Dear Athletes,
Our goal has always been to grow the sport of Rodeo and that remains unchanged.
2022 was our last year to partner with the Utah Days of 47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City. Our experience was largely very positive over the multi-year term. However, there were challenges for the athletes each year related to the dates and volume of Rodeo opportunity during that time.
For several years, we have been looking for a quality rodeo venue east of the Mississippi, but still relative in distance from the bulk of rodeo athletes. Early this year we announced a new event in North Carolina at the Tryon International Equestrian Center. By scheduling the event for the first week in October, we are able to reduce potential schedule conflicts with existing large rodeos.
Interestingly, if you look at the map; the distance from Fort Worth, Texas to Mill Spring, North Carolina it is 1,000 miles. By comparison its 1,225 miles from Fort Worth to Salt Lake City. In addition, there is a large contingency of rodeo athletes that reside in the eastern United States, who are underserved.
Our goal from the beginning has been to grow rodeo while being non-competitive to existing organizations. I believe that the WCRA and Days of 47 Rodeo are both better as a result of our previous partnership. If you’ve noticed, next year the Days of 47 Rodeo will continue to host Breakaway Roping with equal money, which WCRA was instrumental in adding to this rodeo.
We wish the Utah Days of 47 Rodeo the best in this new chapter. We will continue to work to foster growth in rodeo and create opportunities for all rodeo athletes regardless of location, status, or association.
All The Best,
WCRA President Bobby Mote
