PCC Hires World Champion as Head Rodeo Coach

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Pratt Community College welcomes World Champion Steer Roper Rocky Patterson as the new head coach of the men’s and women’s rodeo program. Patterson stepped in as interim head coach earlier in the semester, and accepted the permanent position after forming good relationships with the current students and seeing potential in the incoming team.

“Rodeo is all I’ve ever known,” said Patterson. “I’m here to help the students every way I can in what is traditionally a very expensive and demanding sport.”

While he acknowledges that not many will make it to the professional circuit, it is a good way for many students to fund their education and stay motivated and engaged during their time at college.

“I wouldn’t have made it through college if it hadn’t been for rodeo,” said Patterson. “Doing what I most loved in the world kept me going. The challenging part of rodeo is that your winning percentage can be pretty small, and the big successes can be few and far between, but you can’t let your last low get in the way of your next high.”

Agriculture Department Chair Lori Montgomery oversees the rodeo program and expressed her enthusiasm for the move.

“Rocky is one of the hallmarks of our community and an enormous asset to our students,” she said. “We are extremely excited to bring him back on board and optimistic that he will bring great things to our program in the coming years.”

For the fall semester, Patterson looks to improve the returning team members and recruit the cream of the crop of Kansas high schoolers. With both returning and incoming students, Patterson says work ethic is the number one priority.

“Natural ability plays a part in a student’s success, but the most important factor is willingness to work hard,” he said. “I can’t do enough to hold back a student determined to work his hardest, and I can’t do enough to help a student who won’t work.”

Patterson first came to PCC as the head rodeo coach in 1991, and returned to full-time competition after nine years. Patterson holds three World Champion titles, most recently in 2012. In addition to his professional work and coaching, he holds a roping clinic every summer through the county 4-H for area youth. As a student, Patterson rodeoed at Allen Community College and Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

PCC participates in the Central Plains Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. The program provides scholarships to the top competitors, and has some of the top facilities in the region with an indoor and outdoor arena, stalls and runs, and supplied livestock. For more information about the rodeo program, contact Montgomery at [email protected] or 620-450-2186.

 

credit –  Pratt Community College

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