Two weeks before Craig Childress defended his ServiceTitan Elite Trades championship titles, he arrived home from work and saw two hulking trophies sitting on his dining room table.
The trophies, which had spent most of the year out of plain sight in a different room, were the hardware he’d earned at last year’s championship Series (ETCS), when Childress won the HVAC and plumbing national championships to become the first-ever crossover champion.
His wife, Rachel, had placed the trophies back in full view. And the message was clear.
“The message was, ‘We want more trophies. We want to win,’" Childress, a plumber from Peabody, Massachusetts, said. “I was looking at them every day. It was a constant reminder to keep focused on the task at hand.”
And let’s just say it worked.
Childress made history at this year’s ETCS in West Palm Beach, Florida, winning the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship and the Plumbing National Championship to add a new title: Back-to-back crossover champion.
“Dad did it again!” Rachel exclaimed as she and Childress FaceTimed their kids moments after winning both championships, and screams of excitement could easily be heard from the other end of the call.
Shining a light on the trades
Childress has taken home four jumbo-sized paychecks (two each in ‘23 and ‘24) just from the ETCS alone. But when he says that the competition has been life-changing, he’s not solely referring to the money.
“The ETCS shines a bright light on an underappreciated career path,” Childress said. “Instead of our work being hidden behind a wall or in a basement, it’s put on display (on national TV) for the world to see.”
Childress advocates for all tradesmen and women to enter the ETCS competition next year. And he hopes that an event like this attracts the next generation to the trades.
On both days of this year’s competition, high school students got a field trip to the Palm Beach Convention Center to watch the action. Patrick Boldt, last year’s ServiceTitan HVAC Apprentice National Champion who competed in the pro category this year, loved seeing that.
“I think it's great because it just opens their mind to the different possibilities, and they get to see what we do, quickly, on a day-to-day (basis),” Boldt said. “Hopefully it inspires them to join the trades and keep the trades alive.”
Boldt finished second this year, followed by Curtis Harrington in third. ETCS veteran Tom Kennedy took home the professional title in the IDEAL Electrical National Championship for 2024, with Kyle Bath and Jeremy Myers placing second and third. On the plumbing side, Mike Seidel finished second behind Childress, followed by Tyler Edelman.
“This is amazing for our trades,” Seidel said, moments after the competition. “I saw a sign here that said, ‘College isn’t for everybody. Trades pay now.’ There’s no doubt about that. And there’s a shortage of people coming into the trades.
“But also, look at Craig. He’s won how much money by winning the ETCS in back-to-back years?”
The answer: $100,000.
The #1 newsletter for the trades.
Déjà vu
Childress has already lived through a year being a crossover ETCS champion.
He was the special guest at trade conventions in Las Vegas and Chicago. He participated in podcasts and was featured in stories. It was a strange but special feeling, he said, to be celebrated for the work he does every day.
Now, he gets to live that year all over again. And the part that excites him most is sharing that celebration with his kids.
For example, his 5-year-old son has watched the 2023 taping of the ETCS competition 30-40 times, enough where he can practically quote it word-for-word. The same thing will likely happen again this year, when the Childresses host a watch party for the ETCS premiere on CBS Sports Network in December.
As for the two new, hulking trophies that Childress has added to his collection?
“They're going to go on the dining room table with the other two for a little while for everyone to see,” Childress said.
Even if that means limited dining space.
“We'll just eat on the floor.”
