(DCC release)
GLENDIVE - Circle native Shaylee Hance will be the next Rodeo coach at Dawson Community College.
Athletic Director Joe Peterson shared his excitement with the hiring, "Shaylee checks all of the boxes for what you want in a coach. She is knowledgeable, experienced, driven, passionate and has the necessary skills to recruit, coach, and promote the program. I can't wait to see what she will do in the next few years."
Former coach Kortney Diegel stepped down this summer to accept a teaching position within the school system. Her replacement, Ryan Vander Pluym, only lasted a few weeks before he resigned for personal reasons.
Hance grew up in Circle and has been involved with rodeo her entire life. She attended college at Central Wyoming College and then at Chadron State College in Nebraska. At both schools she was the Champion Goat Tyer in the Central Rocky Mountain Region and also finished in the top 4 at the College Rodeo National Finals in 2013. In 2014, she was a Reserve Champion Goat Tyer and the NIRA Reserve Champion team member.
As a coach, her experience is very diverse. She has worked with rodeo athletes of all ages at various clinics around the country and also conducted private lessons. Hance spent three years as an assistant coach at Central Wyoming College where her duties included running practice, travel, paperwork, fundraising and event planning. Her work experience is also diverse working jobs as an assistant tourism director, sales professional, spray technician, retail store manager and a ranch hand.
Hance is ready for this new challenge, "I have had the opportunity to leave eastern Montana and experience other regions and have learned that it doesn't get any better than our corner of the world. I am really excited to come home and help DCC grow a great rodeo program. Dawson Community College has a lot to offer student-athletes including great community support for rodeo, an indoor practice facility, awesome stock contractors, and classroom instructors that don't see their students as a number, but as family.
"I plan on building the team focusing on recruiting quality student athletes that will create a good foundation for the future of our program, the college and our community. I have big dreams for this program!"
Hance will officially begin on January 9th.
