Scott Mendes (born July 4, 1969 in

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in

bull riding Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider. American bull riding has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports." To rec ...

. He won the 1997

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States and Canada, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National ...

(PRCA) Bull Riding World Championship, and is the inventor of Rodeo Judge, the original rodeo card game. He was also a co-founder of the

Professional Bull Riders The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the U.S., PBR events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, th ...

(PBR). In 2022, he was inducted into the

Bull Riding Hall of Fame The Bull Riding Hall of Fame, located at Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, is a hall of fame for the sport of bull riding. It is incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Texas, ...

Early life and career

Mendes was born in

, in 1969, but later moved to

Turlock Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its estimated 2019 population of 73,631 made it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by prominent grain farmer J ...

. He started riding bulls at the age of five during a family ranch branding session. Scott’s grandfather, Frank Mendes, was a charter member of the predecessor Cowboys Turtles Association, where he competed at

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (lat ...

and

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. His father, Alan Mendes rode bulls, but mostly stayed close to home and never really ventured too far from the family ranch. Scott was surrounded by athletic talent within his family. His older brother Mike played football and younger brother

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

also rode bulls. Both Scott and Tony qualified for the PRCA’s

National Finals Rodeo The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money-winners in the season for each event. The NFR is held each year in the f ...

(NFR) and PBR World Finals. Scott, who was a co-founder of the PBR, qualified for the PBR World Finals in 1994 and 2001, the latter of which was the only year in which he and Tony qualified together for a world championship event. Mendes moved to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

with his father after his parents' divorce. Mendes won Nevada State High School bull riding titles in 1985 and 1986. He also qualified for the High School National Finals. In 1988 he finished 2nd to David Berry from Oklahoma for the PRCA bull riding rookie after only having his card for two months. Mendes' breakout season came in 1991 when he won the short round and first place in the average at

Cheyenne Frontier Days Cheyenne Frontier Days is an outdoor rodeo and western celebration in the United States, held annually since 1897 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It bills itself as the "World's Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration." The event, claimed to be one of ...

on the 1992 PRCA Bucking Bull of the year, "Rocky", owned by Dan Russell. During his professional career, he qualified for the NFR five times, the

Bull Riders Only Bull Riders Only, Inc. (BRO) was a professional bull riding organization based in Englewood, Colorado, United States. History Inspired by years of successful unsanctioned stand-alone bull riding events, businessman and former bull rider, Shaw P ...

(BRO) World Finals twice and the PBR World Finals also twice. He also competed in

Championship Bull Riding Championship Bull Riding, Inc. (CBR) was a professional bull riding organization that was based in Weatherford, Texas, United States. History Stock contractor Terry Williams and Texas businessman Joel Logan founded Championship Bull Riding (CBR) ...

(CBR). Mendes reached the pinnacle and milestone of his bull riding career in 1997 when he won more money than any other bull rider in the PRCA and was crowned the World Champion for said organization that year. His last known professional bull ride attempt was at a PRCA rodeo in

Sonora, Texas Sonora is a city in and the county seat of Sutton County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,027 at the 2010 census. Geography and climate Sonora is located at (30.568166, –100.644163). According to the United States ...

, in mid-August 2005.

Personal life

Soon after the death of his fellow bull rider and good friend, Brent Thurman (who died from injuries suffered at the 1994 National Finals Rodeo), Mendes became a "born again" Christian. He responded by wanting to

spread the word Spread the Word: Inclusion is a global campaign working towards inclusion for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It started as Spread the Word to End the Word, a US campaign to encourage people to pledge to stop using t ...

amongst many of his fellow rodeo cowboys. He and his wife, Angel, are founders, owners and operate Western Harvest Ministries. The national headquarters is an outreach ranch located in

Weatherford, Texas Weatherford ( ) is a city and the county seat of Parker County, Texas, United States. In 2020, its population was 30,854. Weatherford is named after Thomas J. Weatherford, a State senator and advocate for Texas’ secession to the Confederate S ...

. It serves as the foundation for a Christian bull riding league and training camp. Mendes met his wife Angel during his rise to fame riding bulls. He has two sons, Kaden and Kolten, and a daughter Jorden. His children also exhibit various rodeo talents.

Philosophical and/or political views

Mendes is the

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of Western Harvest Ministries, and founder of several Christian organizations building cowboy character for youth. He also travels throughout the country ministering in several

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

es, and is a corporate

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ...

. He has made several television appearances on worldwide Christian stations, such as

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

Published works

Mendes is a producer of several Christian films, and is the chair for the Fort Worth Christian Media Association. Mendes has also been in several Christian and western films, some of which he helped produce. Mendes is a partner/co-owner in Wings of Eagles Studios, a media group that is restoring "The Code of the West" and American family values to films and media. Their first movie ''Gold Score'' is a story about a Texas family, bull riding, and broken dreams. It was written by award-winning

country western Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ol ...

songwriter Terrance Alan and screenwriter Phil Merna, who is a Montana cowboy and former bull rider. In June 2015, he developed a

mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

card game called Rodeo Judge with his partner from Christgames.org. It is loosely based on the game of 21. The idea came to him during his rodeo days.

Awards

*National High School Finals Rodeo Qualifier (1984, 1985, 1986) *Nevada High School State Champion Bull Rider (1985, 1986) *PRCA Texas Circuit Finalist (1991, 1995, 1996) *PRCA Wilderness Circuit Finalist (1988, 1989, 1990) *NFR Qualifier (1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997) *Wrangler World of Rodeo Champion Bull Rider (1994, 1996) *PBR World Finals Qualifier (1994, 2001) *NFR Bull Riding Average Champion (1997) *PRCA World Champion Bull Rider (1997) *Bull Riding Hall of Fame (2022)

References

* * * * *

External links

* http://teamswj.com * http://westernharvestmedia.com * http://westernharvestministries.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes, Scott Living people 1969 births People from Visalia, California Bull riders Bull Riding Hall of Fame inductees