Team Mexico Head Coach Venegas on the Global Cup and Challenges Facing Team Mexico
By: Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – Team Mexico faces unique challenges and an uphill climb to international bull riding glory when it comes time for the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, on Feb. 15-16.
With a small pool of elite bull riders to choose from, and none in the Top 35 of the world standings, head coach Gerardo Venegas knows that the odds are stacked against his underdog squad that will step foot inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Venegas caught up with PBR.com at the 2019 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas in November, and got candid about the state of bull riding in Mexico, the challenges of putting his roster together and the impact of new assistant coach Jerome Davis.
PBR.com: Tell me about your first three picks for Team Mexico (Edgar Durazo, Alvaro Alvarez and Francisco Garcia Torres). What were you looking for in the guys you chose?
Gerardo Venegas: You try to pick the guys that at the moment are riding good. Bull riding is all about momentum. You see a guy that wins the world, and then the next year he’s not riding the same. To me, the perfect example is J.B. (Mauney). He’s one of the greatest riders to ever exist, but he hasn’t been on the team the last couple of years. It’s not because he doesn’t have talent. He’s just not riding good. You base yourself on that when you’re making the picks.
PBR.com: What about intangibles? Do you look for stuff like a team attitude, or are you purely looking for who’s riding well right now?
GV: Pretty much whoever’s trying hardest and who’s riding good, that’s what I’m trying to bring in. They all get along pretty good, all those guys. They’re all really good guys, so pretty much that’s what I’m looking for. Some of the guys are just great, great, close friends, family friends to me, and it kind of hurts me, because you can’t bring them in just because they’re your friends.
PBR.com: That’s an interesting transition, that you were riding with those guys and now you’re their coach. Have you struggled with that?
GV: No, I try not to struggle with it, because it’s so easy to look from the stands and from the bleachers. And bull riding is really, really hard. I had the opportunity to compete in the PBR, but I was never one of the top, top guys. I understand how hard it is, from the same process they go through when they come from Mexico. But I think I understand the mentality that you’ve got to have to win, too. I’m just trying to help them out and try to let them know to believe in themselves.
PBR.com: What has assistant coach Jerome Davis brought to your coaching team?
GV: He brings a lot. Jerome has a lot of knowledge about the sport. And when we were on the ranch (at the Team Mexico training camp), we were talking about, it’d be nice if the guys could go there and stay for a couple weeks, and we’re going to talk to them. I talked to Alvarez and he said he was down for it, pretty much. I said, ‘Hey, you can go there, they offered their place so you all can stay during the week, and talk to Jerome.’ There should be a couple bull ridings close around the house before the Global Cup, so the guys are probably going to go there and stay. It’s not about him. Whoever he can help. It’s us against the world. [laughs]
PBR.com: What was the process for you and Jerome to pick your team?
GV: It’s so hard for us, because if you’ve paid attention to the last three Global Cups, you’ve been seeing the same guys. Well, not altogether, but at least four out of the six or seven. It’s not a lot of riders out there. We love it in our culture, Mexican culture, the Western kind of dressing, but the bull riding, the rodeo sport, it’s not as huge as like in America. The caliber of the bulls is obviously not the same – the bulls here are second to none. So to bring a group of guys that’s talented enough, and they’re riding good – it’s not impossible, but it’s almost impossible for us to come up with 10 guys. So I told Jerome, ‘Look, these are kind of the guys,’ and I explained the process. You’ll find a handful of guys that are riding good, that are capable to come here. It used to be a little bigger, and it kind of worries me a little bit because it’s kind of dying more.
PBR.com: Do you think the Global Cup might be an incentive for guys to come to the U.S.? Do you see guys in Mexico really wanting to make this team?
GV: Definitely they do, but one thing is wanting to be there, and what you’re doing to be there, to me. I’m not trying to dress it up. [laughs] Because I have guys that call me, ‘Hey man, will you consider me?’ Well, it’s not just because of one day that I can say, ‘Yeah, you’re on the team because you went and ride this bull.’ Or a guy says, ‘Hey, I won such-and-such event.’ Well, I’m not trying to be negative, but it has nothing to do with the PBR or the kind of level they would be facing here.
On the guys that we picked, I told Jerome that Edgar definitely has the talent. And once we put him on some bulls over there on his ranch, he saw him and was like, ‘Yeah, Edgar definitely rides pretty good.’ He kind of agreed with the guys that I showed him. Alvaro Alvarez couldn’t be there (at camp). Alvaro is a guy that’s really confident in himself, and ultimately that’s what it takes to ride bulls. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. It’s all mental. And he’s a really positive guy, and he believes a lot in himself. He might not be the more fundamental technique type, but he rides a lot of bulls because he believes in himself a lot.
PBR.com: Have any of them listened to your advice and started coming to PBR events more, or is it still too soon to tell?
GV: No, you don’t see too much. Some of the guys that were there are trying. Javier (Garcia), he’s been going to a couple PBRs. Albert (Lebaron), he’s been going a little bit. I don’t think he’s been having a lot of luck.
PBR.com: But it’s a start?
GV: It’s a start. The way I look at it is, they’re going. To get in the rhythm with the PBR, at least you’ve got to be there. It’s like any other sport. You see athletes going from college to pros, and it takes some time to adapt, pick up the speed. And the way I see it is the same.
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