PRORODEO Sports News - February 7, 2025

A TRADITION IN EXCELLENCE AFTER 80 YEARS, THE YUMA SILVER SPUR RODEO CONTINUES AS A BEACON OF WESTERN HISTORY, RODEO LEGACY

By Alex Riley, Special To ProRodeo Sports News

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ang around somewhere long enough and the memories start to pile up. They cer

Eight decades of hard work will be celebrated in Yuma this weekend as the three-day competition kicks off at 4 p.m. (MT), Friday, Feb. 7. Set in early February since its incep tion, the Turquoise Circuit event has become an early season staple for competitors in the PRCA. More than that, it’s a tribute to all things west ern. The wooden grandstands at the Yuma County Fairgrounds are the same ones that fans piled into back at the first rodeo in 1946. The bucking chutes that were re cently replaced had been used since 1975. And, as always, the rodeo still welcomes seasoned veterans and permit competitors alike, with every one chasing the highest honor – the all-around title which comes with a custom set of silver spurs. “It’s always a good feeling to win a historic rodeo like that. They’ve been around for years, and I really just tru ly thank the committee for keeping that tradition alive,” said National Finals Rodeo veteran roper Erich Rogers, a Round Rock, Ariz., native. He won the Yuma all-around and team roping titles in 2021 and 2024. But there’s more to this February showcase than silver spurs. The Yuma community takes great pride in being a must-visit stop on the rodeo calendar. Between the com mittee and volunteers, approximate ly 200 individuals make sure this competition goes off without a hitch, many of them having been a part of the process for decades.

tainly have for Patrick Collins. As a child, he grew up going to the Yuma (Ariz.) Silver Spur Rodeo with his father. He start ed as a volunteer in 1989 and served as the event’s chairman in 1998. He met Tom Selleck in the mid-1990s when he visited Yuma during the rodeo to do research for the movie, “Rudy Jean and Joe.” Collins loaned a horse to Cowboy Troy during a visit in the early 2000s that the country artist rode during an interview. There are memorable evenings he can recall, years where at tendance was at an all-time high and rides or runs that produced historic results. But that’s not what keeps Collins coming back. And it’s not what makes this 80-year tradition so spe cial. “The relationships with the people, whether it’s the committee mem bers, the stock contractors, spon sors, a lot of it just relationships, but it’s also about giving back to the community. That’s really important to me and has always been a driving factor for me,” said Collins, now the rodeo’s executive secretary. “We’re blessed with the tradition and what the people who came before us did on that committee since 1946 to put that foundation in place.”

Bull rider Marco Juarez spurs Honeycutt Rodeo’s Cajun Heat for an 89-point trip during the 2024 Yuma (Ariz.) Silver Spur Rodeo.

PRCA Photo by Reed Settle

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