Hollister
– For 13-year-old Blane Strohn, rodeos are a family affair.
Hollister – For 13-year-old Blane Strohn, rodeos are a family affair.
Strohn, who was recently named a state captain of the Wrangler All-Star Rodeo Team, said he started roping animals when he was 4 years old. He was inspired by his grandfathers, who both competed in rodeos and worked on ranches. In fact, everyone in Strohn’s family knows how to wrangle.
Three generations of Strohns were out in the family arena early Saturday afternoon. Blane Strohn was mounted on his horse Paintbrush, waiting for his father, Gene, to release a calf into the arena. Strohn’s grandfather Jim and his mother, Shana, watched, while his younger sister Blaire fidgeted.
“Mom, can I tie a goat?” she asked.
The calf darted forward, and Strohn was close behind. He quickly lassoed the animal, wrestled it to the ground and tied its legs together. It was all over in a few seconds.
As Strohn walked back to his family, his father chided him, “You were late.”
In rodeos, it’s speed that matters – how quickly you can catch and secure the animal. A second’s delay can cost you victory.
Strohn isn’t a slowpoke, of course. Last year, he made it to the finals of the National High School Rodeo Association-Wrangler Division in Gallup, N.M., and he hopes to go back this year.
But it’s not just speed that got him on to the all-star team. Its members, all junior high students, were selected by the National High School Rodeo Association for their leadership qualities, academic performance and athletic achievements. The team is modeled after the Wrangler Champion Pro Rodeo Team, and like the pro team, the junior high all-stars wear official Wrangler apparel to competitions, including a shirt, jeans and a felt hat.
This year, the team’s California members elected Strohn to be one of their two captains. Shana Strohn said her son’s primary duty in his new role will be “to set an example for the other kids.”
For his part, Strohn said he’s happy that he was chosen to be co-captain, but he doesn’t think it’s going to make much of a difference. He’s still going to be practicing every weekend, working hard to get as fast as he can. And at his parents’ insistence, he’s still going to be making plenty of time for homework and chores.
Even as an athlete, Strohn isn’t a one-trick pony. He also plays baseball and basketball. But roping animals is his favorite.
“It’s a lot more exhilarating,” Strohn said.
In fact, when Strohn grows up, he hopes to be a rodeo star. If he doesn’t make it as a rodeo performer, Strohn said, he wants to own a bucking bull business or his own ranch.
In other words, come what may, this kid is going to be a cowboy.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
