ProRodeo Sports News - August 6, 2021

“Mentally and physically, I like the challenge,” Charley said. “Being away from home, I try not to let the situational awareness crash down on me so I can watch my crew’s backs. It can get pretty extreme, hiking up steep mountains 11,000 feet and higher while carrying water and a 50-pound backpack.” Perhaps that situational awareness from being a firefighter carries over to the rodeo arena, where Charley has enjoyed limited success within the Turquoise Circuit, winning the year-end title in 2017 and again last season. Charley grew up around animals and bucking stock as his family raised cattle, sheep and horses. He remembers being 7 years old at his first rodeo but didn’t ride his first bareback horse until he arrived at Dine (di-NAY) College in Tsaile, Ariz., where he got some quick advice from late coach Karl Dennison. “I used to ride bulls, but our coach needed bareback riders on the team,” Charley said. “He just told me to look up in the sky and keep my feet moving. I guess I was pretty good at it.” Three years and several local and state amateur associations later, Charley had gotten to the point to buy his first PRCA permit in 2014. He finished 47th in the world standings in 2017 and was ranked No. 21 heading into August in 2018 before suffering a season-ending compression syndrome injury to his right thigh at the Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup Rodeo. The injury resulted in a two-month hospital stay and put him out most of the following season, too. But it was during his recovery he seriously delved into an occupation held by his grandfather and older brother, that of a wildland firefighter. “When I was just a kid in middle school, my brother had just graduated from high school and was a wildland firefighter for two or three years, but I got interested more later on before my grandfather passed away,” Charley said. “He would tell the stories about when he was one of the original Scouts in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Now it’s on to me to carry on our name, and after my leg injury, it has pushed me to my limits.” While the coronavirus pandemic dramatically shortened the 2020 PRCA season, Charley continued to heal, fight fires, and put more of his time and resources into his ranch, which has grown to more than 15 head of cattle and bulls, some of which serve as practice animals for area youth. Between fire calls in 2021, Charley has strung together some successful rides, including four in a row spanning a two-month period (Payson, Ariz.; Cortez, Colo; Monte Vista, Colo.; and Steamboat Springs, Colo.). “I made it just in time to Cortez,” Charley said. “It had been so long and with my focus on firefighting, I wondered if I still knew how to ride. I was happy with how I still had that muscle memory and technique. I know I have the talent and still have what it takes. I’d like to push for the (Wrangler) National Finals next year.” Charley plans on transitioning from on-call to emergency hire in 2022, meaning he can decide to join the crew or not and focus on riding full time. In the meantime, he’s taking a little time off to rest a nagging groin injury and a balky shoulder on his free hand as he hopes for a solid September to improve his third-place position in the Turquoise Circuit standings. Beyond 2022, Charley can hear the rodeo clock ticking. Three seasons in wildland firefighting have put his future into focus. “Fighting fires can become a career for me later,” Charley said. “The older I get, I can hopefully be a crew boss and lead crews into fires, to take care of things. But for now, I’m looking at guys like Kaycee Feild, Tilden Hooper, Will Lowe and Bobby Mote, the ages they are and how they’re still doing it. I know I have a few years of riding left in me.”

“Fighting fires can become a career for me later. The older I get, I can hopefully be a crew boss and lead crews into fires, to take care of things. But for now . . . I know I have a few years of riding left in me.” – KYLE CHARLEY

Photos courtesy Kyle Charley Charley and his crew members use various methods to battle forest fires and often work into the evening.

ProRodeo Sports News 8/6/2021

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