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 I Love the Oldies
Posts: 3767
    
Location: Central Washington | My son is a junior this year and we are trying to wrap our heads around what to do, who to contact, what he will need, the costs......ahhhhhhhh. My head wants to explode thinking about all of it (partly because my baby can't possibly be 17, and because I put myself through college working full time, with 3 kids).
Any advice, tips, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
a little background info....son is pretty good team roper, wants to pursue a degree in Ag Science or Ag Business, has a 3.8 GPA, may do running start his senior year. We live in WA, but he is looking at BMCC in Pendleton or Arizona  . He works part time now, working on saving up some money. We will help him with truck or trailer, but are requiring him to buy the other himself.
HELP! |
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 Veteran
Posts: 214
| I did the northwest region for WSU (you can college rodeo even if the school doesn't have a team, it just will cost $5 extra for your membership, or at least it did 3 years ago)
If you google national intercollegiate rodeo association you will find the NIRA homepage and can select which region you are interested. For BMCC you would go to the northwest region and it has a list of contacts.
http://www.collegerodeo.com/membership/northwest-region/
The Regional Secretary, Joyce, was about the nicest lady I have ever talked to! She walked me through everything. Its not nearly as complicated as it seems at first :) |
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Member
Posts: 11
| I have a daughter that college rodeo's. We spent many miles in the car interviewing schools and coach's. There were several things that were very important to her. He needs to put together a video of his runs. Make sure to make it so that you can hear times, and insert the times on the screen as well. I would send that out to all the schools he is interested in. Each college has a athlete application/contact form as well this lets them know you are interested.
College rodeo with large teams are very competitive but if you are willing to put in the hours and the time it is well worth it.
Make sure you look at what the current year rodeo schedules are because sometimes one regions season isn't like another and depending on your class schedule you might want to stick with a certain region.
My kid had 7am classes and was done by 11 so that she could ride everyday. That doesn't suit most kids the early rise but well worth it if you can get into the habit.
Good luck.
Have your son write down questions that he wants ask this is very important.
Scholarships available to everyone on the team or in the club or current team members only
Where are horses kept how much does it cost if in a dorm situation
Entry fee's paid or part paid
Stalls paid when traveling to rodeos
Fuel paid for club/or team or both
Can you stay in your trailer or do you have to stay in a motel if motel who pays for that.
Food allowance? Team members only or club or everyone
Is outside work allowed during rodeo season
Drinking and partying policy if any
These are just some of the questions my daughter asked the coaching staff.
And it is pretty important to go to a practice of the school you are considering. That can be a eye opener as well.
Make sure your school provides the stock to practice some don't the kids are expected to get their own. And we all know how much stock can cost. There are several schools that don't have organized practice as well. So if your child like structure this might not be the team for them.
She also looked for schools that were heavy with boys and they needed girls so that might something to think about as well.
And make sure you don't sign any intent until you are dead sure because in doing so and you change your mind you can be held to that unless that coach releases you from your contract.
Make sure if you are promised something it is in writing this is very important because coaching staff changes memories fail etc. Just have it in writing this protects you and them.
There are two Colorado schools that are building programs one is a Jr. college and the other is a university that has a community college that is loaded with Ag classes. They rodeo in the Mountain West Region so wouldn't be to far of a hike for you to drive and watch.
Edited by shzafreckles 2015-12-28 3:45 PM
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I Love the Oldies
Posts: 3767
Location: Central Washington | Thank you for all of this!
I will make sure he starts asking these questions. |
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I Love the Oldies
Posts: 3767
Location: Central Washington | kj11 - 2015-12-28 1:06 PM
I did the northwest region for WSU (you can college rodeo even if the school doesn't have a team, it just will cost $5 extra for your membership, or at least it did 3 years ago )
If you google national intercollegiate rodeo association you will find the NIRA homepage and can select which region you are interested. For BMCC you would go to the northwest region and it has a list of contacts.
http://www.collegerodeo.com/membership/northwest-region/
The Regional Secretary, Joyce, was about the nicest lady I have ever talked to! She walked me through everything. Its not nearly as complicated as it seems at first : )
Thank you, we will get in touch with her! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 754
Location: Arkansas | This is going to be completely opposite of what you asked, but has he considered not college rodeoing? I attended college on a full academic ride, and chose to do amature rodeo, rather than college rodeo. I had a pretty nice horse, and actually made money rodeoing most of the time, rather than forking out all the $$$ to college rodeo. It's expensive, even after scholarships (I was offered a rodeo scholarship as well). Plus, I could go to rodeos that fit my schedule and budget. There is nothing wrong with college rodeo, but I don't regeret NOT doing it. I just wanted to give a look at the other side. Good luck to him, whatever he chooses. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 368
| agree with the above poster. College rodeos don't pay out that well either. It may be a better option to just do ammy rodeos. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Just had this conversation with my boyfriend the other day as we have a friend who's son is in his freshman year of college and rodeoing for them. In his situation he is a rough stock rider and their coach is fabulous and can really help him clean up his rides before he goes pro.
