The university rodeo team is still competing despite COVID and has planned events for the spring semester.
“No events have really been delayed this year for the rodeo team. Our schedule did change from five rodeos in the fall and five rodeos in the spring to four rodeos this fall and six this spring,” Brandy Shaack, an elementary education and creative arts major, said.
No events were delayed during the fall semester and plans for the spring are still in place.
Shaack said events and practices have been pretty much the same. The few changes included having to test twice a week, wearing a mask and staying six feet apart. Shaack said online classes took more time as well making things a bit different overall.
Seth Peterson, who is attending UW to get his second bachelors for finance and has been a part of the Rodeo team for five years, agreed with Shaack on the changes in rodea. He said not being able to hang out with friends or go out to eat were also changes.
This fall semester had another change as well. An on campus stable opened for UW students.
Previously, members of the rodeo had to search for their own boarding stables as well as transport their horses daily to the practice arena. The stable can hold 80 to 100 horses.
“I’m a firm believer that if you want to do something, don’t be scared to try it,” Karson Bradley, an elementary education major, said.
“Rodeo is a big part of our heritage and culture, it’s one of the most successful programs at the University of Wyoming,” rodeo coach Beau Clark said.
Clark said that the women’s rodeo team is ranked fifth nationally and the men’s team is ranked second nationally.
“We all have each others’ backs and we all want each other to win. We push each other in practice and strive to be the best we can be,” Shaack said. “The rodeo team is not taken lightly, and we have a job to do by being a part of it. We treat rodeo as if it’s a college sport just like football or basketball or track.”
The rodeo team at UW is competitive, but Clark said the team also provides inexperienced students an opportunity to learn. Some students who join do not participate in tournaments.
“It’s unique though because we are so competitive. We’re doing our best to balance a competitive rodeo team that competes at a national level and also allowing students to come in and learn,” Clark said.
Practices resume again on January 25 and go through May. Competition practices are every weekday as well as some Saturdays according to Clark.
