SAO JOSE DO RIO PRETO, Brazil – It’s been a long road to the first-ever PBR Teams combine in Brazil, both literally and figuratively.
In the literal sense, PBR’s Director of Rider Development and Outreach, Joe Ernst, didn’t arrive at the hotel in Sao Jose do Rio Preto until 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday due to a flight delay. He snuck 35 minutes of sleep and took a shower before boarding an 8 a.m. van to Icem, another 45 minutes away, where the combine was being held.
In a figurative sense, Brazil’s presence in the PBR has steadily grown since Adriano Moraes became the first PBR World Champion in 1994. Yet there had never been a concerted effort to scout for talent in the country until now.
Fittingly, Moraes’s son, Jeremias Moraes, is now the Director of PBR Brazil.
“It’s been growing so much in the last three years,” the younger Moraes said. “We went from five events to 50 events all over Brazil and expanding to the rest of South America. It’s crazy that so many riders, because of the PBR points system, get out of PBR Brazil and go to the UTBs and the Velocities and the Challengers. It’s growing so much.”
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But the PBR Team Series has changed the game regarding what makes a successful bull rider.
“Before Teams, it was only their talent,” Moraes said. “But now, it’s kind of more mental. The riders, they can’t just be good riders. If they’re good riders, if they don’t do well with their teammates or their coaches, their mentality is going to block their performance and they won’t ride as good. So what we’re seeing is that not the talented riders but the hard workers are doing better in PBR Teams than the riders that just have pure talent. Because when it’s a team format, you’ve got to be complete. You have to be a good teammate, a good leader. You have to have the humility to learn from your coach, and you have to be a good rider. So it’s practically another sport.”
Moraes points to Leandro Zampollo, a member of the New York Mavericks and recent winner of Last Cowboy Standing, as a prime example of what he means.
“He was never a standout here in Brazil, but we knew he was going to do well with New York, and he ended up being Last Cowboy Standing, something that nobody imagined here in Brazil,” Moraes said. “But because we see this happening so much, we imagined he could have a better performance in America than in Brazil.”
It’s intangible things like this that were on display for the coaches and GMs in attendance at the Fazenda Santa Martha on day one of the combine on Tuesday. Team staffs met riders in person to get a feel for their personalities, which is invaluable ahead of the 2025 PBR Teams draft in May.
Each of the 44 riders in attendance is draft-eligible.
In addition to the intangibles, Ernst is measuring the tangibles. A former NCAA lacrosse coach, Ernst joined the PBR in October to centralize and standardize a curriculum for teaching bull riding, as well as scout for new riders.
“We’re going to do a squat test to determine their load as they go down and their force as they come up, just to see what their leg strength and their balance is, their symmetry between their two legs,” Ernst said. “We’re going to obviously do a grip strength test. We’re going to do an isometric pull with their legs as if they’re holding onto the bull rope. And then we’re also going to do a hip adduction, where they’re squeezing their knees together to see how well they’ll be able to hold on and stand up on a bull.”
This is the first of many combines planned for the future, but Ernst is already thrilled with what he’s seen.
“I keep pinching myself,” Ernst said. “Coming down here, it’s way more than I expected. This is a ridiculously professionally done combine. Everybody is so gracious in Brazil, and it’s such a beautiful country. I’m just hoping that, out of the 68, 69 riders we’re going to see this week, we can get 20 of them up to the States. It might only be a handful to the teams, but there’s going to be a whole bunch of guys that can go Velocity and then move on up to UTB and eventually become someone the teams want to draft.”
RIDER SPOTLIGHT
While the travel to Icem may have been difficult for PBR staff, coaches and GMs, it was even more difficult for Deivid de Souza.
The 24-year-old hails from Seringueiras, which is, at best, a 30-hour drive from Icem. But taking the bus, like Souza did, takes two days.
