Nashville Stampede Staff Earns General Manager & Coach Of The Year Honors

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Top: Tina Battock. Bottom: Justin McBride. Photo: Courtesy of the PBR

Nashville Stampede’s Justin McBride and Tina Battock were voted Coach and General Manager of the Year, respectively, after the inaugural PBR Team Series season.

The Stampede swept the year-end awards after making a Cinderella run through the championship tournament. The team was crowned the 2023 PBR Team Series Champions, despite finishing the regular season last in the standings after going 7-20-1.

Critical to their title, McBride and Battock architected one of the league’s most impactful free agent signings, grabbing undrafted three-time PBR World Champion Silvano Alves in mid-August. He became a difference maker for the team, including delivering a walk-off win against the Texas Rattlers in his debut during the Stampede’s inaugural homestand.

Once inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the season-ending event, the No. 8-seeded Stampede displayed an extraordinary desire to win, stoked by the nightly speeches delivered by McBride in the venue halls, where he passionately empowered his riders to “climb the mountain” and take what was deservedly theirs.

“The General Manager group of the PBR Teams is a mighty squad of talented, intelligent and accomplished individuals,” adds Battock. “I’m beyond humbled and honored to be acknowledged by my colleagues as having contributed to the first-year success of the PBR Team Series.”

“While individual awards are appreciated, I think they are really a reflection of the entire program,” McBride, a two-time PBR World Champion, explains.

The Coach and General Manager of the Year were determined by a vote of their peers from the PBR Team Series’ eight founding teams.

“The inaugural PBR Team Series season was one of incredible drama and parity–seven of the eight teams reached the No. 1 ranking at one point during the 11-game season, and the Nashville Stampede reached that pinnacle when it counted most.” says Sean Gleason, CEO and Commissioner, PBR. “Despite early struggles, led by Coach Justin McBride and GM Tina Battock, the Stampede stuck to their strategy, believed in themselves, and stayed hungry. They got hot at the perfect time to storm through the Championship weekend in Las Vegas. It may be the greatest story ever rode. We thank them, and all league’s great coaches and GMs for making our inaugural season one that exceeded our expectations.”

The Stampede’s march through the higher-seeded competition in Las Vegas continues to be the talk of PBR Team Series during the league’s first off-season.

The PBR Team Series will resume in summer 2023. The Nashville Stampede will begin their title defense on July 24 when the 2023 season launches in tandem with the 126th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Steven Boero
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