Ty Harris Continues To Work Toward Goals
Ty Harris Continues To Work Toward Goals
Ty Harris is an 18-year old stand out tie-down roper from San Angelo, Texas, who credits his family, advice, and hard work for his success.
By: Amy Wilson
Rodeo is a sport in which a teenager can compete professionally while also still competing at the high school level. A shining example of this is 18-year-old high school senior Ty Harris. The tie-down and team roper from San Angelo, Texas, will be competing at the Texas High School Rodeo Association Finals on June 4-10 in Abilene, Texas.
While he believes his best event is tie-down roping, Harris is currently ranked second in the tie-down roping and first in the team roping (heading) in his region. As expected from a devoted athlete, Harris has high expectations of himself.
"I would like to win state in both events and make it to nationals [National High School Finals Rodeo], and give myself a chance to win nationals in both events," he said.
Harris will also be competing at the upcoming International Finals Youth Rodeo on July 9-14 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
"I want to go make three good runs in both events, and try to win as much as I can," Harris said referring to the over $250,000 in prize money. "My goal is to win both there too, but that pays so good that if you get three good runs in both events you're going to walk away with some good money."
It's easy to see that Harris is mature beyond his years when it comes to pursuing his passion while also being business savvy.
"I've always been very business-minded, it's just how my mind works with numbers and everything," he said. "I always have payouts calculated before I rope and stuff like that."
Harris, who is homeschooled, said, "I take all my classes online, and I'm taking college classes online and have 30 college hours so far."
He will get to challenge his ability with numbers and business even more while studying agricultural business at Cisco College in Texas this fall. Harris also signed to compete for the Cisco College rodeo team.
Impressively, Harris has a solid plan for his future, and he isn't wasting any time getting started.
"I'm working on investments to get some income flowing in so I don't have to rely on roping as my sole income," he said. "I have two rental houses I bought, and I'm trying to get up to 20-25 before the end of the year so I can have a good income coming in while I'm rodeoing."
It's no secret that rodeo is expensive. Harris put 48,571 miles on a truck he's only had for 11 months. His mom, Dorley, documented that at the same time she announced her excitement for Harris winning both rounds and the average at the PRCA rodeo in Lufkin, Texas, which was his first PRCA win. There's no doubt it won't be his last.
Harris plans to buy his PRCA card when the 2018 season starts in October.
He's already experienced roping against the world's best. Last October, Harris was invited to rope at the San Angelo Roping Fiesta. "That was a huge accomplishment for me to get to rope in that. It's a big, prestigious event in my hometown," Harris said.
In February, he competed at RFD-TV's The American at AT&T Stadium, where he was eligible for the $1 million prize.
"It was an awesome experience and unbelievable trying to soak it all in," he recalled. "Going into the American, I had already won $14,000 [at the semifinals]."
Harris made a great run of 7.01 seconds at The American but ended up one spot out of the Shootout Round. Knowing the level of competition, Harris wasn't surprised and at the time said, "All the guys that were left are really good under pressure and great competitors."
How is Harris learning to thrive under pressure? He explained, "Honestly, I've always had a really good natural mental game, but I try to work on it as much as I can to prepare myself to always stay positive and not be on a roller coaster. The best advice I've ever gotten is from Trevor Brazile. He said that your confidence should never come from your past performances, it should come from the practice pen. You shouldn't be nervous if you know you've put in the preparation to get yourself and your horses ready, and you've put the work in and done all you can do up to that point. That advice is what's really helped me out."
In addition to appreciating the advice from the King of Cowboys, Harris also complimented the impact his dad, Walt, has had on his roping, "He's worked really hard to get me to the point where financially we can do it," Harris said. "He's helped me enormously with my roping to get to this level, and my dad is really good at keeping horses tuned up and working right."
Harris estimated that he spends 4-6 hours a day at the barn and then about an hour and a half working out.
"I am naturally a smaller build, so I have been trying to put in time working out to give myself the best chance possible," Harris said.
As he continues to prepare for all the opportunities that await, Harris offered this advice: "Always look towards the future and your goals, work as hard as you can, and don't get down, ever."
