RANGELY, Colo. (January 25, 2022) – The Colorado Northwestern Community College Rodeo Program has several New Year's resolutions it is working on.
 
Growing its roster, sure; recruiting better athletes, yeah; gaining more awareness around the Intermountain West, absolutely. However, it's hard to find a focus and a collective mindset, with strong leadership at the top. CNCC has fortunately found that energy going forward, with the hire of Tammy Olson, bringing fresh leadership to a dormant CNCC program.
 
Olson, a veteran of the rodeo world, said she is excited to be working to grow the CNCC program.
 
"With our expansion of the CNCC rodeo program to the Craig, CO campus, as well, we are looking to recruit heavily this spring, for our 2022 fall rodeo season", she said
 
A longtime western Colorado resident, Olson became aware of the CNCC job opening while working her own barrel horses at the local fairgrounds. She fits the qualifications of head coaching in collegiate circles well, with Olson mixing a lifetime of rodeo experience, with a professional background of sales and marketing.
 
As far as her coaching philosophy, Olson said she is hopeful to help athletes thrive in spite of the rigors of rodeo.
 
"With rodeo, you always have that 'animal component' to contend with," she said. "That is a variable that is many times out of our control, yet it has such a big impact on the mental game of rodeo, along with the physical side of things. With rodeo, most college athletes have not actually had a coach; they've had their parents, other people of influence like friends or grandparents and then any clinics that they've attended; most have not had a true coach. Working with students to gain their trust - that you truly have their best interest at heart - can be a new thing for some of these athletes."
 
While Olson is eager to hit the recruiting trail, she noted how impressed she is by the Lady Spartans' current athletes – Sadie Shake and Hadley Gross. 
 
"They are just so focused, which makes them productive, because they want to improve and they want to be better competitors," she said. "It's just a matter of figuring out what tools they each need to better reach their potential and then providing them with those tools."

"They are just getting started at working the barrel pattern in indoor arenas," Olson stated. "In a couple of weeks, we will start going to jackpots to fine tune what each of them needs to focus on. They will then be ready for the spring season to kick off that first weekend of March."
 
In the midst of the coming days that will be filled with recruiting, fundraising and other essential tasks, Olson said she is setting a tone of what CNCC Rodeo will focus on going forward.
 
"Rodeoing is about mindsets and physical skill sets; so is life," she said. "My goal for our student-athletes is for them to learn how to push themselves to reach their potential in the arena, in the classroom, and in their lives going forward."
 
"My job is to build confidence in our students along the way," she said. "Some people lack "try", only because they lack confidence in themselves. My goal is to help our athletes see and experience what they are truly capable of."