Cody Coverchuk in action at the 2021 PBR Canada Finals. (Covy Moore/CovyMoore.com)

By Martin Martinson

Elite Competition

Coverchuk looking to seize opportunity at PBR Team Series

Jul 22, 2022 | 4:00 PM

Saskatchewan’s Cody Coverchuk is set to grab the bull by the horns next week when the inaugural PBR Team Series kicks off in Cheyenne, Wyo.

The Meadow Lake product, who is coming off a historic 2021 campaign becoming just the third multi-time PRB Canada Champion, will be one of just a few select riders from Canada who were drafted to take part in the event.

Coverchuk will compete with the Ariat Texas Rattlers, based out of Fort Worth, Texas alongside teammates, Rafael Jose de Brito, Cody Jesus, Joao Ricardo, Brady Fielder, JC Mortensen, and Ednelio Almeida.

The PBR Team Series is a new league running July 25 to Nov. 6, featuring eight teams of bull riders who will compete over a 10-event 28-game regular season. Each game features a head-to-head five-on-five contest, with the team to have the top aggregate score declared the winner.

A true veteran of the sport, Coverchuk is currently in his 10^th year riding professionally, though he said this event is one that brings back a level of excitement from when he was first cutting his teeth at the professional ranks a decade ago.

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“I’ve been bull riding a long time, but this is a whole new concept with the teams,” he said. “It’s like I’m freshly 18 and going to go to my first event again, so it’s a new-found love and it’s sparked a fire in me again. I’m really excited for it.”

Coverchuk does have some prior experience with team riding, having represented Team Canada at the Global Cup twice. It’s something that brings out the best in the group, he said.

“I find that us bull riders strive off one another, and with a little bit of added pressure,” he said. “We’re not only riding for ourselves anymore but our whole team and a whole fan base that are going to be backing us as well….I think it’s going to elevate the whole sport of bull riding.”

Coverchuk received the call that he was selected for the team from Rattlers’ head coach, and icon of the sport, Cody Lambert.

A former professional rodeo cowboy himself, Lambert was a co-founder and vice president of the PBR, and part of the inaugural class inducted to the PBR’s Ring of Honour. He is also an inductee of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame.

“For Cody Lambert to give me the opportunity and sign me, I’m just really excited and I’m going to do my part,” Coverchuk said. “This is all I do, this is my job and I take a lot of pride in it. There are tons of good bull riders in Canada, so to be picked out I’m really humbled and very excited. I’m going to make the most of it.”

The PBR Team Series schedule will run just over three months. The season will kick off in Cheyenne, Wyo. July 25–26, and wrap up Nov. 4–6 in Las Vegas, Nev. The full schedule is available here.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1