story by Lily Weinacht
Jodi Stoddard, teacher, counselor, rodeo mom of seven, and the NLBRA president, stepped into the rodeo world as a child and has been involved in competition or production ever since. She started out as a competitor, rodeoing in junior high and high school and qualifying for the NHSFR all four years in cattle cutting. “My mom and dad, Joe and Linda Stoddard, were both directors for high school,” she says. “I became involved in Little Britches when all my kids wanted to rodeo, but they weren’t old enough for high school rodeo and I wanted them to do youth rodeos. My sister passed away and her son came to live with us and started riding horses, which was therapeutic for him. He started doing Little Britches, and my oldest son, Klay, was a junior boy and wanted to rope, and my second son, Herbie, was in that first round of Little Wranglers. We started and have never actually stopped!”
All of Jodi’s children have competed in Little Britches at one point or another, and they and Jodi are Oglala Sioux tribal members. Klay, 22, was the 2009 World Champion Ribbon Roper, and continues to team rope and ranch rodeo, while Herbie, 20, has won numerous rodeo awards and is presently the steer wrestling director for the Great Plains Indian Rodeo Association. Katy Jade, 16, competes in both the NLBRA and SDHSRA, and twins CeeCee and Joey, 12, have competed in the past but are working to make the varsity teams for both basketball and volleyball this year. CeeCee was the 2015 NLBRA National Junior Princess. Jake, 8, and Bella, 6, have both competed in Little Wranglers. The family usually pulls in to rodeos with three to five horses, a couple of dogs, and as many as five kids competing, though this year just Katy Jade, Jake, and Bella, are competing. “It’s really a big family effort,” says Jodi. “My brother, Sam Stoddard, is on the NLBRA Board and was the finals chairman last year and a co-chairman this year. My dad helps us with our local franchise and volunteers at the NLBRA finals. Last year he helped with check-in and volunteered in the roughstock arena for six days, plus we all camp together and he helps me with the kids. Everybody knows what saddle goes on which horse, and we have team meetings to know who’s up and what time, who’s responsible for them in the arena, and who is recording scores and filming.”
During the school year, Jodi is an Education Transition Specialist for the Crazy Horse School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and she’s staying on as a counselor through the summer. She is also the secretary of the Badlands Little Britches, and her kids pitch in much the same as any other rodeo. “My dad and my brother run arenas, Katy Jade knows she’s in charge of the little kids, Joey is in the arena, and CeeCee does concessions. We work hard so we can play hard,” says Jodi. “I don’t really care what my kids pursue as long as they put their best effort toward it.”
Her best efforts in the NLBRA, along with the other directors, has helped the association grow 40% in the last two years. “It’s a lot of time and work, and we’ve gone through a lot of changes to make sure the association has a huge amount of transparency. I really believe we need to do what’s best for the kids, and treat everybody’s kids like we want our own to be treated. Sometimes my kids have to sacrifice for the association, and the people that appreciate it are what make the time and effort seem worthwhile. Even my decision to serve as the NLBRA president was a family decision. At that time five kids were rodeoing. One of them made the comment that I needed to run and the rest supported the decision.” Jodi has served on the NLBRA Board since 2009, volunteering as the secretary for six years before accepting the nomination for NLBRA president in 2015. “Prior to my job now, I was managing non-profit grants for the state of South Dakota, so I had knowledge about working with people and the expectations for a non-profit organization. This is a very active and driven board, and there are a lot of us that are very passionate about Little Britches and want what’s best for it.”
Following this season, Jodi is stepping down from the presidency. “It’s a great time to let somebody else take the reins, and I’ll have one more year on the board, so I’m happy to help the next president,” she finishes. “I learned to be responsible when my parents were rodeo board directors helping all the kids, and that’s the same philosophy I want to pass on to my kids. There’s a lot of responsibility to be gained by being involved in rodeo.”
