Teaching Athletes How To Win – It’s All About Purpose

By Susan Kanode

Halfway between Amarillo and Childress, Texas, lies the Donley County Seat. A town of under 2,000 people, Clarendon boasts a junior college, two stoplights and a grocery/hardware store. 

I drive through there several times a year and have even stopped to visit while the rodeo team is practicing at the school. Bret Franks, who is a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo saddle bronc rider, is their head coach. Wyatt Smith, who competed in Las Vegas in steer wrestling serves as assistant coach. 

Bret has been at the helm of the program for more than 10 years. They have had a lot of success claiming titles in the very competitive Southwest Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. Several have then gone on to win college championships. First was the rodeo team’s “golden child,” Wyatt Casper who won the saddle bronc riding in 2016. Wyatt is headed to Las Vegas to compete at his fifth NFR in December and is on pace to win another national title. With just days left in the regular season, he is ranked third in the world standings. 

In 2019, the Clarendon Bulldogs got another national saddle bronc riding championship with Riggin Smith. Two years later, it was Bret’s son Cole Franks that did the winning. He earned the bareback riding championship, and with points in saddle bronc riding got the college their first all-around title. They also won the men’s team title that year. Cole qualified for the NFR in 2021 and 2022 and is headed back again this year. 

Last year, Weston Timberman won the bareback riding championship. And if the Timberman name is familiar it should be. Weston’s uncle, Kelly, won the gold buckle in 2004, the year Weston was born. His father, Chris, also rode bareback horses. 

Weston came back to the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) for a repeat victory last June. He wasn’t the only Clarendon College athlete that earned a title. 

Last January at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo, Wacey Schalla competed in the bareback riding and advanced to the semi-finals. Denver is one of the rodeo committees that I work with and it was the beginning of a very common question, “Do you know anything about this Schalla kid?”

Fortunately, I could answer with a resounding yes. Two years ago, I asked Lauren Pyle to help me at the National Western. She is now an important part of my team. We went from there to Fort Worth and stopped at Clarendon’s practice. Wacey was a 16-year-old kid, taking advantage of the opportunity to improve by practicing with the college team. Lauren had been following his journey for about three years and made several predictions that are now coming true. 

Wacey lives about two hours from Clarendon in Arapaho, Oklahoma. Weston hails from Columbus, Montana and his trip had a few more twists and turns. When Wacey won the bull riding and all-around at this year’s CNFR he and Weston were making history. 

They are both headed to their first NFR in December and are leading for Rookie of the Year in their respective events. Wacey is also at the top of those standings for the all-around. 

I have been helping with the publicity at the CNFR for 27 years. I haven’t seen two college champions from the same school qualify for the NFR in the same year. We have had multiple champions go on and have success in Las Vegas, but having two from the same college rodeo program is definitely noteworthy. 

These competitors have more in common than their love of riding bucking animals. It started when they were both youngsters. It’s something Coach Franks saw in both of them before they came to college. He calls it “oneness of purpose.” 

“Both Weston and Wacey knew at an early age what they wanted to do,” Bret said. “They are willing to do whatever it takes to win, and they are thinking about it with a oneness of purpose all the time.” 

Weston didn’t get on a bareback horse until he was in high school, but he rode hundreds of them in his mind before that. When he was growing up, he told people he was going to win a world title in 2024, exactly 20 years after his uncle Kelly got the gold. He is one step closer to that, entering the NFR in 7th place.

When Chris thought his son was ready, they would make the two-hour trip from their home in Columbus, Montana, to Wyoming’s Cody Nite Rodeo where he not only gained experience, he met his future college rodeo coach. 

“Going to Clarendon was definitely one of the best decisions I could have made,” Weston said. “I got on so many different horses and that really helped me. It prepared me mentally. It gave me the mental confidence to show up at a rodeo knowing that I was going to win instead of just showing up and hoping for the best.” 

Wacey’s father is also a former competitor who rode saddle bronc horses and bulls. Wacey grew up with visions of yellow bucking chutes on his mind and when he was 14 he set some lofty goals. 

“I knew as soon as I was 18 I was going to buy my PRCA card,” Wacey said. That was last November. “I was going to the first rodeos I could get to, and I was going to fill my permit. And then I was going to go buy my card and then make the NFR and be in Vegas in December.” 

Wacey has done that and more. He won five bareback riding titles at rodeos, 13 in bull riding, and the all-around 19 times. He ended the season concentrating on bull riding and will start this year’s NFR among the top. He also finished 27^th in the bareback riding and we are likely to see him getting on bucking horses more in 2025.

Bret has a “Cowboy” mentality approach with all the athletes: Get the dust off, get back on the horse and do what it takes to get the job done no matter what. 

“Winners win because they want it more than everybody else,” he said. “It’s about what they are willing to do and willing to sacrifice to accomplish their goals. They put in the work. They are willing to do whatever it takes to win, and they are thinking about it with a oneness of purpose all the time.” 

Clarendon is hosting an NFR sendoff party on November 22^nd and it’s likely that five former Bulldogs will be nodding their heads in Las Vegas. Saddle bronc rider Brody Wells started at Clarendon and then transferred to Tarleton State University at Stephenville. He is on the “bubble” at 13^th.

These men have more than a oneness of purpose in common. They have a rodeo coach that has never sugarcoated anything, believes in them, and teaches them to believe in themselves. 

“You can’t say that you’re going to be a cowboy and win and be successful at this and be on the opposite side at the same time,” Bret said. “You’re going to have to toughen up. When something hurts, you’re going to have to dive into it and say I like it when it hurts. Whatever I’ve got, it’s not deterring me. It’s the oneness of purpose and mental toughness that will make a difference.” 

If you are ever going through Clarendon on 287, you will drive right by their practice arena. If anything is going on, and it usually is, there will be a lot of rodeo rigs parked nearby. They practice with intention and often have area rodeo athletes come by to join in or offer advice as professionals. 

There are billboards on the road honoring their college champions. As I was writing this, they were putting up Wacey’s. When one of those college champions wins a gold buckle, I want to be in Clarendon for the party. That would be the ultimate compliment for the rodeo program’s purpose.