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 Dancing in my Mind
Posts: 3062
  
Location: Eastern OH but my heart is in WV | My daughter has been asked to be a traveling partner with a friend. Her friend is a Sr, it is her dream to do HS rodeo, and my daughter is in Jr. High school. It would be the Ohio HS/ Jr. HS rodeo circuit and I know they rodeo together except for the finals, but other than that not real sure what to expect. We have talked to people within the association but they do not have a schedule up yet past September. I would appreciate any input on cost, travel and the overall experience. 
Edited by Rolling J 2014-08-27 7:37 PM
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
 
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | In WY the rodeos were really spread out and so we had a lot in traveling expenses. I also didn't have a fancy trailer so a bunch of friends and myself would get a room and split it. I found HS rodeo about twice as competitive and 3x as expensive as College rodeo. The entries weren't so bad that I remember, but I had to come up with ALL the money myself. Hard to get that kind of dough, going to school and working after school. It was fun and no regrets. I did Poles and was usually 1-5 places out of the points which sucked. If I could have just got her under a 21, we would have been in the back of the pack. 19's usually won it. |
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 Fact Checker
Posts: 16572
Location: Displaced Iowegian | Both of my sons competed their high school years in high school rodeo. It really does depend on the state. Some states have payback for entries…some don’t. In some states the rodeos are spread far apart making traveling expenses high. Some states have one day rodeos….some have two or three at the same location on a week-end to make it easier for expenses….What is REALLY expensive is IF they qualify for either National Finals (Jr. or HS)…Your best bet would be to check with someone in YOUR state for input since it is vastly different across the country. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| Traveling with someone is the best way, in my opinion. It helps cut the cost some. A friend and I traveled together all through our Junior & Senior years. Most of the time one of our parents would travel with us but there were times we hauled by ourselves. Great learning experience when you break down 4 hours from home and have to figure it out on your own! lol! We stayed in our trailers(way cheaper). It kept us out of trouble for the most part... We didn't attend our proms or homecomings because there was always a rodeo that weekend and it seemed to always be far away so we had to leave a day early. Depending on who's trailer we took we either tied out or carried our own panels. Stalls can get expensive when you have 2-3 head for 2-3 days. In Colorado it was $25-$30 plus $15 office fee/rodeo for entries. If she's just running barrels it may not add up to be that bad but once you get into 3-4 events for one weekend it starts to add up. Membership dues for us were 250-300, I can't remember exact, for the year. We were allowed to go out and get a sponsor to help cover our dues but not sure about other states. We did win money back if we placed. was it ever enough to cover expenses, probably not! haha! |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | If you don't have a horse that can place, it's not worth it. Looking back, HS rodeo is a great way to campaign yourself to rodeo in college and get sponsorships that way. It's expensive, payout is practically non-existent, and there was SOOOO much parent drama that I couldn't stand it. I chose to focus on ballet and track and field. I enjoyed college rodeo 100x more. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | My grandgirls high school rodeo and the youngest actually went to nationals in poles at the JH level. Texas is a little different because we have 10 regions so most of the rodeos are relatively close to home. Competition was really tough and IF you qualified for state that was week long experience. Making nationals at the HS level is so hard and a lot of really, really good cowboys and cowgirls never made in it 4 years of competition. If you are not competative, it can be expensive. On the upside, it is fun to meet and make friends with the other kids. If you can afford it, I would say go for it. Don't do it thinking you are going to win a lot of money. Breaking even is more realistic.
Edited by RocketPilot 2014-08-28 10:55 AM
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 Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
Location: Texas | RocketPilot - 2014-08-28 10:48 AM My grandgirls high school rodeo and the youngest actually went to nationals in poles at the JH level. Texas is a little different because we have 10 regions so most of the rodeos are relatively close to home. Competition was really tough and IF you qualified for state that was week long experience. Making nationals at the HS level is so hard and a lot of really, really good cowboys and cowgirls never made in it 4 years of competition. If you are not competative, it can be expensive. On the upside, it is fun to meet and make friends with the other kids. If you can afford it, I would say go for it. Don't do it thinking you are going to win a lot of money. Breaking even is more realistic.
