story by Julie Carter
The New Mexico Rodeo Association (NMRA) has a new Tie Down Roping Director with a Texas address and long resume of NMRA and PRCA rodeos over the past 20 years. Travis Lewis calls Ida Lou, Texas home but the call of the rodeo road knows no zip code.
Travis is shareholder and accountant in the Lubbock CPA firm of D. Williams & Company, Inc. where he went work in 2006 after receiving a BBA degree from Texas Tech University in 2005. Prior to that, he was a staff accountant with Davis, Kinard & Co. in Abilene.
Originally hailing from Alice, Texas, (between Corpus Christy and Laredo), Travis said he still has family there, but after he came to college in Lubbock he just stuck around. Travis and his wife Kristen have been married for 15 years and have one son, Brody who is 8.
Kristen doesn’t compete in the sport but is the quintessential rodeo support wife, going with Travis whenever she can. And Brody? Travis said, “Brody is showing interest in everything. He plays football, basketball, and baseball. He knows how to ride, ropes the dummy. He does a little of everything.” Travis helps coach the Little League team Brody plays on.
Travis’ rodeo resume includes college rodeoing with the Texas Tech rodeo team in the Southwest Region (tie down and team roping). Through college and since, Travis is a card carrying PRCA member. His rodeo road map keeps him generally confined to the Turquoise Circuit because the window of time allowed by his job is May through October. “The big money Texas rodeos are pretty much over by that time,” he explained. So I traveled west and that let me take in the NMRA rodeos as well.”
In 2019, Travis decided it was time to buy a membership to the NMRA. “I’d been going to the rodeos for many years, and annually won enough to be qualified for the finals if I’d belonged. I decided I probably should just buy a membership.” The accountant in him figured it out. He has made the finals every year since and he also qualified three times for the finals in what used to be the Texas Cowboys Rodeo Association (TCRA).
In his mind, Travis believes that building back the NMRA to a stronger association will take some teamwork on all sides. “Getting on board with some more contractors opens us up to some more rodeos. There’s some things in the works to get some good first approved rodeos. We were very pleased with the entry numbers from the Membership Drive Rodeo in March.”
Travis said he did a lot of encouraging among his roping peers prior to the season opener to start the “build back” on a good note. “I did not get to attend that rodeo,” he laughed. “Tax season made that one hard for me to get to in my business.”
Many rodeos have gone to a two-rodeo format over a weekend, each day a standalone rodeo. Travis said he believes that it is a big boost to a lot of rodeos. “Entry fees are the cheapest part of rodeoing anymore. Like in the calf roping, if you can go somewhere and sit for two days and run four calves and get a chance at a $1000-$1500, that’s a good deal.”
Rodeoing with the NMRA fits Travis and his lifestyle as it is. “Anymore, I rodeo with my family and it’s such a good family atmosphere. We have a good time and especially at the finals every year. I also like the convenience of being able to run four calves in two days since a lot of these rodeos went to that format. It makes the fees a little more but if you’re worried about the fees, you’re probably not worried about winning.”
Travis said “yes” to filling the NMRA vacancy as the Tie Down Director when asked at the 2022 finals. With a lot already on his plate, he first suggested they look a little more for someone else, but soon after relented. “I wanted this association to grow again, so I finally said I’ll do it.”
