed my competitiveness and got me networked with some other great chefs in the industry as well as future leaders.
When I Competed
I competed in this competition for two years. From 2010 to 2012. I was the team captain for both years and I even competed in management which we placed second in state. I was intense with this competition. I hosted tryouts for the team and only the best of the best were chosen to compete alongside me. I held nice skills practice after school and even challenged the team to throw downs. I wanted to be the best team to ever compete. However, that was not the case. Even though we placed first in state both years I competed we did not carry that same win at nationals. My first year at nationals out of 50 teams, we placed 49th. I’m pretty sure the last team didn’t even show up.
I came back for more. This did not stop me. My senior year we came back with a new team and ranked top 15. I THINK! I could be wrong. Either way is was much better than before and I was happy with that!
Why is it important
Well watch the video below of when I came back to judge the national pro-start invitational in D.C!