Photo courtesy of Emery High School Rodeo Club
On May 6 at a Utah High School Rodeo Association (UHSRA) board meeting, a tough decision for both student and adult officers was made to cancel the 2020 state finals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Board meetings had been held throughout the spring rodeo season to defend the rodeos, but inevitably all spring rodeos were cancelled, potentially costing the association over $200,000. When it came to the state competition, the Wasatch County venue was not able to host the rodeos, so a heart breaking motion to cancel the Utah finals was made and passed unanimously.
Within days, a group called “Save the Finals” began a telephone campaign seeking funds to hire an attorney to override this decision. Lloyd Rickenbach, Attorney at Law, was hired to fight the UHSRA Board’s decision to postpone the event. This threatened litigation divided a close, statewide “rodeo family.”
When Utah Governor Gary Herbert declared the majority of the state “yellow” and after contacting the state health department for clearance, the UHSRA board began to make plans to host the state finals. Three different venues were considered for the proposed event, including Duchesne, Washington County and the Golden Spike Arena. Aiming to be financially prudent, the board chose the Washington County arena.
On May 22, student and adult officers made the announcement that the state rodeo finals would be held June 8-13 at the arenas in Hurricane. These final rodeos will follow the usual schedule but rough stock will only be at the morning performances. Reining cow horse, cutting and the queen competition will begin on Monday, June 8 and the first go-round of the rodeo will begin on Wednesday morning, June 10, through Friday evening, June 12, with the final go on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The national finals were slated for Lincoln City, Nebraska in July; however, on May 29, the announcement came from Nebraska that the state could not host the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National High School Rodeo Association is now evaluating other venues to host the 2020 National High School Rodeo Finals. The top four contestants in each event at the state finals qualify to compete at nationals.