RCC’s Lineman Rodeo rescheduled

The community is invited to join Robeson Community College for its first Electrical Lineman Rodeo.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 1 in the newly constructed pole yard on the back side of campus, behind the Workforce Development Center, also known as Building 18.

“The lineman rodeo will showcase the skills our students have gained and all that they have learned in class during the first cohort of the Electrical Lineman program,” stated Dr. Joshua Locklear, the Customized Training Director. “We have invited the families of students so they can see what they have learned and be there to support them during the competition.”

Many employers will also be onsite, granting students an opportunity to connect and network.

“We have invited many employers to the event within an hour’s radius,” Locklear said. “Students will have time to talk with the employers about job opportunities.”

The event will feature several competitions – Hurt Man Rescue, Egg Climb, Cross Arm Insulator Changeout, and a mystery competition that will be announced on the day of the event.

“Hurt Man Rescue will simulate a rescue on a pole,” Locklear said. “If a lineman is with someone who goes into cardiac arrest or has some other condition that prevents them from coming back down, this is where this training will come in and they will be able to climb up and bring them down securely and safely.”

During the egg climb competition, students will see how fast they can climb a pole without breaking an egg.

“It’s an agility test to see how fast they can get up the pole,” stated Locklear. “With their training, they should be able to get to the top with the egg still intact.”

The cross-arm insulator will demonstrate how well students can get to the top of the pole and change out equipment.

“It will show how capable students are of leaning away from the pole to change out the cross-arm,” Locklear says.

The event will have tents and chairs set up for those who wish to attend.

“There are still a lot of people who don’t know we have this program,” Locklear said. “We want to promote this program and share it with people in the community, so that they will know when they are talking with someone about our programs and they can say, ‘you know, RCC has that, you should go check them out,’ and so that’s why we are inviting everyone to join us so that they can see in real-time what this program entails and how well our students have been trained.”

For more information, please contact Dr. Josh Locklear at 910-272-3680 or jolocklear@robeson.edu.