On Tuesday, October 7, 2026, I spent a work day on a golf course, and it was one of the more useful days of my teaching year.
The 28th South Florida I-CAR Golf Tournament was held at Colony West in Tamarac, Florida, organized by the South Florida I-CAR Committee together with the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), with Pam Watson running the event. Shops, paint and parts suppliers, insurers, equipment reps and instructors from across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach came out for a round. The point of the day is not the golf. The point is what the day pays for.
Who the tournament helps
Every dollar raised at this event stays in South Florida and goes to the collision repair and refinish programs at five technical schools:
- Sheridan Technical College in Hollywood, FL, where I teach
- McFatter Technical College in Davie, FL
- Atlantic Technical College in Margate, FL
- Miami Lakes Technical College in Miami Lakes, FL
- SouthTech Schools in Boynton Beach, FL
If you have ever walked into a school collision shop, you know what that support looks like in practice. It is the spray gun a student learns to set up on, the body panel they weld their first plug weld into, the welding wire, the abrasives, the masking paper, the paint. A collision program burns through consumables faster than almost any other trade program in the building, and a public school budget does not stretch to cover all of it. The tournament, and the shops and suppliers who show up for it, close that gap.
What ASE Collision Test Prep brought to the day
ASE Collision Test Prep donated the Tool Sponsor Awards for the 2026 tournament, and I volunteered on the day itself.
The Tool Sponsor Awards recognize the people and companies that put real tools and equipment into student hands during the year. I wanted this platform's name attached to that award specifically, because it is the same idea the platform is built on: give a student the real thing to practice on, not a watered-down version of it. On the website that means real ASE-style questions, real OEM procedures in the lessons and a simulator that behaves like the test center. In the school shop it means a real gun, a real welder and a real panel.
A group of my own students from Sheridan Technical College came out to volunteer. Seeing them in their uniforms, working the event beside the shop owners and reps who will be hiring them in a year or two, is the part of the day I will remember. Those are the conversations that turn into interviews.
Why an instructor spends a day here
I get asked why a teacher would give up a day for a golf tournament. The honest answer has three parts.
The schools cannot do it alone. Public technical colleges run strong programs on tight budgets. The industry that hires our graduates is the industry that benefits most from those graduates being well trained, and events like this are how that industry pays into the pipeline.
Students need to meet the trade. A student who has shaken hands with the owner of a certified shop, or the regional rep for a paint line, has a different picture of their future than one who has only seen the inside of a classroom. Every volunteer slot at this event is a networking slot.
It keeps me current. The reps and shop owners at these events are the people who tell me which OEM procedures changed this quarter, which equipment the certified shops are standardizing on, and what they wish graduates knew on day one. That feedback goes straight back into my classroom and into the lessons on this platform.
The people who make it happen
An event in its 28th year does not run itself. It runs on a committee of volunteers who meet every month to coordinate how to help our local schools, on an organizer who spends the better part of a year on logistics, and on the sponsors who come back every October. Thank you to Pam Watson and the South Florida I-CAR Committee, to CREF, to Colony West for hosting, and to every shop and supplier who put a foursome on the course.
How to get involved
If you own a shop, sell into the trade, or teach in South Florida and want to support the next class of technicians, the South Florida I-CAR Committee meets the second Tuesday of every month, in person and online. You can join the committee's LinkedIn group or contact me through this site and I will connect you with the organizers. There is a place at the table for anyone who wants to give back.
To the students who volunteered, and to every student in one of those five programs: the people on that course came out for you. Make it count. The next step after the school shop is the certification, and that is what this platform is here for.
Studying for Your First ASE Test?
Pick your test and try 20 free ASE-style practice questions. No account needed.
Discussion
Join the discussion — sign in to comment.
Comments are reserved for registered students and technicians. Your name will be pulled from your profile automatically.
Log In Register