APRA Newsletter

A word from the office.....

Welcome to the May update Easter is done and dusted with highs and lows Weather unfortunately wasn’t kind to us washing out Great Western and Lang Lang rodeos and making situations very soggy at Destiny Downs We thank competitors for sticking it out through the wet weather and continuing to support the rodeos when you could of easily gone home to a dry bed and chocolate Easter eggs! That’s what I love about this sport so much, the passion and dedication of its competitors!

May is a quieter month with only two rodeos on the calendar but those two are certainly two of the most exciting rodeos of the year Nebo rodeo is yet again set to be a huge event with the prize money growing annually and sure to attract huge nominations from across Australia It's an event that all competitors mark in their diaries as a “do not miss” show This year the rodeo's feature event is the team roping with $14,000 added, and the saddle bronc prize money has increased to $10,000 Thanks Nebo for your continued passion to be bigger and better every year!

As you can expect, nominations will behuge for Nebo so entries will be taken on Tuesday 9th, Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th May, with late entries and cancel outs Friday 12th and Monday 15th until 12 noon The phone lines will be busy so please be patient, and don’t leave your entries until last minute

If you are having trouble getting through, please keep trying or worst case scenario email the office before entries close! entries@prorodeocomau Emails sent after 12pm on Monday 15th May will not be received/accepted – the same process as phone entries

I have had several competitors providing feedback on the need for an online entries system As spoken about in a past newsletter, a new APRA software system is currently in development The first phase of the system (which includes event entries, draws, standings etc) is being trialled as we speak by Kayla Grayson our past APRA Office Manager, who is needless to say, an expert in knowing what’s needed with her many years’ experience in the APRA office Glitches have been found, changes made where required to improve current processes, and myself and office staff will be trialling in the next two weeks Once this first phase is complete and operational, the developers will start on our Competitors Portal This is the online system where competitors will log in, enter rodeos, pay membership, and keep track of their results and historical data This will be a huge step and progression for APRA, changing the way our business operates The Competitor’s Portal will take approximately 6 weeks to develop So, rest assured members, an online entry system has been committed to, and in the whole scheme of things, not too far away

We had a new part time admin officer, Brooke Williams, commence last week Brooke’s main responsibility in the office will be rodeo affiliations, dealing with committee's, keeping our calendar and rodeo details up to date, and start developing our new newsletter and magazine – what I call the “front end of rodeo process” Our other staff members are Logan Lucas, who’s main responsibility is rodeo entries and rodeo draws, membership and insurance – “middle of rodeo process” Liss Kenny is our final team member who is responsible for the “back end of the rodeo process” being rodeo results, payouts, standings and all rodeo completion reporting activities (animal welfare statistic, fines etc) These of course are just a small snippet of the 101 other jobs that are carried out in the office –they have plenty on their plate!

Good luck and well wishes on rodeo road in May!

The 2023/2024 junior membership season commences on 1st May Time for membership renewal

This season APRA have had a rather large increase in insurance premiums, as seen by every business and consumer in Australia It’s inevitable unfortunately Accordingly, the Executive Board have had to make the hard business decision to increase our membership fees to meet the rise in business costs

The new junior membership fee for 2023/2024 season is $90 ($10 increase)

For those juniors who have moved to Permit status, the Executive have approved a 50% discount on the Permit membership fees for the remainder of the 2023/2024 season

The fee for Juniors going to Permit membership is $95 however you WILL need to pay your $100 bond as well Total $195