PRORODEO Sports News - July 2, 2026

PRORODEO , AMERICA GO HAND IN HAND BY TRACY RENCK

T his year, 2026, marks the 250th birthday of the Unit ed States of America. The Fourth of July will be full activities and events celebrating America’s historic birthday. Rodeos throughout the country will join in the festivities and honestly, rodeo perhaps more than any other event, remains warm and proud in the hearts of Americans. It is a part of all of us that can’t be altered by progress or stolen by time. It lives as an integral and growing part of our history. Today, cultural ancestors of the first rodeo cowboy com pete in 690 rodeos and 876 total events in arenas through out the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was in the early 1900s that rodeo first found its way from the dusty plains of ranches to the stadiums of big cities. By the late 1920s, the Rodeo Association of America, a group composed of rodeo committees and promoters from throughout North America, had named its inaugural Cham

pion cowboys. Titles were awarded on the basis of yearly earnings accu mulated under a point system. The first lasting organization effort, though, came from the cowboys themselves, who banded together on Oct. 30, 1936, to ensure fair purses, equality in judging and honest advertising of their sport. Known as the Cowboys’ Turtle Association (because they were slow to organize), this first small assemblage of rodeo contestants became, in 1945, the Rodeo Cowboys Association. In 1975, the RCA changed its name again to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Throughout its 90 years, one thing that has never been lost in PRORODEO is the patriotism on display at rodeos and the pride in America. Nothing embodies the American spirit at rodeos more than the song by the great ProRodeo Hall of Fame announcer – the late Hadley Barrett. The lyrics say it all.

The 101st Division Rappel Team salute the flag at the Music City Rodeo USA in Nashville, Tenn. PRCA photo by Lara St. Jacques

12 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE July 2, 2026