Wildrose Rodeo Association finals returning home

BARRHEAD – After a one-year hiatus, the Wildrose Rodeo Association (WRA) Challenge event will return to Barrhead in 2024 and beyond.

Last week, on Feb. 28, the association announced that the Barrhead and District Ag Society had won the bid to host the event for three years starting this year.

The WRA is an amateur rodeo association boasting more than 600 members and annually sponsors a circuit of between 30 and 40 rodeo events in communities mostly in central to northern Alberta. 

The Challenge or rodeo finals is the WRA circuit's final event and the association's showcase event. It features the competitors who have earned the Top 10 point totals in the seven core rodeo events (bull riding, bareback and saddleback riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling and ladies barrel racing). 

It also features the Top 6 junior point leaders who will compete in the steer riding, bull riding, breakaway roping, and barrel racing events. 

Barrhead had hosted the event for an unprecedented string from 1989 to 2022, except for 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic.

However, they lost the bid for the 2023 finals to Rimbey because Barrhead's bid included four performances rather than the traditional five, according to then WRA president Glen Nash in a November 2022 Barrhead Leader interview,.

Ag society board member and County of Barrhead council member Bill Lane has stated several times publicly that they decided to drop a performance in their bid because the society was having trouble attracting sufficient volunteers.

WRA president David Schmidt said that in the off-season, the association approached several ag societies and organizing committees that host a WRA event, asking them to submit a bid. 

In the end, he said, only Barrhead and Rimbey submitted bids.

"And Barrhead was chosen," he said, adding the board’s selection was unanimous. 

"We are glad to be coming back. I think a lot of it had to do with the history we've had in Barrhead and our great working relationship with the ag society."

Schmidt said the other factor was that Barrhead's bid included five performances.

"Which is important to the competitors. Not only does it make the event more competitive and harder to win, but it also gives everyone an extra chance to win more money," he said, adding as a rodeo competitor himself, who has been fortunate enough to qualify for the finals he knows how important that extra performance is. 

Ag society president Jackie Miller said the society learned they had won the bid at their Feb. 27 meeting. 

"Obviously, we are pleased to have won and have a chance to host the finals again," she said, adding the board took some time to decide whether they wanted to submit a bid again, saying they decided to take the plunge at their January meeting. 

"Hosting the finals is a lot of work and a big commitment. Now that we know we've won, the real work begins."

Miller said the finals will likely occur in September, the second or third weekend. However, that would depend mainly on Agrena's availability as the Barrhead Minor Hockey Association, the Barrhead Bombers, and the Barrhead Skating Club will start their seasons that month.

She also noted as the society finalizes more details, they will be looking for volunteers to help them stage the event, reiterating how large of an undertaking it is.

"The event benefits the whole community, and it takes a community to put it on," she said, adding the public should watch the society's web and Facebook pages to look for volunteer opportunities.

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