The Mid-Plains Community College Rodeo Club officially became full-fledged college athletic team after a vote by the MPCC Board of Governors at their April meeting.

The MPCC Rodeo Team is the first athletic team at the college to be deemed an “Area” team rather than being campus specific. Most of the focus to date has been in North Platte, but there are immediate plans to expand the team to cover the McCook area more heavily than in year’s past.

“Because rodeo is primarily an individual sport, MPCC Rodeo Team members will be made up of cowboys and cowgirls from the college’s entire 18-county service area,” said MPCC rodeo team coach Dustin Elliott.

Elliott, who is himself a world-champion bull rider, is excited at the possibilities – especially the fact that scholarships will now be available to team members.

“College rodeo is no different than any other college athletic sport. There are student athletes competing and representing their school in pursuit of national titles,” he said. “So when the Board recognized that fact and approved scholarships, I couldn’t have been happier. I know that without scholarships it is very hard to recruit the talented athletes who are probably getting offers from other schools, and why shouldn’t they? Now we are capable of competing for the very best athletes to compete for us.”

According to Elliott, although the new “team” designation is equivalent to the rest of MPCC’s athletic teams, team members will still need to work on fundraising activities to supplement their travel costs.

“We will still be doing some fundraising, but the new designation will allow the athletes and the coaches the ability to focus more on competing than on trying to figure how we can afford to get to the next rodeo event,” Elliott said.

Their largest event, Elliott said, will be the second annual Rail Town USA College Rodeo 2014 set for Sept. 19-20 at the Wild West Arena in North Platte.

“Last year went off without any major problems and with the support of our sponsors, we’re expecting even better performances this year,” he said.

Elliott said he is extremely grateful for the support the team received from the community during the college’s inaugural rodeo in 2013.

“Obviously, we need to thank David Fudge and the Nebraskaland Days Board of Directors for their amazing support,” he said. “We also need to recognize Kenny Barringer for practice stock, Trey Wasserburger for help with practice, and all the sponsors who made 2013 Rodeo possible.”

Elliott, who became MPCC’s Rodeo Coach early in 2013, noted that even while still designated a “club” its members performed well this season.

“In my opinion, we had a great season during my first year at the helm. We had an athlete win the region and are sending him to Nationals – a first for MPCC Rodeo,” he said, adding, “We already have a strong foundation built for next year, with confirmed returning Rodeo Team members Tyler Viers, Dakota Rice, Axel Rasmussen, Matisyn Humphrey and Julie Timmerman. We’ve also received verbal commitments from several high school rodeo standouts, which will help make our team even stronger.”