PAGE A4 Sunday, July 16, 2017 S GILLETTE NEWS RECORD S GILLETTE, WYOMING

HISTORY OF NHSFR

Rodeo has grown 1,500 percent since early days

By KATHY BROWN
NEWS RECORD SENIOR WRITER
kbrown@gillettenewsrecord.net

National High School Rodeo

Association officials expect numbers
to continue to rise after it experiencing
dramatic growth in the number of high
school cowboys and cowgirls compet-
ing in rodeos throughout the nation,
Australia and Canada since being
formed 69 years ago.
In 1949, Claude Mullins and Alton
Allen helped form the NHSRA at a
rodeo in Halletsville, Texas. At that
time, 118 cowboys and cowgirls from
13 states competed in the three-day
finals rodeo of a fledgling organization
that many thought would be active
only in the rural areas of the West and
Southwest.
I didnt suppose it would ever have
any membership east of the Mississippi
River, the late Harold Gabby
Hayes, former executive secretary of
the association, said in 1993, the first
year the finals came to Gillette. Now
theres several states as far away as
Pennsylvania.
He first became involved in high
school rodeo in 1949.
The biggest change was growth, he
recalled. We had five states then. ... In
51, I dont know to be exact, but I do
know we didnt have 500 members.
We just figured we had a western,
ranch-oriented organization that would
cover the western part of the country. ...
Horse lovers have gotten thicker all over
the country, he added.
It hasnt stopped there.
The National High School Rodeo
Association is now international
with contestants from Australia and
five Canadian provinces competing
at the NHSFR each year, along with
cowboys and cowgirls from 42 states.
Membership has soared to 12,500 mem-
bers who compete in 1,800 rodeos per
year.
There are about 1,591 competitors
(down slightly from 1,638 in 2016), if
they all made the check-in deadline
early Saturday morning and 1,465
campers, said association Executive
Director James Higginbotham.
In the week of the NHSFR, more
than $1.5 million in scholarships also
will be distributed to the high school
competitors and 1,957 horses will be on
the Cam-plex grounds and in the stalls.
This year, 202 cowboys and cowgirls
are competing in cutting, 108 in reined
cow horse, and 250 in trap and light
rifle shooting. Thats in addition to the
hundreds competing in the other events
of the rodeo, including bull riding, bar-
rel racing, pole bending, saddle bronc
riding, bareback riding, breakaway rop-
ing, tie-down roping, goat tying, team
Charlotte Johnson of Rapid City, South Dakota, makes a good catch to
win fourth place in tie down roping at the 1981 National High School
Finals Rodeo in Douglas.
roping and the queen contest.
Higginbotham plans to continue to
grow. The former Crossett, Arkansas,
national director served on the associ-
ations board of directors for 25 years
and was active at the national finals in a
variety of roles before temporarily taking
over duties as executive director of the
association in 2011 and being selected
permanently to the post in 2012.
Few could have seen the growth of
the association 69 years ago.
Bigger and better
Bob Russell, a calf roper from the
small town of Fife, near Brady in central
Texas, was the first national student
president selected in elections the final
day of that 1949 rodeo. He also compet-
ed in tie-down calf roping and break-
away roping in the first national finals,
which included five events for boys and
one for girls: cutting horses.
The roper won a go-round in break-
away roping with a run of 4.7 seconds
File Photos/Douglas Budget
and finished fourth in the four-head
average.
For many more years, he remained
active in high school rodeo, serving
as Missouris national director of the
NHSRA.
The national finals has expanded to
17 events over seven days.
In 1949, the contestants from Texas,
Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico,
Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota,
Nevada, Wyoming, North Dakota,
Arkansas, Kansas and California com-
peted for go-round prizes of a saddle,
belt buckle, $150 scholarship and breast
collars.
Now, the cowboys and cowgirls at
the NHSFR will compete for more than
$1.3 million in scholarships and prizes.
And in the 69 years of its exis-
tence, the event has been east of the
Mississippi just once, in 1974 in Tomah,
Wisconsin.
Its kind of breathtaking. ... Never
in my wildest imagination did I expect
A pair of rodeo clowns are ready to aid a bull rider if needed at the 1981
NHSFR in Douglas.
that, Russell said in 1999. When it was
organized that day, it was just a small
gathering of people. They believed in
this thing so strongly.
Weve really had phenomenal growth
and I attribute that to leadership and
the national sponsors, Russell said. Its
longevity speaks for itself, really, and the
leadership. Now I see the kids of kids in
high school rodeo.
That included his own grandchildren.
No. 1, we offer a number of events
for boys and girls now. And with the
national sponsorship, theres so many
more scholarships and awards given
out, Russell said. Its a prestige event
to go to, as well.
Theres no other youth organization
like it in the world, not that I know of.
... Its been so rewarding and Ive met so
many fine people, he added.
Wyoming now has hosted the
NHSFR more than any state in the
nation: This year will make it 11 times
in Gillette alone. Previously, Douglas
hosted it for four years (1981-83, 1961).
Rock Springs also hosted its first
NHSFR in 2012 and was the host site
the next three years. It will again host
the rodeo in 2018 and 2019, followed by
Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2020 and 2021.
Then the rodeo may return to Gillette
again.
For Wyoming, known as the Cowboy
State, the NHSFR has become nearly a
perfect fit.
Texas domination
In the first 10 years of the rodeo,
Texan cowboys dominated the calf rop-
ing event in the national finals.
Its a proud heritage and the Lone
Star State has continued that trend. In
the past 69 years, Texas has captured
33 team titles. Oklahoma upset its
neighboring state in 2014 and Utah
accomplished that feat in 2015, but
Texas returned to the top of the podi-
um in 2016, winning the cowboys team
standings. Utah won the cowgirls team
standings and finished second overall
by 6,695 points behind Texas.
Oklahoma used to be the state to
give Texas the most trouble in the
NHSFR.
But Utah has grown into that role
in the past 20 years. The Beehive
State has won eight team titles in that
stretch, the last two in 2008 and 2015.
Utahs first national title came in 1996
in Pueblo, Colorado. That state is now
tied for second overall in team titles
with Oklahoma, which also has eight.
The last title for Oklahoma was in
2014.
How dominate has Texas been? In
a count of national champions in the
history of the NHSFR, Texas leads with
129 titles coming into this years rodeo
in Gillette. Oklahoma is second with
72, followed by Louisiana with 57,
Utah with 55 and New Mexico with 51.
Thirty-seven of the states, provinces
and countries whove competed in the
NHSFR have earned national titles.
That includes one each from Virginia,
Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana,
Australia and South Carolina and two
each from Tennessee, Pennsylvania and
Illinois.

