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Photo by Jim Brewer
UAM Rodeo Team Member Laura Kennedy
ropes a calf at a recent competition.
Sarah Kirkpatrick
It’s early in morning, and Laura Kennedy’s breath
is misting the air in the barn as she saddles her horse. She jumps on and
walks her horse in to the arena to begin their daily routine. An hour later
she unsaddles her horse, puts grain and hay out, then jumps in her car and
heads for class.
Laura is a member of the UAM rodeo
team and for her and the members of the team this is a typical day.
Although the rodeo team is not
widely known on campus it has become one of the most successful teams in the
state. UAM is a member of the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate
Rodeo Association. The team goes head to head with many of the top rodeo
teams in the nation.
Even though many have not heard of
college rodeo it is not a new thing. It has been around for over fifty
years. “Preserving Heritage Through Collegiate Rodeo” has been its theme
over those fifty years. Today, those efforts are being made in over 100
rodeos a year. The rodeos allow for 3,500 students and 137 colleges and
universities to take part in a fascinating activity.
Most of the students on the team
have ridden horses all their lives, and for them college rodeo was a way to
take their competition to a higher level. Although they are competitors,
they are also full time students with a variety of different majors and
minors that require a lot of work. There are at least six college rodeos a
semester and most leave on a Thursday and don’t return until Saturday or
Sunday. During the week there are daily practices that can last several
hours, leaving very little time for studying.
Laura Kennedy, a three year team
member and accounting major says, “ It’s hard to keep up with your classes
and get all of your homework done when your constantly busy and missing
school.”
According to coach Jolyn Wells,
“Being on the rodeo team is challenging, but it teaches you hard work and
dedication that will help you later in life.”
There is a rodeo booster club, which
is open to anyone interested in the activity. It helps raise money for
scholarships, travel funds, facilities and equipment. College rodeo is
fairly new to UAM, but thanks to the coaching and hard work of Jolyn Wells
and the rodeo club both the team and the facilities are improving each
year.
The rodeo team now has two barns, a
lighted practice arena on campus, and several turnout pens for the students’
horses. The team now consists of twenty students, and Coach Wells is hoping
to increase that number in the coming years.
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Chad Alsup
To the average fan,
football is a game that starts in August and ends in November, but for the
players it is a year round event. Student assistant coach Bert Hopgood
explained the off-season program and the benefits of it.
Coach Bert said, “The
players are working out and running four times a week. They also have to
attend a daily study hall.” The coaching staff offers three different times
for players to come in and do their workout each day. This is done so that
the players can fit their forty five-minutes to an hour workouts into their
daily schedule. There is only one running time and that is at 4:00 p.m.
Bert then explained the
benefits of the off-season program. He said, “The lifting improves the
player’s strength and makes him better able to compete. The lifting and
stretching also helps the players avoid injury, because the stronger and
more flexible a muscle, is the less likely it is to be injured.” He then
explained, “The running regiment was to build on the athlete’s speed and
endurance. These are key factors in the sport of football.”
The players use the
spring as a chance to build their bodies up for the following season and
also to let their bodies heal from the past season. The latter is the case
with senior defensive end Robert Putnam who has to have minor shoulder
surgery. Putnam said, “The spring is the best time to prepare yourself for
the next season, but it is hard because you’re working your butt off, and
you still have almost six months before you play.”
Putnam states, “A
lot of freshmen who quit the team usually quit in the spring due to the
intense workouts and conditioning.”
One final aspect of the
spring football series is spring ball. This allows the players to go through
full practices, teaching them the fundamentals at every position, and it
gives the coaches a good idea who will play certain positions the following
season.
Coach Hopgood said,
“Spring ball is like a tryout for every player to earn a position. There is
a lot of unseen labor and time that goes in to those eleven Saturdays that
the fans get to enjoy every year.”
When asked about the
2004 UAM Boll Weevil football team, Bert said, “They are young, but they
have a chance to be very competitive in the Gulf South Conference.”
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