Alissa Erickson bought her WPRA card in the fall, didn’t win much, went back to school, and spent the spring quietly climbing to No. 4 in the Resistol Rookie standings with $13,260 won.
The 20-year-old Snelling, California, cowgirl jumped four spots in the rookie race after a $4,000 week in Santa Maria, California, and now she’s entered up. Elko, Reno, Pecos, Prescott, Greeley, Oakley, Cody, Red Lodge, and the Wyoming run after that. She and traveling partner Emilee Charlesworth are gone until the end of September.
“I’ve been dreaming of rodeoing my whole life,” Erickson said. “I wanted to go on the summer run and get into all the rodeos.”
She had every reason to wait. The WPRA lets permit holders extend through college, and Erickson had one year left at Cisco College in Texas. She went anyway because for a girl who grew up watching her dad ride saddle broncs at the NFR and win the Linderman Award three times, waiting one more year didn’t feel like an option.
The fall and winter were quiet, but Texas got her rolling in the spring. A good circuit run through Utah and Arizona built momentum, and Santa Maria brought it home. Four spots, just like that.
Tugboat
The horse doing most of the heavy lifting for Erickson is Hott N Stylish—TugBoat—a compact gelding she picked up from NFR calf roper Brent Lewis in March. He’s fast, scores good, and his short neck makes it easy to see calves out front.
“He can really fly,” Erickson said. “He’s a funny little horse but he’s really easy to rope on.”
The stop isn’t always pretty; she’ll tell you that herself, but it tends to work.
She also has JW Trapper Bar On, who she calls “Bootlegger,” in her corner, a horse she and her dad trained over five years and has carried her through college rodeos all spring while Tugboat was still new.
The Mindset
Erickson heads into her first full summer run with a plan that’s about as no-nonsense as her background.
“I’m just going to not try and put too much pressure on myself,” she said. “Just rope my roping and make the type of runs I would usually make.”
When things don’t go right—and they won’t always—she’s got a simple reset: move on and keep it fun.
“If you’re having fun, it’s a lot easier to let go of those losses and enjoy it and be thankful that I get to do it.”
She’s been thankful. She’s also been moving up the board. College finals are first, then the summer—and there’s a lot of money still to be won.