NHSRA offers digital pay-per-view Montanas Premier

By NEWS RECORD STAFF

A digital pay-per-view
channel will broadcast every
ride and every run at the
National High School Finals
Rodeo in Gillette this week.
The new channel is acces-
sible at NHSRATV.
com on all devices,
and also will fea-
ture candid video
clips, interviews
of contestants
and previous
archived per-
formances.
The service
debuted during the National
Junior High Finals Rodeo
last month, but will make its
debut at the high school level
in Gillette.
Its the same site where
in recent years the NHSRA
has experimented with
live-streaming the action of
the 1,600-plus contestants.
Last year, almost 67,000
hours of the NHSFR and
NJHFR were viewed world-
wide, with 313,000 unique
viewers and an estimated
460,000 total views, accord-
ing to the NHSRA.
Viewers can buy
any single perfor-
mance for $9.95 or
a package featuring
the entire rodeo
for $49.95. All
four arenas in
Gillette will
be featured,
so a viewer can
choose a preferred arena to
watch, knowing the broad-
cast of each performance will
show all arenas.
This is an opportunity
for the NHSRA to deliver
its marquee event to their
entire viewing audience,
said producer Jeff Medders,
president of Geronimo
Productions.
The audio feed on
NHSRATV.com comes
Cowboy Shop
directly from the official
arena announcers. A sideline Home of the B/B Custom Saddles,
reporter also will capture
interviews and candid videos
with contestants all week,
Sterling Silver Bits & Spurs
including behind-the-scenes
action in CinchTown and
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If its successful, we plan
to parlay it into a channel
that could become a monthly Upper Level Wyoming Center
subscription, with regular
new content from state rode-
os and behind-the-scenes
action throughout the year,
said Austin White, NHSRAs
vice president of marketing.
Any revenue earned from
the new pay-per-view service
UCKAROO
will go back to the stockhold-
ers the high-school student
USSINESSES
athletes themselves. For more Keeping the Traditions
information, visit nhsra.org.
1-888-955-ROPE www.buckaroobusinesses.com

Good Luck at the

2017 National High School
Finals Rodeo
Its you and together.

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