Way back when I was young, a couple of years just after I graduated from college I bought my PRCA card. For any other sport, that’s the equivalent of playing professional sports, like Major League Baseball or the NFL or NBA. I was a little late to the party though. The PRCA started “limiting” who could enter a few of the biggest rodeos about two years before I turned “pro.”
Growing up, I always dreamed of roping at Calgary, Alberta Canada because the winner received a $50,000 bonus. I also dreamed of winning Houston. Don W Smith won Houston and the saddle they gave him was really cool looking. I wanted to win me one.
When the PRCA started limiting who could enter it killed my chances of ever winning those rodeos. A contestant had to be in the top forty from the year before or the top ten in the current year. It’s hard to crack the top forty when you can’t compete at the highest rodeos of the year.
This week the Houston rodeo is taking place. San Antonio was last week. Corben Culley from Talihina was ranked number one in the team roping world standings after winning Fort Worth a couple of weeks ago. However, he couldn’t enter San Antonio or Houston because he didn’t qualify from the year before standings.
When the PRCA first started limiting who could enter most of the members PRCA I knew argued the world champion in each event ought to have to beat anyone that showed up to the rodeo, limiting who could enter kind of created a less competitive atmosphere.
The past two weeks have caused me to want to petition the PRCA to put an asterisk beside all of the world champions that’s ever won a championship since the PRCA started limiting who could enter.
It’s a shame two young men were ranked number one in the world, yet were unable to compete at San Antonio and Houston because of the limits placed by the PRCA.
I’m danged proud of Corben Culley, I’ve known his dad for forty years. They’ve worked hard at their roping. It just rubs me wrong that the PRCA would keep a rodeo cowboy from realizing the dream they’ve worked their entire life to obtain.
For the record, neither Corben nor his dad whined to me about it. They let their roping do the talking.
James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.
Get Local News!
