2021 Custer County All Area Team
Kaelin uses different set of athletic skills in rodeo arena
BROKEN BOW - Many people around the town of Broken Bow have heard or seen what Frazier Kaelin has been able to do on the football field and the basketball court for the Indians, but what people don’t know of is the work he has put in on his own time to succeed in his other sport of rodeo.
It’s something Kaelin enjoys but admits at times is hard. You have to be committed to it every day because after all, it’s not just himself he is training but the horses he uses as well.
“It takes quite a bit,” Kaelin said “I know it may sound cliche but you got to get them to trust you, because they don’t know what your all about. Then just like an athlete, they have to be in shape for their event. You gotta ride them every night.”
The work that Kaelin put’s into rodeo is something that he has grown to love coming from a family where he has always been around them.
“My parents always had horses growing up,” Kaelin said. “My grandpa Dennis Storms trained horses his whole life as well and I just grew up with it. I enjoy it, so I just keep going with it.”
The biggest difference in terms of the sports
Kaelin plays at Broken Bow to rodeoing, is that he is his own coach. He has mentors in rodeo, but a lot of what he does is individual-based.
“The biggest difference is coaching,” Kaelin said. “At the high school you always have a coach that tells you exactly what to do and when to do it. A coach pushes you to do your best. Rodeo kinda is my sport and I don’t have a coach. I have mentors that help me out, but there isn’t someone there every day telling you to go do this and that.”
Through the years Kaelin has had many mentors in his rodeo endeavors. These include his parents, his late grandfather Dennis Storms, the late Garret Nokes who was a Nebraska Rodeo Legend, and his principal at Broken Bow Rusty Kluender.
In some form or facet, all these people helped Kaelin in his rodeo endeavors throughout the years.
Heading into his final spring participating in the Nebraska High School Rodeo, Kaelin is sitting in a position where he will more than likely qualify for state in both his events, cutting and tiedown roping. He wants to continue to build consistency in order to perform his best at the state competition and nationals.
“My first goal is to try and reach the state rodeo, which you have to be in the top 30 throughout the year to do so,” Kaelin said. “I am lucky enough to be sitting pretty decent in all my events. My other goal is to just make a consistent run every time and set myself up to make nationals.”
Kaelin is also looking forward to getting the opportunity to be around his rodeo friends once again. Last year due to COVID-19 a lot of the spring high school rodeos in Nebraska were cut out.
“I have made a lot of friends through rodeo and last year with COVID they cut a lot of the rodeos out and I didn’t get to see those people I enjoy spending time with,” Kaelin said. “I will enjoy catching up with friends at rodeos this spring and summer.”
After high school, Kaelin plans on going to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and majoring in grazing livestock systems.