The mission of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Alumni is simple:  promote college rodeo, preserve the history of college rodeo, and honor the accomplishments of collegiate contestants and alumni.  Renewing of friendships and having a lot of fun is part of the plan, too!

TWENTIETH ANNUAL REUNION PLANNED

The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Alumni have a reunion each year in conjunction with the College National Finals Rodeo.  In 2011 the reunion will be held June 17 and 18 in Casper, Wyoming.  All former NIRA members, pre-NIRA college contestants and friends of college rodeo and invited to the reunion and to join the organization.  In 2011, we will be celebrating our twentieth anniversary and we are pretty excited about reaching that milestone. So, we are inviting ALL the past national champions of college rodeo to come to Casper to see how college rodeo has changed in 62 years and how it has stayed the same.  If you or someone you know is a part of that group, please get in touch with us (contact info below) so we can make plans.

Here’s an idea—call your old college rodeo gang and have a mini-reunion at the CNFR.  It is an excellent rodeo at a wonderful venue in a friendly town.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The Alumni present $500 scholarships to the woman and man Rookies of the Year at the CNFR. In 2011 the Rookies were barrel racer Sydni Blanchard of Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, New Mexico,  and Jason Schaffer, steer wrestler from Howard County Junior College of Big Spring, Texas.. 

Thanks to Alumni Jerry Beagley and his gift of a saddle, we are able to give scholarship money to the Sixth Place Teams.  This year’s recipient for the men is New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.  The women’s team scholarship was split between Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, and the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.

Our scholarships are funded through donations. Donations are tax deductible.

ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR

Each year the NIRA and the NIRA Alumni team up to give a beautiful Maynard Buckle to a person who has contributed significantly, over a period of years, to the growth and progress of College Rodeo.  This year  Walt Garrison joined Sylvia Gann Mahoney, Bob Clore, Sonny Sikes, Charlie Rankin and Evelyn Bruce Kingsbery in that distinguished group.  When the U. S. Tobacco Company proposed, in1974, to invest in a scholarship program for the NIRA, Walt Garrison was a big part of the deal.  Garrison, former Dallas Cowboys football star and Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association steer wrestler, took on the task of helping to publicize college rodeo.  Over a span of more than 30 years this partnership would generate several million dollars in scholarship funds to college rodeo athletes. Garrison had been a member of the NIRA while a student at Oklahoma State University.  Mahoney, in her book College Rodeo, says Garrison “gave much needed exposure to the NIRA, still a relatively unknown college sport.”

Visit our website:  http://collegerodeoalumni.com

CONTACTS:

SEE YOU IN CASPER IN JUNE!