With a few days to reflect over last weekend’s Saskatchewan High School Rodeo Association’s competition at the Red River Roping and Riding arena, barn director and event chair Larry Henry is very pleased with the feedback that he’s received from the first high school event that’s been hosted at the facility.
“We had a ton of great reviews from everyone that came from all the province,” Henry said. “The completion was great, everyone loved the venue and we couldn’t ask for a better weekend weather wise.
“We’ve already been asked to host an event again next year on Labour Day weekend and I’m sure that’s likely to go ahead. We still have to put everything forward to the board of directors for their approval, but I’m about 90 percent sure that we will get approved to do it again.”
A total of 100 junior and senior division riders took part in the two-day event, which helps to determine who will advance to the national championships and also gives riders the chance to earn educational scholarships when they graduate high school.
“It’s a very competitive tour and we’re all pretty scattered around the province throughout the year at events,” said second-year junior competitor Calley Quam of Saskatoon.
“It’s a lot of fun though and all of us really enjoy the chance to compete and get better, plus we’d all love to compete on the college or university circuit one day.”
The close-knit community that is on the high school rodeo tour was also something that Henry saw first hand over the weekend.
“We had a couple of families from Saskatoon and Domremy who treated this as their home event,” Henry said.
“They stepped up to help us out with the breakfast and the dinner we had, which was really nice of them to do.”
The next major event at the RRRR Arena will be on Saturday, Sept. 14, when a gymkhana fun day will be held at 1 p.m.
“This is when things really start to pick up for us up here with the 4H club, riding lessons and everything else that’s starting up over the next few weeks,” Henry said.
