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Frequently Asked Questions |
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1. Do you hold tryouts for the rodeo
team? 2.What do I
need to do to apply for a rodeo scholarship? 4. Do you have enough timed-event cattle
for sufficient practice? 5. Can I still rodeo even if I am not
chosen to be on the team? 6. How can I qualify for the College
National Finals? 7. How long can I rodeo at a junior
college? 8. Is there an opportunity to earn
travel money? 9. Where do you have the rough-stock
practice? 10. Do you video tape the college
rodeos? 11. Do I need to attend class to
receive a 2.0 GPA at Trinity Valley? 12. What kind and level of conduct is
expected of me while rodeoing for Trinity Valley? 14. How long of a drive is the college
rodeos in the Southern Region from Athens, Texas? |
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1. Do you
hold tryouts for the rodeo team?
No, not a formal tryout like football or basketball might have. Generally
speaking any student who meets the criteria set forth in the by-laws of the
N.I.R.A. is eligible to rodeo. Basically you must be enrolled in a minimum of
12 academic hours, possess either a current or cumulative GPA of 2.0, and be
in good standing with your college or university to be eligible to rodeo.
Regardless of the number of individuals rodeoing for a particular school each coach may choose a
maximum of 6 guys and 4 girls of whom the points they earn at a particular
rodeo will count for team standings. EACH INDIVIDUAL ENTERED IS ELIGIBLE TO
EARN INDIVIDUAL POINTS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE CHOSEN TO BE
"ON TEAM". 2. What do
I need to do to apply for a rodeo scholarship? Click on the link
that says "scholarship" to download the scholarship application.
Regardless of your self-appraised value it is still recommended that you
complete the application as asked. Scholarship application
are accepted on a year-round basis. The awarding of scholarships is
primarily based upon the following criteria: Financial Need, Reference
letters attesting to your work ethic and conduct, academic ability and past
successes, athletic ability and past successes. The amount of scholarships
that may be awarded varies with each individuals
situation. We offer scholarships that may pay each or all of the following:
tuition, fees, books, housing, and meal plan. 3. How
often do you practice? We devise a practice
schedule at the beginning of each semester that best fits the number of
students that we have practicing in each event. For example, we may rope
tie-down and break-away on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then tie goats on
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Steerwrestle on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Team rope on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The weekends that we have college rodeos we compact our practice schedule. 4. Do you
have enough timed-event cattle for sufficient practice? We generally begin
practice the second week of school. We have our first team meeting the first
day of class and from the numbers that we come up with at that meeting we
then purchase practice livestock. For example, if we have 4 team ropers we
will get 10 fresh steers, 4 steer wrestlers we will get about 5 bulldogging
steers, 5 girls needing goats we will buy 3 goats, if we have 5 calf ropers
we get 15 fresh calves. We keep very good cattle to practice on. Email me at
any time and I will provide you with the email address of some current team
members so that you can ask them some questions about our program. 5. Can I
still rodeo even if I am not chosen to be on the team? Yes, every student at
Trinity Valley who meets the eligibility requirements set forth by the
N.I.R.A may compete in the college rodeos. Each member is eligible for
scholarships and travel money. The individual points that they earn will
count toward the year-end regional standings for regional awards as well as
qualifying for the CNFR. The definition of being "on" team means
that the point you earn will count in the team standings as well. Beside this
there is no difference. 6. How can
I qualify for the College National Finals? There are two ways a
contestant may qualify for the college national finals; 1. At the end of the
regular season contestants who finish in the top 3 regional positions will
earn a trip to the CNFR. The top 2 teams in
each region will get a bye for 6 men and 4 women to compete at the CNFR. For more complete and
accurate information please refer to the N.I.R.A Rulebook, which is available
online at www.collegerodeo.com
7. How long
can I rodeo at a junior college? Considering normal
circumstances 3 years is the maximum. 8. Is there
an opportunity to earn travel money? YES, we offer a
considerable amount of travel money for those team members who earn it. Based
upon the costs incurred while traveling this current year our travel money
for those who were eligible to receive travel money was an average of $150
per student per rodeo. Factors that play a crucial role in determining
eligibility for travel money are; points earned at previous college rodeo, if
chosen to represent TVCC "on team", dedication and contributions to
team practice, likelihood that a contestant will place and earn points during
the current rodeo. 9. Where do
you have the rough-stock practice? We just recently
installed some bucking chutes at our practice arena. We have some broncs that we will use for BB/SB practice. It is my
opinion that young bronc riders will not improve as
fast getting on colts as they will getting on old
hoppers. Therefore, if you want to chute break and ride colts this isn’t the
rodeo program for you, as we will not practice on colts. The bullriders have been getting on all the bulls they want at
some local breeders and stock contractors. There is at least 5-6 different
bucking bull breeders within 30 minutes of Athens that are happy for our guys
to come get on their young bulls. This year the team has been getting on
bulls most commonly at Stace Smith Ranch, Carr Pro
Rodeo Ranch, Matt Austin Ranch, and the Cowboy Church Buckout
in Mabank. If you’re a rough-stock rider and considering TVCC I would
encourage you to contact any of our current bull or bronc
riders and ask them any questions you might have about practice or our
program in general. 10. Do you
video tape the college rodeos? Yes, and we do not
rely on team members to do this. We video approximately 85% of our practices.
I feel as though this is an irreplaceable tool when working to improve. We
actually hire a student that travels to video students at the college rodeos,
this way it is a job for someone and very, very rarely does something happen
where someone is missed when they are competing. It is a priority for me to
have this video to study and observe, therefore we spend the money and hire
someone to ensure that the job gets done and gets done right. 11. Do I
need to attend class to receive a 2.0 GPA at Trinity Valley? YES, the educational
opportunity that we provide to our students is the MOST IMPORTANT thing we do
here at TVCC. Some of our students will pro rodeo for their livelihood,
however, most will not. Rodeoing for a living is a
worthwhile goal, but your education can never be taken away from you like a
rodeo career can through injury, etc. We take pride on the success of our
university transfer students and this can only continue by offering students
learning centered educational opportunities like we have for so many years in
the past. 12. What
kind and level of conduct is expected of me while rodeoing
for Trinity Valley? I only recruit
students of exceptional character and work ethic. Respect, students should
posses, or be prepared to obtain, respect for
themselves, teammates, college instructors and their rodeo coach. All things
worth having is worth working hard to get. I believe
in hard work and discipline. There is a time to have fun and a time to work
toward goals, both academically and athletically. It is my goal that I can
mentor our team members to obtain a balanced schedule of work and play.
14. How
long of a drive is the college rodeos in the Southern Region from Athens,
Texas? The range is 1.5
hours drive to 8 hour drive. From Athens the average drive
time for our 10 rodeos at their current locations in 3.5 hours. That is an
awesome asset for Trinity Valley, by having such a low average drive time it
really helps students manage other tasks outside of college rodeo, such as
college coursework and rodeo practice. |
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