I bet we'll see Maci make it to nationals in the barrels one year, now that her and that little horse have clicked she's on fire!!! |
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No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | outrundaizy - 2014-08-28 12:23 PM RocketPilot - 2014-08-28 10:48 AM My grandgirls high school rodeo and the youngest actually went to nationals in poles at the JH level. Texas is a little different because we have 10 regions so most of the rodeos are relatively close to home. Competition was really tough and IF you qualified for state that was week long experience. Making nationals at the HS level is so hard and a lot of really, really good cowboys and cowgirls never made in it 4 years of competition. If you are not competative, it can be expensive. On the upside, it is fun to meet and make friends with the other kids. If you can afford it, I would say go for it. Don't do it thinking you are going to win a lot of money. Breaking even is more realistic. I bet we'll see Maci make it to nationals in the barrels one year, now that her and that little horse have clicked she's on fire!!!
We have high hopes for Maci and Espresso and would love to make that trip to Nationals, but there are so many good horses at state. Getting a good run in the big pen at state is so important to set up your run in the coliseum. That big pen has ruined a lot of girl's dreams. We are waiting for next year. lol |
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 Night Watchman
Posts: 5516
Location: Central Montana | Each state is different. In Montana when I was in HS we paid one entry fee for points and no money back. Those who wanted a chance to get money back paid another entry fee, kind of like a sidepot.
I paid my own entry fees, for a four rodeo weekend, and this was a long long time ago, entry fees were running around $120 per weekend for barrels, poles, and goat tying.
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Both of my daughters did cutting in HS Rodeo in California. Between the two of them, they made the Nationals five times and my youngest Katie won it her senior year. Great times for us, but hauling to the Nationals is expensive. California has districts that you rodeo in to qualify for the state finals, so the travel here during the season is not too bad. Drama is an issue in some places, but was not really an issue for us. We always hauled a turn back horse, and I always ended up helping about 50 great kids at the finals. In general the Nationals is an amazing event with over 1500 kids that are basically darn well behaved. I think most of the kids have a good time on the state level, and you can have a good experience without being ultra competitive. There is something about your kids learning to go up against Juniors and Seniors when they are underclassmen. Funny how this is hard for them when they have been running against adults at other rodeos. There was a great guy in California that gave $700 to every kid that qualified for the Nationals to help with expenses. |
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Dancing in my Mind
Posts: 3062
Location: Eastern OH but my heart is in WV | Thank-you everyone for your input. Spoke a long time to some one from the OH assoc. yesterday. Luckly, the second rodeo of the year is just up the road from us, so we are going to check it out. My daughter and I are realistic about wher she is competivetly. She has a nice horse but not a "top" horse, so we are really looking more for the experience with great friends. I really do like hearing about other peoples experiences when trying to make a big decision. The biggest thing she has to quit dance, which she LOVES also, so want to weight all the options. |
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Member
Posts: 29
| Both my kids did it. Agree with the ones saying it's expensive. It's also time consuming!! We have no payback in MN--nothing. And we drive 5-7 hours for each rodeo. Tough schedule being gone five out of six weekends in the fall. And in MN (I can't speak for other states), it's all about the fundraising, which I despise. I pay a membership fee, pay $200 for fundraising and we still have to raise even more $$. Plus entry fees, grounds fees, camping fees, stall fees...
We left this year to pursue other associations that actually have some payback. One of my girls graduated and the other is 16. She decided on her own not to rejoin this year. Been going to jackpots and right now, we're money ahead. LOL. She may go back her senior year in HS but right now, we're loving it. |
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Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I will say.....horses will always be there. If I weren't so worried about paying bills, I would have pursued ballet after school and done it professionally. But, I guess I felt I could skip HS rodeo because rodeo would always be in my life, it's always an option because my entire family is involved. If you're not much for rodeoing, it's a great way to get used to the rodeo atmosphere. |
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Jr. High/ High School rodeo....what to expect?