Cowboy Ross is an extraordinary scholarship program that was developed in honor of an exceptional little boy, Ross Anthony Schutze. As with every memorial scholarship fund comes a story of how it came about. Ross Anthony Schutze dreamed of being a professional bullrider for as long as anyone who knew him could remember. At the young age of 3 years old he started and ended each day by plugging in a VCR tape full of pre-recorded bullriding events. There was no doubt in our minds that he was going to be a big time famous cowboy when he grew up. Unfortunately Ross was the victim of a tragic accident involving a horse at the mere age of 5. He was in the field with his uncle mending a broken fence when a horse from the field kicked Ross in the chest. EMS and Air-life were called to the scene but the damage was too extensive.

Within one month a memorial benefit was held in his honor and thus came the start of Cowboy Ross. The first two years, all proceeds were given to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund (JCCF) in Ross’s name. JCCF is a non-profit organization that gives aid to professional rodeo athletes that are injured in their line of duty. The first two years, Cowboy Ross helped his fallen heroes.

In 2009 a board of directors was formed and it was decided that Cowboy Ross would become it’s own 501(c)3 non-profit organization. It’s new goal would be to hand out scholarships to those in need of assistance while they strived to establish their goals in life. The scholarships are not limited to those that participate in the rodeo events. It is open to all students wishing to further their education may apply. The scholarship application can be downloaded off the Cowboy Ross website.

We would like to send out a special thanks to TYRA (Texas Youth Rodeo Assoc) for all of their hard work in helping us to get things set up with our scholarship.

Cowboy Ross has officially been declared a 501 (c) 3 status with the IRS. All gifts and contributions are 100% tax deductible.