story by Lindsay Whelchel
For Trey Sutherland, rodeo is about paying it forward. “I’ve always been fortunate. I’ve been around guys in the past, Frank Graves mainly, that brought me along and showed me the ropes, and I’ve always tried to give back. I’ve brought a lot of young guys around, and that’s what keeps it going, your attitude and keeping the next generation coming,” Trey says.
He’s also giving back through his role as the team roping director for the Tri-State Rodeo Association.
“My deal for being on the board; I have kids, I have a lot of friends of mine that have kids, and the way things are you never know how long rodeo will be here. We’re just trying to keep it going for future generations.”
Trey’s drive to give back to rodeo is no doubt directly related to how much rodeo has given him. “It’s been great. In college it paid for my education, and then I went on to do it for a living for a long time,” he explains of attending Hill College in Texas to rodeo.
Trey started out in the sport through his dad who rodeoed. Trey went through the ranks of high school rodeo, where he made it to nationals, and college rodeo, before going on to professional rodeo in the PRCA and IPRA and qualifying for the International Finals Rodeo twice.
The TSRA has been a constant in his life and career as well. He is a gold card member of 25 years, buying his first card while he was in high school. He speaks highly of the association as a building block within the sport, providing rodeos and drawing good contestants.
Now days, Trey doesn’t rodeo quite as hard as he did before he had a family. “I still go to probably 60 a year, but that’s a lot of difference than 100 a year. People don’t think 40 rodeos is a lot until you go to them,” he laughs.
Trey works at a mechanical engineering company in central Mississippi and is married to wife Shannon. They have two children, Danielle, 11, and Blaze, 3, who are now getting their start in the rodeo world.
It’s a sport that teaches you a lot, and Trey has learned important lessons.
“Just to keep a good attitude, ride the best horses that you can for the timed-events, get around people that can help you instead of break you down,” he says.
And it’s clear that when it comes to people who will help you, you can find them, like Trey, in the TSRA.
