 | |
| Sport | Rodeo |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1944 |
| Country |  Canada |
| Most recent champion(s) | Wyatt Hayes, All-Around |
| Official website | RodeoCanada.com |
| ||
|---|---|---|
Canadian Professional Rodeo Association
 | ||
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) is the governing body of professional rodeo in Canada. Its championship event is the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) held every November. [1]
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Organization was founded in 1944. It started when some cowboys joined up to create the Cowboys Insurance Association when each cowboy added $1 to create an insurance fund. Rodeo management matched that amount to increase the insurance fund. A year later in 1945, they renamed the organization the Cowboys Protective Association (CPA). Under the Societies Act, they completed the necessary actions to become an association. This enabled the organization to serve its members in a more general way. They enlisted their first president, Ken Thomson of Black Diamond. They had 160 members in the beginning. Money for fees was high and returns on wins was not. In 1965, the society incorporated under the name, Canadian Rodeo Cowboys Association, which continued until 1980. At that time, the organization finally became known under its current name, Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA). Now the organization has over 1,000 members. [2]
Women competed in the inaugural events of the Calgary Stampede in 1912 and participated in various rodeos until 1919. But from 1923, [3] they were barred from official rodeo competitions in Canada until 1958. [4] Hoping to gain approval for barrel racing to be added to the events of the Stampede and other official rodeo events, women formed the Canadian Girls' Barrel Racing Association in 1957. [5] Two of its founding members, Isabella Hamilton (later Miller) and Viola Thomas met with the Cowboys Protective Association and were successful in convincing the board to allow women to compete from 1958, [5] [6] but because of biases by management were given race times with the children and received low pay. Frances Church, 1972 Canadian barrel racing champion, noted that in the United States men and women had equal purses for like events, but Stampede manager Winston Bruce's response was that barrel racing was neither a rodeo event nor one that crowds wanted to see. Women were barred from membership in the Canadian Rodeo Cowboys Association until 1975, though the organization allowed women to purchase permits to participate in events. [7] When the Stampede went to team competition in 1979, individual barrel racing was not sanctioned and did not occur again until 1982. [3] In 1988, women were voted out of membership in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association and the following year, barrel racing was again suspended at the Stampede. [8] Though the event was brought back in 1990, [9] it would take until 1995 for women to earn back the right to vote as members of the CPRA, have barrel racing recognized as a “major event”, and be eligible for equal pay on the Canadian professional rodeo circuit. [10] [11]
As of 2013, the High River Agricultural Society is no longer affiliated with the CPRA. This means that the annual Guy Weadick Days Rodeo in June will now be associated with the CPRA through the Foothills Cowboy Association instead. [12]
On July 17, 2016, the CPRA fired their general manager, Dan Eddy. Eddy had been the general manager since February 2015. There had been some issues raised, but the business advisory council's recommendation was to retain him. However, the directors decided to terminate him. Afterwards, the advisory members resigned. Then some of the directors stepped down to protest Eddy's termination. [13] [14] [15] On October 19, 2016, the CPRA and Edmonton Northlands announced a partnership. The effect was that the CFR would continue to take place at the Northlands Coliseum, its historic home of 43 years. [16]
On January 16, 2018, it was announced that the Canadian Finals Rodeo would move to Red Deer, Alberta, beginning in 2018, under a 10-year contract. The event would be held at Westerner Park and ENMAX Centrium, and be extended to a six-day event with a new youth competition, and additional entertainment. Temporary seating would be installed to expand the arena by 2,000 during the rodeo. [17] Shortly thereafter that same year, the CPRA named a new president to the association. On February 28, 2018, Terry Cooke became the new president, and he took on his new duties forthwith. Also, per the CPRA, he was elected by acclamation. [18]
On May 16, 2018, the CPRA announced a new partnership with the Finning Canada. Finning Canada became the title sponsor of the regular season CPRA tour, so it was now known as the Finning Canada Pro Rodeo Tour. Finning happens to be the largest dealer for Caterpillar Inc. [19] On June 12, 2018, the CPRA announced an ongoing yearly partnership with FloSports. This agreement stated that in the future all the events and finals of the Finning Canada Pro Rodeo Tour, the Grass Roots Final, and the CFR will be aired exclusively on FloRodeo.com. [20]
In 2020, only two CPRA events took place in the entire calendar year. They were both Xtreme Bulls events in the winter. Before the season was to be set into full swing in the spring, the regional COVID-19 epidemic became a global pandemic in March. As a result, all events were postponed. After several months, it was ultimately decided that the 2020 CPRA season was to be cancelled, along with the CFR. [21]
CPRA events, including the CFR returned in 2021.
