Rodeo teams to be discontinued after current season

Athletic Director John Hartwell announced Wednesday afternoon, March 5, that Troy will discontinue its men’s and women’s rodeo programs after the end of the current season.

“After an extensive evaluation of our rodeo programs, part of which included revenue, expenses, number of participants and risk management, the determination was made to discontinue the men’s and women’s rodeo programs at the end of the current academic year,” Hartwell said.

There are currently 19 student-athletes who participate in the two programs. Nine of those students receive scholarship funds and Troy has promised to honor those scholarship commitments to the current members of the rodeo team.

“We certainly understand the situation our student-athletes on the rodeo teams are in with this decision,” Hartwell said. “We will make every effort to accommodate them whether they chose to remain at Troy and finish their degrees or transfer to another school to finish their rodeo careers.”

The two rodeo teams currently compete in the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.

Former head coach Josh Simmons resigned in December and interim Will Bradley will coach the teams for the remainder of the season.

The team will compete at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, Miss., during April 3-5 and at Tennessee-Martin in Martin, Tenn., during April 10-12.