Youth Rodeo Embraced Here
In Pueblo, rodeo isn’t just about big-name stars and big-time sponsors. Thanks to the National Little Britches Rodeo Association, it’s also about family, fair play and friendship.
“We are a very inclusive program, and family is the key to the NLBRA,” says Executive Director Kimber Solberg.
NLBRA participants range in age from 5 to 18, meaning that entire families can travel – and compete – together.
“Most of our families have more than one child competing, and we even have neighboring families who will buddy up and travel together,” Solberg says.
As it has for several years, the NLBRA will hold its 2009 National Finals Rodeo at Pueblo’s Colorado State Fairgrounds. The event will field about 900 contestants and offer more than $60,000 in scholarship prizes.
But the NLBRA isn’t just about world-class competition.
“We’ve got kids at every level of ability. We encourage them all to find their niche in rodeo,” Solberg says.
Perhaps that welcoming spirit explains the NLBRA’s affinity for Pueblo, which Solberg describes as one of the friendliest cities on the NLBRA tour.
“The biggest thing that our families like is that Pueblo has just embraced them,” Solberg says. “There have been long-time friendships that have developed from our families shopping in Pueblo stores or eating in restaurants. Pueblo has a lot of the big city amenities, but the people here are still down-home.”
