It's been a busy and fun summer for all involved in the Manitoba High School Rodeo Association, and this weekend is looking to be even more exciting with many heading to Brandon for the Canadian Finals High School Rodeo.
National Director for the Manitoba High School Rodeo Association, Chad Stiles, is looking forward to the weekend. "We've got great provincial representation from five Canadian provinces, who are active in the National High School Rodeo Association regionally, so we're looking forward to 250 kids converging on Brandon from all of those areas, representing their various regions. It's going to be a great show. It's all the kids coming to Brandon that qualified out of their regional finals."
Brandon as a host community, in the eyes of Stiles, is the perfect place to have the event. "Of course, Brandon is ideal in terms of it's amenities as a city to offer so much to our visitors. The Keystone Centre is no exception, it always delivers as a really premier horse facility. We're fortunate to run two arenas all day long, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Obviously, they also have all the premier stabling and accommodations for stock and all the livestock that will be involved in the weekend."
Talent wise, Stiles believes this year will be special, and fans of rodeo are in for a real treat. "What people can look forward to is, all of our kids, and we have a number of very talented senior kids who are heading off to Canadian, as well as American colleges in their post Manitoba High School Rodeo Association experience. We're seeing a lot of kids in their year three and four ready to go out and compete in the college and semi professional level, so you can look for some really good runs from the kids that are leading our system. We also have the kids that are just getting started, they're so much fun to watch, and encourage as well. There's a wide range of talent from grade seven to twelve, but it's all good stuff."
The world of rodeo is unique because the competitors end up being the biggest cheerleaders for everyone involved, and those bonds and friendships always stand out to Stiles. "It's incredible," he says with a smile. "They're good at that anywhere they go. Whether it's their regular season rodeos, or their regional finals, here at Canadians, or most recently at Rock Springs, Wyoming for nationals, the kids are really incredible to each other, and a great encouragement to each other. Rodeo has a bit of a different camaraderie and a real high level of sportsmanship, because there is so much involved. There's livestock implications, the kids are obviously very attached to their four legged partners, so there's all kinds of friendships, and camaraderie's being developed in the bigger picture. The kids are very good to each other."
Looking into the future, Stiles believes there is room for growth, and is looking forward to that next generation of rodeo stars coming from the province. "As a person who grew up in rodeo, and rodeoing my whole life, there were not MHSRA opportunities for me when I was young, and I'll try not to date myself too much, but it's certainly fantastic to have the opportunity present over the course of the last couple of years and going forward. Membership is growing, and I think it's a great training grounds for the kids. As I say, as the get into years three and four, they've amassed a great deal of experience and horsemanship, they've made great gains in the roughstock, so they're really ready when they leave the association. It's such a great place, and a great space for the kids to do a pile of learning, and head on out after grade twelve having developed great skill. My hope is to grow, but my hope is all that continues, as well."
The Canadian Finals High School Rodeo starts today in Brandon.