I coach the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) Student Career Days (SCD) competition team. The event is an annual national landscape and horticulture Olympics-style competition. This was my third year as a coach. Two years ago we went to Auburn, AL. Last year we went to Fort Collins, CO. This year we went to Raleigh, NC.
Our team consisted of 8 students. We competed against 64 other schools in 19 events (Business Management, Irrigation Design, Maintenance Cost Estimating, Annual and Perennial ID, Exterior Landscape Design, Irrigation Assembly, Plant problem Diagnosis, Computer-Aided Landscape Design, Interior Plant ID, Hardscape Installation, Woody Ornamental Plant ID, Turf and Weed ID, Wood Construction, Interior Landscape Design, Landscape Plant Installation, Skid Steer Loader Operation, Landscape Maintenance Operations, Personnel Management, Truck and Trailer Operation).
There will be no PLANET team next year, since PLANET is changing its name to the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). The SCD event will be be called the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC). So now I get to call myself the coach of the Cal Poly SLO National Collegiate Landscape Competition Team.
