“Your body is your livelihood. Do you understand what that means? What that takes?”
Heads start nodding, and I can feel a shift happening as they listen.
“Every athlete you’ve ever looked up to trains outside their sport. Strength training matters. Recovery matters. Nutrition matters.”
Then she smiles. “And since I know half of you worship Bryce Raintree …”
Several students laugh.
One kid loudly says, “He’s the GOAT!”
Charli points at him. “Exactly.”
The class grins.
“Bryce works out constantly.”
That gets their attention.
“Being a rodeo athlete and wanting to compete professionally is no different from being a college football star, hoping to make it to the NFL, or an Olympic track star. You have to work hard. Build muscle. Make sure you get proper nutrition. And it’s gonna look different from what your brothers and sisters are eating. Bryce follows training programs set up by professionals like Miss Asbury.” She gestures to me. “He pays attention to what he eats at every meal. Making sure he fuels his body properly to be able to withstand getting on the back of a bull every weekend. He listens to what they tell him to do. They know what it takes.”
Now they’re hanging on every word.
“So, if you want your name up in lights someday, you’d better start listening to Miss Asbury.”
The transformation is immediate.
Students sit up straighter.
Pens come out, and they finally open the folders I so meticulously put together for them and start thumbing through the pages.
I stare in amazement.
“What kind of sorcery was that?” I ask.
Charli grins. “They’re rodeo kids. You have to speak rodeo to them for them to understand.”
Apparently, that’s explanation enough.
The remaining half hour flies by.
Now they’re engaged.
Questions start coming one after another.
“What should we eat before competing?”
“Do I really need that many calories?”
“How much water should we drink a day?”
“I didn’t know sleep was that important.”
“Should bull riders lift differently from barrel racers?”
I answer every question.
And for the first time all day, they’re genuinely interested.