On April 22, 2023, it was announced that CPRA events, including the CFR, would now be televised live on The Cowboy Channel and The Cowboy Channel Canada, as well as being streamed on the subscription-based The Cowboy Channel Plus application. Additional CPRA events would also be televised on The Cowgirl Channel. This was the result of a five-year agreement with Rural Media Group to last through December 31, 2027. [22]
On October 25, 2023, it was announced that the CFR would be returning to Edmonton in 2024, only now it will be held at Rogers Place. It will be held there through 2026. [23]
Pro Rodeo Canada is home to the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association and is headquartered in Airdrie, Alberta. Pro Rodeo Canada sanctions professional rodeo in Canada. For example, Pro Rodeo Canada sanctioned 55 rodeos in 2016. The total payout was $5.3 million. The organization's primary concerns are legitimacy of the rodeo competition and welfare of the livestock. Pro Rodeo Canada also works with the American sanctioning organization, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Obviously, rodeo participants are the highest in the forefront of any organization, but Pro Rodeo Canada also consists of all of the other usual rodeo personnel, such as stock contractors, judges, announcers, bull fighters, and others. Previously, the CFR was held at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2018, the 45th Annual Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) was held at the ENMAX Centrium, Westerner Park, in Red Deer, Alberta. The ability to secure this arena demonstrated that the rodeo still had a strong fan base and high growth rate. [24] The CFR had to move when it was announced that the city of Edmonton was going to close the Northlands Coliseum down. [25] Previously, the finals were held at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta, for its entire 44-year history. [26] After announcing a new venue for the year 2018, the Canadian Finals Rodeo took place in Red Deer, Alberta, on October 30 through November 4. [27]
The CFR is the ultimate event of the tour. Throughout Canada, it is considered the top national championship of professional rodeo, and since 2018, it is held annually in Red Deer, Alberta. The CFR's top award amount is one of the largest in Canadian rodeo, totaling $1.65 million. The top 12 competitors from the sanctioned events are selected for the CFR each year. The CFR runs for six days each season. Since that same year, FloRodeo, owned by FloSports, has live-streamed CPRA events. “We’re excited about broadening our reach through our new partnership with FloSports,” said Canadian Professional Rodeo Association General Manager Jeff Robson. “The opportunity to live stream the Finning Canada Pro Tour rodeos and both our finals – the Grass Roots Final and the Canadian Finals Rodeo – will provide welcome exposure for our sport and expand access for our fans." [28] Annually, the rodeo features one of the nation's largest prize purses—$1.65 million—and accepts the top 12 money-earners from the CPRA rodeo season. Over six days, FloRodeo will capture some of rodeo's top athletes competing through six rounds to determine each of the seven event winners, a high-point, and an all-around champion.
In 2017 and 2018, it was announced that the CPRA champions would receive an exemption to The American Rodeo Semi-Finals. [29]
There are many rodeo associations sanctioning rodeos in a particular city or area in Canada that operate under the precepts of the CPRA. One such rodeo association is the British Columbia Rodeo Association. [30]
A full list of past champions from 1945 to 2023 is located here: List of Canadian Professional Rodeo Association Champions. There is also a List of Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductees.
Rodeo is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today, it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American-style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, Steer roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, and pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos. The "world's first public cowboy contest" was held on July 4, 1883, in Pecos, Texas, between cattle driver Trav Windham and roper Morg Livingston.
The Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) is one of the largest rodeo sanctioning bodies in the world and is open exclusively to women eighteen years of age and older. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Association currently has over 3,000 members from all over the contiguous United States, Canada, and Australia.
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The PRCA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, present and future." It is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and only inducts Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women's Professional Rodeo Association members. It is the "only museum in the world devoted exclusively to the sport of professional rodeo."
The Snake River Stampede is a rodeo held in Nampa, Idaho. It is one of the top twelve professional rodeos recognized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and is held for five days every year during the third week of July. There are many community events which help kick off the rodeo week. The rodeo was inducted by the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2014.
The Raymond Stampede is an annual rodeo held in the town of Raymond, Alberta, Canada on July 1. It is recognized as Alberta's oldest rodeo and Canada's oldest professional rodeo, predating the famous Calgary Stampede by ten years.
The Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) is the national championship professional rodeo in Canada, held in Red Deer, Alberta, and previously in Edmonton. The CFR takes place in early November and is the final event of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) season. It offers one of the richest purses in Canadian rodeo, usually worth over C$1,000,000.
The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships.
Reg Kesler began his rodeo career at the age of 14 at the Raymond Stampede, competing in the boys steer riding. At the time, it was common for cowboys to compete in many or even all the rodeo events, and Kesler was no exception as he grew into his rodeo career. He participated in all five major rodeo events of the time: saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, tie-down roping and steer decorating, a precursor to steer wrestling. Kesler especially excelled in the roughstock events, namely saddle bronc riding and bareback riding, appearing in the top four in the Canadian standings in those events six times. He was also a successful competitor in the wild cow milking and wild horse racing, an outrider in the chuckwagon racing, and a well-known pick-up man. Kesler was a ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee.
A stock contractor is an individual or business that provides animals for rodeo competition. Stock contractors supply roughstock - horses for saddle bronc and bareback bronc riding and bulls for the bull riding event, plus steers for steer wrestling and team roping, plus calves for calf roping events. Use of stock contractors who specialize in providing these animals has produced a more uniform range of bucking stock which are also quieter to handle.
The Heart of the North Rodeo is located in Spooner, Wisconsin, United States. The rodeo takes place the first full weekend in July every year since 1954, except 2020. It is sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Fans from all over come to watch the professional cowboys and cowgirls compete in the seven main events of rodeo, and even some up-and-coming little cowboys and cowgirls.
Phil Lyne is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Lyne was the RCA Rookie of the Year in 1969. Two seasons later at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), in 1971, he won the all-around cowboy world championship and the tie-down roping world championship. At the NFR in 1972, he repeated as the all-around world champion cowboy and added a second tie-down roping world championship. Lyne won his first and only steer roping world championship at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) in 1990. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
Jerri Duce, also known as Jerri Duce Phillips, is a 9-time Canadian barrel racing champion. She was the first Canadian woman to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo (1975) in the United States and was the first woman inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame (1997). She also performed as a trick rider and stunt rider. She was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 and runs a horseback riding school.
Isabella Miller was a Canadian rodeo cowgirl, rancher and horse trainer. She was the Canadian barrel racing Champion in 1960 and 1969 and was a 5-time winner of the Canadian All-Around women's title. She was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2005.
Rayel Robinson is a Canadian horse trainer and barrel racing champion. She won the Canadian Barrel Racing Championship in her sport in back-to-back wins in 1990 and 1991, and repeated in 1999 and 2005. She was reigning champion of the Ponoka Stampede in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She trained Tia, the horse who was awarded the Most Heart designation of the Canadian Finals Rodeo in 1991 and 1992 and in a single year had five horses that she trained qualify for the Canadian Finals Rodeo. She was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2017.
Grated Coconut #G-65 is a Canadian former rodeo bucking horse that was specialized in bareback bronc riding. He was a six-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year. He was also a six-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Horse of the Year from. He has been inducted into three halls of fame, including the ProRodeo Hall of Fame of the PRCA, the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame of the CPRA, and the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame of the PRCA-sanctioned Ellensburg Rodeo.
Virgil F13 is a rodeo bucking horse. He is specialized mainly in bareback bronc riding, but is sometimes used in saddle bronc riding. Although born in North Dakota, United States, he has lived most of his life in Alberta, Canada. Virgil is a two-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year, as well as a two-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Bucking Horse of the Year. He won the award in both organizations in the same years; 2017 and 2018. He was also awarded the Bareback Horse of the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) four times from 2015 to 2018, as well as the Bareback Horse of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2017. He is also the horse that was ridden for the highest-scored bareback ride in PRCA history, which occurred in 2022.
Cody Snyder is a Canadian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding and is a current bull riding event producer. In 1983, Snyder became the first Canadian to win the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He holds the highest-scored ride in Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) history, scoring 95 points in 1983. He is an inductee of the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Ring of Honor, Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and most recently the Bull Riding Hall of Fame. Since his retirement in 1993, Snyder has produced over 400 bull riding events across North America under his company Bullbustin' Inc. He has also appeared as a color commentator for rodeo events on ESPN, OLN, Sportsnet, TSN, and CBC.
