Dear Athletes,
Today WCRA is announcing adjustments to the format for the Aug 11-15 WCRA Stampede At The E, for which we are estimating a total payout over $600,000.
I’d like to share some history on how this event came together and the reason for these updates.
In April, due to restrictions related to the COVID19 pandemic, we were forced to announce the cancellation of the originally scheduled May – Stampede At The E. We decided to issue full refunds to all VRQ Nominations and delete all points related to Segment 5 because of all the associated uncertainty.
Not knowing how the pandemic would continue to affect the sport we all love, we continued Segment 6 nominations, originally set to qualify to more than 22 positions in each discipline, to the Days Of 47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately, this event was also canceled due to COVID19.
As a result of athlete feedback from Segment 5 refunds, we made the decision to roll the points towards the scheduled August 28, WCRA Puget Sound Showdown in Tacoma, Washington keeping Segment 6 open. Although, all athletes had the option to receive a full refund, most kept their points due to the lack of opportunities – at the time – to compete and earn points with all of the May and June event cancellations.
Tacoma was scheduled as a one performance rodeo, coupled with a PBR Unleash the Beast event. The WCRA qualifications were set at 9 athletes per discipline. Our staff then began the messaging as such – “Top 9 will advance to Tacoma”. Again, due to COVID19, this event was cancelled. For that matter, the entire 2020 summer schedule of rodeos – at every level – has been disrupted and depleted by this pandemic, ruining earning opportunities for all rodeo athletes.
Because of this, we made the decision to plan a rodeo which would fit a much broader group of athletes so we announced the return of the Stampede At The E with a new format. The new format would include an “Open to The World” path, which will allow ANYONE over the age of 13 multiple chances to compete and earn money.
The new format for the August event is different from what we have done at past Semi Finals events, but necessary to absorb high entry numbers which we foresee due to massive rodeo cancellations. In structuring this event format we failed to take into account that there are a group of WCRA athletes who had been striving to earn points to finish in the Top 9, earning a birth to Tacoma while our staff had been pounding that “Top 9” qualification messaging.
In past Semi Finals events, we have always seeded the Top 8 into either a progressive or final round of competition. It was recently brought to our attention that we had missed this in the new format and more importantly we’d ignored the efforts by many to achieve “Top 9” qualification for the previously scheduled event.
We have made the following adjustments to the format of the Aug 11-15 Stampede At The E, which we believe will correct those oversights.
To quickly summarize the updated format, there will be three paths to compete and advance in Timed Events:
WCRA TIMED EVENT DISCIPLINES:
- WCRA Leaderboard pool:
- Number one on the WCRA Leaderboard (as of July 26 cut-off) goes straight to the $300,000 Stampede At The E.
- Leaderboard numbers 1-9 (which matches the original Tacoma qualifications) are seeded directly into the progressive round, with no entry fees
- Leaderboard numbers 10-64 compete in two rounds and an aggregate prior to the Progressive round
- WCRA Leaderboard athletes can also enter the Open Pool one time for a maximum of two entries
- Open pool:
- Anyone can enter – up to two times – No WCRA points needed
- Entries Open July 13 and close August 5. Visit EntryTool.com
- Two rounds and an aggregate advancing to the progressive round
- It’s a huge jackpot with a big incentive at the end – possible qualification to the $300,000 Stampede At The E
- Youth pool:
- Anyone 13 to 18 at the time of entry can enter – up to two times
- Entries Open July 13 and close August 5. Visit EntryTool.com
- Two rounds and an aggregate
- The aggregate winners earn buckles and advance to the $300,000 Stampede At The E.
WCRA ROUGH STOCK DISCIPLINES: *Format remains unchanged, as newly formatted Stampede At The E already exceeds the original Tacoma qualifications)
- Top 10 on leaderboard advance to the directly to $300,000 Stampede At The E
WCRA is All For Rodeo. While it’s abnormal to announce these changes – after the format has already been released – we do believe this is in the best interest of the event and the participating athletes. In a time of the greatest uncertainty in most of our lifetimes, we are working diligently to produce this world class event for All of Rodeo. This event will stand out as potentially one of the largest payouts in 2020. While so many events have been cancelled, including our own; we still remain committed to providing athletes opportunities to earn money. At a time when Rodeo needs it the most, this new event and format is just one example of why we are All for Rodeo.
We hope to see you at the Lazy E in August.
Regards,
Bobby Mote
President, World Champions Rodeo Alliance
August 11-15 Stampede at The E Progression