Education key to Chad Phipps finding new opportunity in the sport he loves

By Mary-Glenn Smith

No one seems to know the importance of a college education better than University of West Alabama (UWA) rodeo coach Chad Phipps.

Dalton, GA, native always felt sure he would make a living doing just what he had done for years: rodeoing. Phipps grew up in a rodeo family and spent his childhood surrounded by every aspect of the sport.

"My dad has been in rodeo his whole life and I have been around horses and in rodeos since I was born; I grew up rodeoing," Phipps said. "I got on my first calf when I was just five years old."