The first high school rodeo competition to be held in Saskatchewan in 2020 will be taking place at the Red River Roping and Riding Arena.
The Saskatchewan High School Rodeo Association will be hosting the Lakeland Ford High School Rodeo at the complex on Sept. 5-6, which marks the second straight year that the event has been held at the facility during the Labour Day weekend.
“It should be the same from what everyone saw here last year, unless some of the rules that are in place begin to change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” RRRR Arena barn director and event chair Larry Henry said.
“That event will be the start of a new season and I think we’ll have a pretty good turnout for it. We had 145 competitors register for last fall’s event and I think we should see something similar to that here in September.”
There have been no high school rodeo events in the province thus far this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rodeos-related activities are expected to resume on Thursday, July 16 as part of Phase 4 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan.
“The spring events, provincials and the nationals were all canceled,” Henry said.
“It’s really unfortunate for the graduating competitors as they missed out on the chance to go to the finals one last time. Our provincials are usually held in June and we have a party for those graduating students, which obviously didn’t happen this year.”
While the two-day competition will once again feature events such as bull riding, bareback riding, team roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping and steer wrestling, it will also feature a title sponsor with Lakeland Ford coming on board.
“We’re very grateful for their support,” Henry said
“I have to admit that we were a little bit worried about if they would stay with us (during the pandemic) but they said that they would be sticking with us and not to worry.”
Those who are looking for more information on the event or are interested in being a volunteer can reach Henry at 306-940-6942 or via email at rrroping@sasktel.net.
