Boosted by cultural phenomena like the hit series Yellowstone and Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album and tour, rodeo and all things Western are enjoying a cultural resurgence. Attendance, broadcast and streaming viewership are at all time highs. So is the prize money, which is attracting more and more young athletes seeking a chance to make a name for themselves.

But while rodeo is booming, athlete development remains antiquated.

“The sport of rodeo is decades behind.” said Doug Champion, 36, founder of Optimal Performance Academy, a new rodeo school working to modernize athlete development in a sport whose frontier roots and culture of rugged individualism has been slow to adopt modern sports science. “It’s always been ‘rodeo cowboy,’ we are just now entering the chapter of the ‘rodeo athlet

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