An endowment fund to provide scholarships to outstanding students competing in the sport of college rodeo has been established in honor of L.N. "Sonny" Sikes.

     After 40 years of building championship rodeo teams for Sam Houston State University, Sonny Sikes hung up his teaching and coaching spurs this summer. Sikes has been putting SHSU in the national limelight for a half century. During his service to the university, Sikes led the rodeo team to eight national team titles and coached 30 some-odd individual national champions. Since 1952, SHSU has participated in every National Finals Rodeo but two. Under Sikes' guidance, Sam Houston State became a household word within the rodeo community.

     Sikes commented that the best part of his job was not all the accomplishments, but "to watch students grow up and mature." Sikes contends that in many cases he helped students achieve a college education they didn't intend to get. According to Sikes, "some students came to SHSU to rodeo first and got to school second, but they had to make their grades to rodeo. By the end of their rodeo careers in college, they realized how close they were to a degree and most decided to finish."

     Sikes retired in May 1997 as a full-time teacher, but stayed on part-time. Leaving seemed too difficult to do, so he stayed around to coach the rodeo team a while longer. Now that Sikes is fully retired, he intends to work around the house, hang out "at the barn," and ride his horses. Still residing in Huntsville with his wife Joanne, Sikes intends to remain a strong supporter of the program.

     If you would like to contribute to the endowment established in his honor, please contact the Agricultural Sciences office for details.