Outside the Arena with...
Matt Hughes By Georgia Akers
When we think about coaches for athletic events in schools, the sports that come to mind are football, basketball, and baseball. Those are the big three. But in the world of western sports competition, there are rodeo coaches in schools that have rodeo teams who compete with other educational institutions. They recruit, offer scholarships and coach their team to be the best. They also mentor these students in life skills that will carry them for the rest of their lives. Matt Hughes is a rodeo coach. He sets the bar for the students in western sports events as well as being an example of how to be the person they should be in this world. As an aside, the college where he coaches also offers classes of particular interest in cowboy lifestyle careers such as western silversmithing and farrier training. It opened, for me, an entire new area of college academics that I had not considered.
Tell me about yourself. I live in Tucumcari, New Mexico with my wife, Megan, and my two kids Tilden, age 2 and Heidi Rae, 11 months. I went to college at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. I majored in public relations. I was on the rodeo team riding bulls. I was raised around rodeo. I quit high school to help at our ranch. I got my GED. I started riding bulls and got my PRCA card. I did not go to college until I was 20 years old. Missouri Valley had a rodeo team. One of my best friends was there and told the coach about me. He knew of me and added me to the team and offered me a scholarship. It was not a full scholarship but enough. I graduated from the college and stayed around to help the team and build a reputation. I found out about an opening for a rodeo coach at Mesalands Community College in New Mexico. I applied and was hired. I have been here for five years. Rodeo is the only sport at the college. What events are common in college rodeo? There are nine events: bare back riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, tie down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, goat tying, barrel racing and break away roping. The women compete in the team roping, goat tying, barrel racing and break away roping. How do you recruit your athletes?
Photo provided courtesy of Matt Hughes.
I go to the high school finals are held in either Lincoln, Nebraska, Rock Springs, Wyoming, or Gillette Wyoming. They are held two years at one venue then rotate to another location. I also get a lot of students through word of mouth about our program. My best recruiters are the students themselves. Humps-Horns.com · 9 · March 2022
