There were 5-year-olds riding sheep, all doing their best not to fall off. Boys and girls rode their horses alongside their parents in an attempt to rope the horns and heel of a steer.
In San Benito County, youth participating in rodeo is as much of a way of life as any other sport—baseball included. Take Billy Aviles Jr., Tristan Schmidt and Vincent Nino, who were all selected to play for a Hollister All-Star Little League team this season.
All three were in competition at last weekend’s 82nd annual San Benito County Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo at Bolado Park. Not too far from Silicon Valley, the Western lifestyle is still alive and well in San Benito County.
Aviles Jr., 10, is the oldest son of Billy Aviles, who is the San Benito High baseball coach. The family lives on a ranch off Pacheco Pass, and Aviles wife, Dana, helped bring the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) series to Bolado Park a couple of years ago.
“Some kids gravitate to different sports, and others gravitate toward rodeo,” Aviles said. “Some do both. Some people have batting cages in their backyard, some have roping arenas. Some have both. That’s the unique part of this area.”
Nino, 11, loves the steer roping and ribbon race events, and Aviles Jr. is also a big fan of the ribbon races.
“They’re entertaining,” Aviles Jr. said. “I learned to ride, handle a horse and rope from my dad.”
Nino admires his uncle, John, who is a well-known rancher from King City.
“I’ve always looked up to him,” Nino said. “I’ve been doing rodeo stuff since I was 5, and I always love coming here.”
Schmidt, 10, also has an affinity for baseball and rodeo. Schmidt also comes from a rodeo family; his mom, Stacy, has competed at rodeos in Winnemuca and Fallon, two remote towns in Nevada that have a huge passion for rodeo.
Schmidt, who lives in Tres Pinos, said he has a lot of friends who grow up in the rodeo culture, which emphasizes hard work and grit.
“Just like in team sports, there’s a lot of accountability when you’re raised on the ranching lifestyle,” Aviles said. “Kids have to feed the animals, bathe the horses and spend a lot of time taking care of the animals.”
Aviles has a couple of cousins who have competed in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), the biggest rodeo event of the year. One day, that’s where Hollister residents and good friends Will Centoni and Cash Robinson hope to be.
Centoni and Robinson both graduated from San Benito High within the last year, and both cowboys have built up an impressive list of accomplishments as up-and-comers who one day plan on competing on the biggest stage.
Centoni recently won the bronc riding event in the California High School Rodeo State Finals. Centoni possesses a variety of skills, and he entered six events at the Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo.
“I’d like to be a world champion one day,” Centoni said. “Maybe an all-around world champion.”