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Rodeo is a sport in which a teenager can compete professionally while also still competing at the high school level. A shining example of this is 18-year-old high school senior Ty Harris. The tie-down and team roper from San Angelo, Texas, will be competing at the Texas High School Rodeo Association Finals on June 4-10 in Abilene, Texas.
While he believes his best event is tie-down roping, Harris is currently ranked second in the tie-down roping and first in the team roping (heading) in his region. As expected from a devoted athlete, Harris has high expectations of himself.
"I would like to win state in both events and make it to nationals [National High School Finals Rodeo], and give myself a chance to win nationals in both events," he said.
Harris will also be competing at the upcoming International Finals Youth Rodeo on July 9-14 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
"I want to go make three good runs in both events, and try to win as much as I can," Harris said referring to the over $250,000 in prize money. "My goal is to win both there too, but that pays so good that if you get three good runs in both events you're going to walk away with some good money."
It's easy to see that Harris is mature beyond his years when it comes to pursuing his passion while also being business savvy.
"I've always been very business-minded, it's just how my mind works with numbers and everything," he said. "I always have payouts calculated before I rope and stuff like that."
Harris, who is homeschooled, said, "I take all my classes online, and I'm taking college classes online and have 30 college hours so far."
He will get to challenge his ability with numbers and business even more while studying agricultural business at Cisco College in Texas this fall. Harris also signed to compete for the Cisco College rodeo team.
Impressively, Harris has a solid plan for his future, and he isn't wasting any time getting started.
"I'm working on investments to get some income flowing in so I don't have to rely on roping as my sole income," he said. "I have two rental houses I bought, and I'm trying to get up to 20-25 before the end of the year so I can have a good income coming in while I'm rodeoing."
It's no secret that rodeo is expensive. Harris put 48,571 miles on a truck he's only had for 11 months. His mom, Dorley, documented that at the same time she announced her excitement for Harris winning both rounds and the average at the PRCA rodeo in Lufkin, Texas, which was his first PRCA win. There's no doubt it won't be his last.
I have goals that I set every year, and then I have my longterm goals too," Harris said. "As short-term goals for this year, I want to make the circuit finals and the All American Rodeo finals in the PRCA. Long-term goals -- and it's a long ways away -- I want to win as many gold buckles as I can.
Harris plans to buy his PRCA card when the 2018 season starts in October.
He's already experienced roping against the world's best. Last October, Harris was invited to rope at the San Angelo Roping Fiesta. "That was a huge accomplishment for me to get to rope in that. It's a big, prestigious event in my hometown," Harris said.
In February, he competed at RFD-TV's The American at AT&T Stadium, where he was eligible for the $1 million prize.
"It was an awesome experience and unbelievable trying to soak it all in," he recalled. "Going into the American, I had already won $14,000 [at the semifinals]."
Harris made a great run of 7.01 seconds at The American but ended up one spot out of the Shootout Round. Knowing the level of competition, Harris wasn't surprised and at the time said, "All the guys that were left are really good under pressure and great competitors."
How is Harris learning to thrive under pressure? He explained, "Honestly, I've always had a really good natural mental game, but I try to work on it as much as I can to prepare myself to always stay positive and not be on a roller coaster. The best advice I've ever gotten is from Trevor Brazile. He said that your confidence should never come from your past performances, it should come from the practice pen. You shouldn't be nervous if you know you've put in the preparation to get yourself and your horses ready, and you've put the work in and done all you can do up to that point. That advice is what's really helped me out."
In addition to appreciating the advice from the King of Cowboys, Harris also complimented the impact his dad, Walt, has had on his roping, "He's worked really hard to get me to the point where financially we can do it," Harris said. "He's helped me enormously with my roping to get to this level, and my dad is really good at keeping horses tuned up and working right."
Harris estimated that he spends 4-6 hours a day at the barn and then about an hour and a half working out.
"I am naturally a smaller build, so I have been trying to put in time working out to give myself the best chance possible," Harris said.
As he continues to prepare for all the opportunities that await, Harris offered this advice: "Always look towards the future and your goals, work as hard as you can, and don't get down, ever."