With the first week's adaptation and learning behind them, the team has completed a second week of work, stepping up the competition pace and paying particular attention to technique.
- The team continues its intensive training to perfect machine shearing, blade shearing and wool handling
- Looking to the final stretch, the team now begins its last week of preparation before the World Championship starts
- The team will arrive at the great international fixture full of excitement, after several weeks training together and living unforgettable experiences
There is barely a week to go before the 2026 Golden Shears World Championship begins. The shearers and wool handlers of the Euskal Herria team are in their final phase of preparation. With the first week’s adaptation and learning behind them, the team has completed a second week of work, stepping up the competition pace and paying particular attention to technique.
Along the way, the team continues its intensive training to perfect machine and blade shearing and wool handling, in Tahiapa and Taupo. “The aim has been to improve the efficiency, the cleanliness and the speed of both the shearing and the wool handling. Those things are decisive in a top-level international competition,” said the members of the team.
The team has also had the chance to train alongside figures such as Allan Oldfield, the well-known New Zealand shearer and former world champion, and Anderson Shearing. “It has been a particularly valuable opportunity to compare techniques, correct details and see at first hand the standards the international elite demands,” they explained.
Thanks to the exchange they are having with shearers and wool handlers from different countries, they are also learning about the situation and the daily life of shearers elsewhere. Realities of the sector that are not common in Euskal Herria.
The experience they are building up in the small New Zealand competitions held here and there is also proving essential in improving their confidence and adapting to the pace of the championship, because every second and every mistake is costly at a world championship. “The technical staff take a positive view of the team’s progress. Their consistency and precision keep improving,” they said.
The final week of preparation
Looking to the last week, the team now begins the run-up to the start of the World Championship. During that week the training volume will be reduced, to prioritise technical fine-tuning and physical recovery.
The team will therefore arrive at the great international fixture full of excitement, after several weeks training together and living unforgettable experiences. “All of this feels like a dream. We will compete at the highest level in the country regarded as the birthplace of modern shearing, and represent Euskal Herria on the biggest stage in the world.”
Our partners
The Euskal Herria team is supported by EKFB-Union of Basque Sports Federations, the Basque Government-Euskadi Basque Country, the Provincial Council of Araba, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Laboral Kutxa, the Bizkaia Rural Development Association-Bizkaimendi, Abadiño Town Council, the Juan Celaya Foundation, EHNE Bizkaia, Gu ere bai, Gure Esku Dago, Ea Town Council, Arrasate Town Council and EITB.