INDUSTRY EDUCATION

THE INAUGURAL National Turfgrass Science Invitational( NTSI) was held February 3-5, 2025, during the Golf Course

By Carson Letot, Ph. D

Superintendents Association of America( GCSAA) Conference and Trade Show in San Diego. This competitive event for high school agricultural education students emphasized skills in turfgrass science. During the event, competitors engaged in individual and team activities on topics such as turfgrass identification, playing surface set-up, equipment operation and best management practices. Practicums were held to test participants’ hands-on and observational skills.

The National Turfgrass Science Invitational was also the subject of a study to explore the capacity of a turfgrass science competition to influence change in sentiments toward turfgrass science instruction and recruitment into the turfgrass industry.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS There are jobs available in the turfgrass sector, but supply is dwindling into a severe labor shortage( Hartsock, 2019; Woelfel, 2019; Letot et al., 2024). A decade ago, reports showed declining numbers in undergraduate turfgrass management programs( Richman, 2014; Bigelow, 2016a) and the trend is continuing. Recent work from Branham( 2023) documented that enrollment in turf programs at US-based R-1 universities is down 74 % since their peak in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

The study was conducted of nine FFA advisors and 46 students participating in National Turfgrass Science Invitational. Data collection occurred immediately after the competition in February of 2025 via an email with a link to the Google Form survey, and focused on three areas of interest:

1. Evaluate sentiments from participating students and teachers towards a national turfgrass science invitational.

2. Compare sentiments from participating students and teachers towards turfgrass science topics, skillsets, and careers from before and after the competition.

3. Investigate sentiments towards career exploration based on career decision self-efficacy.

STATEMENTS AND RESPONSES Said one student,“ Seeing how the competition was run this year, I’ ll have a better understanding how things will work next year and I’ ll be better prepared. Nonetheless, the competition was amazing and I had a great time.”

Added another student,“ Now that this year was more of a learning experience on what turfgrass as a competition and

34 SportsField Management | August 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com