For the past four years, membership numbers in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) have seen steady growth.
The NIRA started as a non-profit organization in 1949 and defined three geographical regions to govern a student-led board. By 1972 the organization had grown to 10 regions. For over 30 years now, the members have competed in 11 regions.
In 2022, there were 3,493 members. That number has grown to 3,815 with over 800 of those members competing in the Southwest Region which has included schools in the western part of Texas and eastern New Mexico.
Coaches and representatives from the member schools in that region made a proposal that was approved by the NIRA Board of Directors during the CNFR to split into two regions. Starting with the fall rodeos, the Lone Star Region will consist of Texas schools, Angelo State University; Cisco College, Ranger College; Sul Ross State University (Alpine); Tarleton State University (Stephenville); Vernon College; and Weatherford College.
The newly formed Caprock Region will include Eastern New Mexico University (Portales); Clarendon (Texas) College; Frank Phillips College (Borger, Texas); Howard College (Big Spring, Texas); New Mexico Junior College (Hobbs); Odessa (Texas) College; South Plains College (Levelland, Texas); Texas Tech University (Lubbock); West Texas A&M University (Canyon); and Western Texas College (Snyder).
“The Southwest Region has long been one of the toughest regions in the NIRA,” said Jim Dewey Brown, the organization’s commissioner. “We’re excited to see the growth in college rodeo and give more student-athletes opportunities. As a board, we felt that this made sense and we will see continued growth.”
C.J. Aragon, coach at Sul Ross State University, is currently the Southwest Regional faculty director. He will be the director of the Lone Star Region. Howard College’s Justin Jenkins will be the new faculty director for the Caprock Region. Student directors will be elected at each region’s first college rodeo in the fall.
For the 2025-2026 season, each of the NIRA’s 12 regions will have 10 rodeos just as they have in the past. Qualifications for the College National Finals will also follow the same structure as they have in the past with the top three in each event at the end of the season as well as the two men’s and women’s teams with the most points. It is expected that the reorganization of the organization will add approximately 35 more athletes to CNFR to compete for national championships.
“This is exciting for the growth of college rodeo and rodeo across the board,” Aragon said. “It will especially help new recruits and encourage colleges and universities in these areas to think about having a rodeo team.”
The two new regions may accept new colleges and universities within their geographic region that don’t have a current rodeo team. The current schools designated for the two new regions will not change for five years.
“We worked really hard to make the best decisions for everyone involved,” said Jacob Walters, the current Southwest Region student director and the NIRA student president. “We did our best to consider every scenario when we were making plans. It’s an exciting time for college rodeo.”
