First-time NFR qualifier carrying mother’s legacy in quest for bull riding title

Jace Trosclair has no frame of reference for this experience.

For many PRCA athletes, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is a regular, if not yearly, pilgrimage. They attended as spectators in their youth, fostering dreams of being on the Thomas &Mack Center floor as an adult.

That was not the case for Trosclair.

Growing up in Chauvin, La., Trosclair never came to Las Vegas in December. He might have watched a few rounds on TV at some point, but even that seems a fuzzy memory at best.

But he’s here now as the fourth-ranked bull rider in the world standings, with $230,029 dollars in earnings this year. And Trosclair acclimated to the NFR spotlight in short order, tying for fifth in Thursdays first go-round to pocket $7,063.

Trosclair got some pre-NFR advice from a fellow bull rider.

“Dustin Boquet told me you don’t feel like you’ve made the Finals until you are in the Thomas &Mack and you’re going through that tunnel, and you’re in the Grand Entry and you’re on that horse, and you look up in the stands. That’s when you get the feeling that you’ve made it,” Trosclair said. “I’m just going to try and keep my nerves down and stay confident, don’t let nothing get in the way,and just go do my job.”

When Trosclair looks in the stands, he sees a support system that runs deep. His grandparents are here, along with multiple aunts and uncles, cousins and friends from back home in Louisiana. Everyone is eager to see him reach his dream of a gold buckle.

The one person missing is the one he misses most — his mother, Heidi Price Trosclair.

From the time Jace was young, Heidi was essentially a single mother of Jace and his younger brother, Levi. Heidi was a barrel racer when she was younger but allowed her boys to discover their own passions in life.

At first, rodeo was well off Jace’s radar.

“I do remember when I was calf riding, the first calf I ever got on, I kind of scraped my arm up and I just said, ‘Forget that.’ I kind of quit it, and started back up like five years later at 11 or 12,” he said with a laugh.

Once the spark was lit, there was no putting it out.

Heidi’s brothers had amateur rodeo experience and worked with Jace early on. Simultaneously, Heidi began learning about riding techniques and what judges would be looking for. As Jace developed his skills, Heidi became his biggest cheerleader — and critic.

“Every time I’d fall off, my mom would be like, ‘Look, this is what you did wrong, and you’ve got to fix that and do this.’ She was always trying to critique my techniques and all that,” Jace said.

Together, they mapped out a plan for his career. Permit year, rookie year, where he would have to go and what he would have to win to get to the NFR.

Heidi did all of this while in the midst of battling cancer.

Diagnosed in 2020, Heidi fought the disease while providing constant support for her oldest son. She was often on the road with him at events throughout the country, cheering him on and celebrating his success.

During his 2022 rookie year, Jace won more than $74,000 on his way to finishing 26th in the world standings. That set the stage for 2023, the year he intended to make the NFR dream come true.

But in early September 2023, he got the call. It was time to come home.

“Towards the summer run, she was in and out of the hospital like every week, it seemed like. I think that was just in the back of my head,” Trosclair said. “And then around Ellensburg, I got the call that I needed to go home, that she didn’t have much longer. Sure enough, I went there, and I don’t even think it was a week after that.”

Heidi’s fight ended on Sept. 10, 2023. She was 42 years old.

The ups and downs of his mother’s battles with the illness weighed heavy on Jace’s mind for quite some time. All he wanted was to reach the NFR with her in the stands.

Now, that dream was over. But a new one quickly formed.

Within a week, Jace was running three miles a day, doing 200 situps, pushups and crunches. He wasn’t going to make the NFR in 2023. But he wasn’t going to be left out in 2024.

The journey restarted in October 2023, when the PRCA’s 2024 regular season began. Two rodeos into his return, Jace picked up the win at the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo in Rosenberg, Texas.

“It wasn’t that emotional for me to get the win, but it was more like, ‘We’re going to the Finals (in 2024). No ifs, ands or buts about it,’” Jace said.

A few weeks later, another victory. He finished third in the average at the Southeastern Circuit Finals. And checks continued to roll in, putting him on the path he and his mother always envisioned.

The year has been a bit of a whirlwind, one that Jace admits sometimes feels like a blur. For one stretch in the regular season, he sat atop the PRCA world standings. He finished the regular season with just under $213,000 in earnings, winning or earning co-champion of eight events.

Reaching the NFR has been the dream, and Jace is here. His mother might not be physically in the building, but he knows her presence is always close.

That support she gave him fostered the physical and mental tools that have allowed him to succeed. And after everything that’s happened, he’s certainly proven that he belongs.

“I think this year, when I kind of started staying on more and more and more, building more confidence, I feel like that’s when it really took off and I know where I should be. I should be at the top,” Jace said.