“It’s a very difficult journey,” Souza said with Jeremias Moraes translating. “I texted Jeremias saying I was going to have to make it. I left on Saturday and got here on Monday. It’s a lot on my body, it’s difficult, but I have to be here.”
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Souza has been riding bulls for five years and says he got into the sport despite nobody else in his family riding bulls.
“I had a DVD of bull ridings, and I started watching it and fell in love with the sport, so I started riding calves,” Souza said. “I’ve watched PBR for a long time, ever since I started watching bull riding. I used to watch a lot of Brazilian riders riding in America as well. I’ve watched it for a long time.”
He named Nashville Stampede assistant coach Silvano Alves and Carolina Cowboys assistant coach Robson Palermo as some of his favorites, and both were in Icem watching him ride. Souza converted for 8 seconds aboard Radical in the second round on Tuesday.
“It’s a big satisfaction to have them watching me ride,” he said. “I used to only see them on the internet, and having them here is unbelievable.”
Souza is 31-for-46 (67%) all-time in the PBR Brazil competition, finishing third at the 2024 PBR Brazil Finals. Next, he hopes to conquer PBR Teams.
“I’m very happy because my first step was PBR Brazil, and I made it to PBR Brazil,” Souza said. “Then the second step that I have to reach is going to a team, and this is the first step to going to a team. I thank PBR Brazil for making it happen.”
COACHES CORNER
Coaches and GMs from all 10 teams are represented in Icem, and it was right down to business on day one.
Florida Freedom head coach Paulo Crimber pulled no punches when asked about the crop of 44 riders he’d been watching.
“One thing we were talking about that really needs to change is that a lot of guys were making six-second rides, and then they were looking off and jumping off before the 8 seconds,” Crimber said. “I think a lot of it had to do with the guys behind the chutes, because I heard a lot of their guys say, ‘Oh, jump off!’ or whatever. That’s a culture that’s going to have to be fixed, but I see a lot of talented guys.
“I think they’re going to be better tomorrow. I think it’s definitely worth it. I believe at least five, maybe a little more, guys are going to be drafted this year out of this group here, which is great.”
Crimber credits the riders, many of whom competed Thursday through Sunday before traveling to Icem for the combine on Tuesday through Thursday and then plan to travel another hundred miles to compete again on Friday. Many of them are riding sore, and simply showing up to the combine says a lot about their character.
“Some of the guys are younger and probably need to mature and get the technical part adjusted,” Crimber said. “I saw a really nice kid there – he has a lot of try. He impressed me on the bull, but he jumped off too soon. But he can fix that. I think it’s going to be great. But the importance (of the combine) is for those guys. They’ve probably never had one like this in their life. It’s amazing.”
Round 1 Results
1. Warley Oliveira da Silva – 86.5
2. Alex Oliveira – 86.25
3. Fabiano Ap. da Silva – 86
4. Elzisclay dos Santos – 85.75
5. Eudimar Novais – 85.25
6. Higor Pereira – 85.25
7. Hidelvan Ribeiro – 84.5
8. Paulo Henrique Sousa – 83.5
9. Jhon Carlos Moreira – 83.25
10. Pablo Soares – 82.75
11. Uemerson dos Santos – 80
12. Gean Carlos da Silva – 74.5
13. Rafael Silvio de Oliveira – 65.5
Round 2 Results
1. Paulo Henrique Sousa – 87.5
2. Zilmar Rocha – 85
3. Gean Carlos da Silva – 85
4. Deivid de Souza – 84
5. Lucas Paiva – 83.5
6. Mario de Negri – 82.5
7. Joao Vitor dos Santos – 81.5
8. Warley Oliveira da Silva – 80.75
9. Hidelvan Ribeiro – 78.5
10. Romario Leite – 75.75
11. Alex Oliveira – 75.5
12. Daniel Pereira – 75.5
13. Rafael Pereira – 72
14. Riquelme dos Santos – 71.5
15. Natan Campos – 68.25
Photo courtesy of PBR Brazil
