All of you should be aware that there’s a little ol’ event called the Wrangler ™ National Finals Rodeo, happening December 2-14, 2024, in none other than Las Vegas. It’s the annual gathering of cowboy hats, boots, and buckles featuring some of the toughest son-of-a-guns in sport. It’s a big-time event in a big-time town that’s grown into a big-time business (a blog topic for another day).
But today it inspired me to share a little bit of our own rodeo story – down from the lights and glitz to the grassroots and grit. Enjoy!
The Background
You’ve likely heard the phrase coined by western wear market legend Wrangler™, “Long Live Cowboys.” The Stoll Family loves us some Wranglers for life on our little ranch. (Seriously, we should own stock in their parent company, Kontoor Brands, Inc.)
But take heart, this post isn’t an ad for denim. Rather, I’d like to take some creative liberty to adapt the Wrangler mantra “fittingly” (see what I did there?) to “Long Live Little Pokes!”
Our 11-year-old fearless, spitfire daughter has taken an interest in horseback riding. For Christmas last year, we set her up with a few riding lessons with a remarkable young woman from the Colorado Mesa University Rodeo Team. Little did we know at the time what a significant impact this would have on our daughter and our family.
As I wrote about earlier in the year, we took the opportunity to head northeast to Casper, Wyoming, for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in June, only to see our own McKenna Clingman win the Goat Tying National Championship. It was an experience our family will cherish forever and no doubt formative in the young mind of a certain little lady. Not because of the flashy buckle or new saddle McKenna earned but because of the way she won, with hard work, honor, humility, grit, and grace.
Even today, months later, my heart is full knowing the type of young woman that serves as such a phenomenal role model in my impressionable daughter’s life.
“It’s Bulls, It’s Chaps, It’s Cowboy Hats”
– From Garth Brooks’ Rodeo
As we’ve gotten to know McKenna, we’ve also gotten to know her parents and family friends. And it’s been a tremendous blessing!
Every summer, her mom puts on the Little Pokes Rodeo Series in Laramie, Wyoming, where she hosts eight rodeos throughout the summer for kiddos from barely walking to high school seniors. She averages about a hundred kids per rodeo, which is held at the University of Wyoming Ag and Rodeo facility.
Since rodeo can be a little to the side of many of the “mainstream” sports, let me just paint a picture of what this entails. Those with a background in event management (likely most reading this) will appreciate the effort this takes. It’s not just a “show up to a ball field with a bat bag, a bucket of balls, and a clipboard” type of sport.
- It’s purchase, house, and feed the stock year-round, which includes goats, steers, and several horses.
- It’s trailering 3 to 4 loads of stock back and forth the 30 minutes from their ranch to the facility both TO and FROM the rodeo every other week all summer.
- It’s organizing all the kids, events, officials, teenage helpers, announcers, and scorekeepers from week to week during the busy summer travel season.
- It’s ensuring all the registrations are complete, the run-of-show is complete, insurance is filed, EMS is on-site, kids are safe on and around the animals.
- It’s putting the extra time for a John Wayne Tribute night!
- And so much more!
As a recovering event manager, I shudder to think about all the things included that I DIDN’T mention above. I’m relapsing just thinking about it!
Pushing the Boundaries of Comfort
McKenna’s mom invited my daughter to participate in the Little Pokes on our way back from the CNFR. My kid’s eyes lit up, and I knew we were making a stopover in Laramie! Honestly, it’s one of the things that is so awesome about working from home and homeschooling our kids. Because we strive to leave enough capacity in our lives, we get to say “yes” when opportunity knocks…this was one of those times.
We pulled our camper from Casper to Laramie to their friends’ ranch with hook-ups, who graciously hosted us for a few extra days. (Score another point for God bringing amazing people into your life at just the right time, that would have been totally missed if we weren’t willing to say “Yes”.)
Since we had no horse or saddle for Hadley, McKenna’s mom rounded up a kid’s saddle and let Hadley ride her favorite horse of all time, Goose, which she had trained on with McKenna.
Long story short, Hadley competed in her first rodeo running barrels (barrel racing). She loved it so much that we went back a month later when she participated again, only this time in 4 events: barrel racing, goat tying, goat tail tying, and pole bending. Living outside her comfort zone, trying new things, and overcoming fear – make this momma’s heart proud!
All That’s Good
These couple of special evenings in Laramie made me reflect upon the experience, and working in and around youth sports for more than two decades. What I concluded is that Little Pokes is a profound case study for all that’s good in youth sport in many ways. Here are some examples:
- The community rallies around Little Pokes. Everyone jumps in and volunteers. No one is looking for glory. Go ahead and reread that last sentence one more time.
- It’s truly about the kids. While I’m sure there are still a few parents who think their kids are headed to Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo (and maybe some are), the bulk of the families are there to help these kiddos learn life-long virtues.
- Little Pokes is about honoring and continuing the longstanding tradition of the western lifestyle. The heritage, the culture, the way of life, so it thrives for generations to come.
- The good guy (or gal, in this case) still wins. McKenna inspired my daughter and all the Little Pokes athletes. Do you know what she did the day after hoisting her national championship belt buckle? She got up before dawn, drove 4+ hours, and put on the kids’ goat tying clinic she had committed to hosting weeks prior.
- If we look hard enough and expand our horizons, there is still purity of sport out there. Doing it for all the right reasons. Little Pokes is a prime example.
19th Hole with Stoll
It’s easy to be enamored by the size and scope of the “ever-growing” sport tourism market. It can mean a big economic impact for communities, big dollars for organizers, and big opportunity for investors. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that when the gate opens, the clock starts, or the first pitch is thrown, there is a kid on the back of that horse, jumping for the tip-off, or standing in the batter’s box.
Take a page from our family’s new favorite summertime event in Laramie, Wyoming that gets it right:
Put the kids front and center. Give them a chance, let them try, let them fail, give them encouragement, help them persevere, teach them hard work, show them unconditional love. Then, watch them flourish.
That’s what it’s all about. That’s all it’s ever been about. If you get a chance, tune into the Wrangler NFR the next couple of nights and watch an incredible event…but remember where it all starts.
Long live cowboys…and long live Little Pokes!
Evoke a thought.
