The Top ‘O Texas Rodeo Assocation gives a big thank you to every business, organization, and person who helped make Pampa’s 79th Annual Top ‘O Texas Rodeo a success, and instead of letting the dust settle a bit before making plans for the 80th year, ideas are already up in the air.
“This year’s rodeo went really well,” said TOTRA President Travis Smith. “We would like to thank B&G, Reliant, and Resound. Resound got the internet up and running for us so we could live stream on the Cowboy Channel, and thank you to the Cowboy Channel and S3 Pro Rodeo for featuring us.”
“This was our second year as a pre-qualifier rodeo and this was our second year for being on the Cowboy Channel, so we were really proud of that,” said Jeremy Cossio, Director and Chairman of the Rodeo Dances. “We’re just thankful for the amount of people who showed up and tuned in for this the last couple of years. I think we had 229 contestants this year, so we’ve had big strides in that side of things for sure.”
“Intersect was a huge component why we had such success in our dance this year. They stepped up and became a huge sponsor and partner. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have done as well as we did for the dances, so I definitely want to highlight the good they’ve been doing for the community. Cerris was another great sponsor this year and Mortenson helped out a lot with resources, and we’re hoping to grow those relationships with them. Reliant has always been a supporter of the rodeo, so I definitely want to make sure to highlight that they have continued to stand by the rodeo all these years.”
This was the second year that the Top ‘O Texas Rodeo featured the Wild Buffalo Race, and it has certainly become one of the popular main attractions of the two-day event. But this year also featured a first for the rodeo and included a huge name in the rodeo world, bringing in many riders from out of town and out of state to compete.
“We actually have people lined up to do the wild buffalo race since we started it,” Travis said. “It’s really become a popular thing and people enjoy it. And this was our first year as the Cody Webster invitational bullfights. He is a very big name in the rodeo scene and well-known in the PBR and NFR. He has his own stock and he put his name on our rodeo for the first time this year. He brought in some top competitors to bullfight and it was really cool.”
With each year getting better and better for the Pampa Rodeo, Jeremy and Travis and the entire association are working hard to figure out ways to keep the community engaged and to keep them coming back year after year.
“Looking at all the statistics this year and this is for people purchasing tickets to the dances as well, we are looking at around 4,000 people we had this year,” Jeremy said. “That is huge growth for us. Pampa Rodeo used to be the largest rodeo in the panhandle, and that’s our goal to be again. We have a great board and we’ve been working hard to get us back to those big numbers.”
And according to Travis and Jeremy, the 80th will be bigger and better.
“We already started planning for next year,” Travis laughed.
“We’re hoping to make our 80th the largest one yet,” Jeremy said. “We’re going to be doing some big things next year. The rodeo has been around for a long time and this will be our 80th, so we’ll be doing it big for sure.”
So with plenty on their plate, the Top ‘O Texas Rodeo Assocation is always welcoming in community partners and volunteers to brainstorm, collaborate, and build.
“We’re always looking for people to parter with the rodeo, and since we’re coming up on our 80th, we’d love for some businesses that may have not been involved before who are interested in donating or volunteering, and we would be happy to provide information. Just reach out to us at totrodeo@gmail.com!”
