Chad Nicholson was born in Carrollton, TX in the fall of 1968. As a native Texan, he was active in a variety of sports including rodeo growing up. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1989 with a desire to serve his country.
After graduating from MCRD San Diego, he was assigned to a recon battalion at Camp Pendleton MCB, CA. He distinguished himself as a rifleman and sharpshooter for the Marines. During his time at Camp Pendleton, he was introduced to the sport of military rodeo and competed in the BB riding at many military rodeos in CA from 1990-1992.
When Chad separated from the Marine Corps in 1992, he returned to TX to train as a rodeo announcer. After formal announcer schooling, he returned to CA and began work with Four Star Rodeo Company announcing their rodeos. This led to contracts with multiple west coast rodeos announcing for Powder River Rodeo Co., and Flying U Rodeo Co. Throughout the 1990’s Chad would announce for CPRA, PRCA and Military Rodeos.
His intimate knowledge of military life and rodeo allowed him to bring a special presentation to audiences at every rodeo. Chad was at his best when he was announcing for Military Rodeo Cowboy Association (MRCA) rodeos at Barstow, CA, Rio Linda, CA and the MRCA Finals in Laughlin, NV in 1997.
Chad would go on to work with the Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls contract act for many years and help promote their work at military and pro rodeos. He was selected as the PRCA Sierra Circuit Finals announcer and as the WPRA announcer of the year in 2008. His announcing schools helped many veterans begin their rodeo announcing careers. Chad passed while helping a friend in the mountains of CA in 2019 and is deeply missed.
Born: 1968 in Carrollton, TX Died: 2019 in Woodlake, CA
