When injuries strike, the rodeo community rallies, offering vital financial and medical support, proving their unwavering commitment to one another.
All professional athletes are prone to injury, but rodeo cowboys and cowgirls experience an even higher level of risk due to the nature of their work with livestock at top speeds.
When you’re making a living rodeoing, the next check is never guaranteed, but being able to compete ensures you get a shot at bringing home a check.
There is something in the rodeo spirit that drives many competitors to try and power through the pain and compete anyways after an injury. But that’s not always possible. Some injuries are devastating and leave them unable to compete and in turn without an income while they heal. After such an injury, rodeo athletes often struggle to pay down large medical bills as well. Not all insurance companies will provide medical benefits to someone actively competing in rodeo, complicating the expense and headaches that go along with an injury.
But the rodeo community looks out for its own, both through formal channels and through informal neighborly acts.
One of the biggest formal channels is the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund (JCCF).
And it all began with the competitors themselves. While chatting with friends in 1989, John Justin, Frank Scivetti, and Jim Shoulders (16-time world champion) lamented the bind they’d seen their friends and their families wind up in after facing injuries in the arena. So, a few good men put their heads together, and a year later, the nonprofit was born. Started in 1990, this Colorado-based nonprofit is a partnership between Justin Boots, the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). It offers financial support for cost-of-living expenses for both the injured party and their family in the aftermath of an accident. In fact, 100% of all contributions to the fund are dedicated for direct financial assistance to recipients.
The process is credible but simple. When an athlete is injured, they fill out an application for the JCCF, submit an injury report and doctor evaluations, and their current financial reports. Then, this information is reviewed by the board at JCCF, and an award is granted. The fund is well-known in the rodeo world and comes quickly recommended by word of mouth when a need is seen.
But there’s another avenue through which folks often get connected: the Justin Sportsmedicine Team (JST) This mobile sports medicine team was first seen on-site at the NFR in 1982 and has since evolved into a network of physicians, clinics, hospitals, and specialists all ready to serve the rodeo athlete. Their mobile clinic is on-site at over 125 rodeos annually for the PRCA and WPRA. They also provide resources on their website complete with stretches and information specific to recognizing common injuries. In addition, they offer guidance on nutrition and supplements while on the rodeo road.
Having this trusted resource is essential in an environment where things are constantly changing. There’s no telling how many hundreds of thousands of men and women the Justin Sportsmedicine Team has served, but it’s a big reason so many are still out there competing and surviving—in partnership with JCCF.
Since its inception, JCCF has given out over $9.5 million in need-based financial assistance to 1,200+ injured rodeo athletes and their families. As their informal motto in the rodeo world goes, “It’s a hand up, not a handout.”
In the rodeo community, there’s always a hand willing to help.