Dear Editor,
In a perfect world, then the collegiate rodeo athlete should be on equal footing with other NCAA recognized sports. However, it is not a perfect world nor are things equal between Division I, Division II and Division III schools. Division II and Division III schools are allowed to recognize rodeo as an athletic sport, whereas Division I schools are not. This affects fundraising, recruiting and other activities. I am a rodeo advisor at a Division I school that is also a land grant institution. You would think that a school that is that strong on the agricultural side of things would freely support their rodeo team. They do not. In fact, in addition to competition expenses, we are also responsible for practice stock, upkeep of a practice arena, management of a boarding facility, and anything else that comes with an athletic team. I should also state, that there is no money for scholarships either. But they work and compete for their school all the while achieving their main goal of getting an education. So should they be allowed to receive prize money at collegiate events? Absolutely! These are hard working kids who are the future of our country. Why should they suffer and why should we deny ourselves the benefit of such great leadership because someone might think them getting a bit of prize money is unfair. Let those people walk a while in a collegiate rodeo athlete's shoes sometime. They work part time, go to school full time and stil get 8-10 hours of practice in a week and travel all weekend to competitions and still maintain above average grades. I don't know of any other athlete that does as much with so little. I know my kids do and do it without compalint (at least much complaining). I am so proud of our college rodeo athletes and we should do all we can for them.
Yours, A Passionate Rodeo Advisor