Rodeo Celina is a nonprofit organization focused on offering scholarships to local Future Farmers of America students and promoting agriculture tourism.

“The driving force was agriculture tourism for Celina, to keep that connection to being an agricultural community,” Rodeo Celina Board Member Sean Terry said. “Most school districts don’t get a lot of funding for [Future Farmers of America]—it all goes into sports or other things. We wanted our money to go to the FFA and give scholarships out to the FFA kids that wanted to pursue that kind of career, whether it's in farming, ranching or showing cattle.”

The rodeo is hosted at the Southfork Ranch in Parker. The first Rodeo Celina was held in May 2024 followed by the second one held May 30-June 1.

What happened

Cowboys and cowgirls competed in a variety of events including bareback riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, breakaway roping, team roping, barrel racing, bull riding and more.


Terry said competitors came from around the nation and there were 50 more participants this year compared to the inaugural event.

“We had some that were from Nebraska and Kansas. We had some that travelled because of the purse, they told us [they came because of] the amount of money they're getting and the venue—they wanted to see Southfork,” Terry said. “Cowboys had mom, dad or other family that came to watch them there. They could get a hotel in Allen and stay the weekend.”

Rodeo Celina awarded $25,000 in scholarships this year to local FFA students.

Approximately 150 volunteers served at Rodeo Celina including 2024 and 2025 scholarship recipients.


The background

Melissa Cromwell, a former president of the Celina Chamber of Commerce, came from a rodeo family. She, along with Terry and other community members interested in starting a rodeo in Celina, went to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December 2023 on a reconnaissance mission.

Terry said due to Cromwell’s rodeo connections, they were put on the fast track to be approved to be added to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.

The details


Although approval had been granted for Rodeo Celina to be part of PRCA, Celina doesn’t have an arena to host the event.

In addition to Terry being a board member of Rodeo Celina, he is also vice president of Farmers Branch based Centurion American Development Group. Centurion owns Southfork Ranch, Mesquite Rodeo, Collin Creek Mall and other entities.

Going forward

Rodeo Celina currently has a five-year goal of building an indoor multi-purpose event center in Celina, which will house Rodeo Celina and other events throughout the year.


The nonprofit has opportunities to get involved.