My boyfriend was offered a rodeo scholarship to team rope (school in Colorado I believe). However the scholarship covered tuition and I think he said a little housing.
Not board.
Not feed.
Not a trailer.
Not a truck.
Not fuel.
Not entry fees.
For him it wasn't reasonable. Rodeo isn't like other sports, you don't play on a college team hoping to get scouted to the pros. Some regions are huge and travel time and expenses quickly become prohibitive if the school doesn't fully support the team.
Boyfriend ended up staying home, getting a similar degree from a local school, continued to buy/sell/train at the family farm and rodeod hard on the local circuit in the summers as well as some ustrc's. Doesn't regret a minute of not college rodeoing. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 212
| all of this is great advice..
i live in north mississippi and my friends that college rodeod traveled 3-4 hours for two f them and about 6-8 for the rest other than their home based one... and payout isn't great and its hard to place. Now out where he is thinking of the scholarships may help more, but here they got like 500$ to tuition and 100$ a rodeo... which isn't much when pulling a LQ.. so maybe have him look at where they are and choose the best region or stick with IPRAs etc... good luck! |
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I Love the Oldies
Posts: 3767
Location: Central Washington | So, college rodeo is a lot like HS rodeo basically. We are choosing to get away from HS rodeo for these reasons also.
will bring all of this up to him! Thanks!
Edited by tweeks 2015-12-29 5:16 PM
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Location: horseback looking for cows | If you are considering BMCC in the fall, contact the coaches office. Jayne Ann Patterson is Larry Patterson's wife and is amazing and really helps the kids out a lot.
My daughter is on the BMCC team and loves it! Majoring in Ag Beef Production. If you have any questions please feel free to message me! |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | I was recruited and received a scholarship. The school did not provide funds for travel or anything -- it was on us. However, I was fortunate to do well and usually won more than enough money to cover my expenses and help pay for my horses' care and feed. At the time I was in NIRA, Copenhagen Skoal was a huge sponsor and provided quite generous scholarships to regional winners and I won quite a bit of scholarship money. I graduated debt-free partially due to these scholarships. Obviously, there is not a lot of money to be won in NIRA; however, the friendships and memories I collected are priceless. I recall those times with great fondness and have dear friends throughout the US due to the NIRA. I learned to juggle my classes and studying and horse care and practice time -- how to hit the road and "go" and take care of myself. I maintained an A average. I hauled school books all over the south and even did some study / research in other colleges' libraries when we were participating in their rodeos. I came away with self-discipline and much more mature -- handling myself, my responsibilities, my money, taking care of my rig, etc. All of these things helped pave a successful path for me as an adult with a corporate career. I did not rodeo after college - that was it for me and was my plan all along as I did not enjoy all the driving / hauling enough to rodeo professionally. There have been lots of great comments in this thread about questions to ask -- things to consider, etc. But I just wanted to state that there were some major positives for me -- that it was not all about money won. The experience was terrific. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 543
Location: Where the animals rule | My daughter is a freshman and college rodeoed this past semester.She had a scholarship but there are other academic fees that weren't covered and the rodeo program doesn't pay any traveling expenses. She worked and carried 15 hours. She will not rodeo next semester due to the expense issue. She is going to barrel race in open shows and work on her studies. College rodeo is a dead end street as far as we are concerned. Sorry. Just my opinion. |
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Miss Southern Sunshine
Posts: 7427
Location: South Central Florida | we did NHSRA in Florida. We went to the college fair at Nationals and got a lot of school names. She made a dvd and wrote an intro letter to several colleges with her reseume. She.got calls for months. Im sorry to say we.picked a great college with a HORRIBLE coach. It was not a great experience for us...but lots of good friends were very successful. My daughter was in Texas and had a full ride. I would do A LOT OF background research on the coaches and staff. This guy had history I didnt know about. . . . .wish I had. |
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 boon
Posts: 1
| Hello all, My son is a high school graduate and he wants to join the A&M-Commerce Rodeo Team. Any tips from college rodeo students, is it worth trying? Does he need to attend all college rodeos? What are his chances to get a rodeo scholarship? Jeff Stark, Starkgene agency 
Viewing topic: College rodeo tips for the coursework and the term papers
Edited by Starkgene 2020-09-25 5:15 AM
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 Saint Stacey
| College rodeo is nothing like high school rodeo. College does pay out decent...if you are good enough to be consistently in the top 3. It isn't a trailer race like high school rodeo because the regions are limited to something like 10-12 total rodeos in the fall and spring. It's a very short two seasons in the respect. Most college coaches pay attention to the kids that win at the IFYR, NLBRA and NHSRA finals. Those are the three main rodeos college coaches scout out of. As for what is offered, that depends on the college. Most of them only give help to those kids the coach has on the points team. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
| I was recruited and had a full ride. This was quite a few years ago. 6 men and 3 women on the team for each rodeo. The rest of the people from your school could rodeo as independents. We had a school truck and trailer provided, entry fees paid, hotel paid, food allowance. We also had a 12 horse van and commercial driver provided as well but we shared that with the other horse show teams on our campus. We did not use it much. It was a fun 4 years for sure, |
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