In the warming February weather, the Arizona Junior High School Rodeo Association held a two-day rodeo, allowing both junior high and high school students to showcase their talents in events ranging from barrel racing to bareback riding. Contestants came together from across the state to compete, kicking off the rodeo with high school barrel racing and ending the first day with junior high long rifle shooting. The Arizona Junior High School Rodeo Association has hosted rodeos over the past 50 years, pursuing their mission is to “promote high school and junior high school in a statewide scale and work towards bringing statewide recognition to the sport of rodeo.” Once the top four contestants from Arizona are chosen, they will be sent to compete against other students in national competitions before being sent to test their skills against students from Australia and Canada. The next Arizona High School rodeo will be held in Florence on March 31st and April 1st.
Safford rodeo takes off with galloping start
