CCA’s Finals Rodeo moving to Swift Current in 2016
REGINA — When the Canadian Cowboys Association was formed back in 1963, it held its first meeting in Swift Current.
Appropriate, then, that after all these years the association’s Finals Rodeo will return to the southwest Saskatchewan city, starting in 2016.
“We’ve always believed that if our finals are really, really strong, then that will go throughout the whole association — which will mean we have more competitors and more rodeos around Saskatchewan and Alberta,” said CCA President Shylo Claypool.
For about a decade, the CCA rodeo has been part of Canadian Western Agribition, held in Regina in late November.
The move to new quarters also means the rodeo will be held earlier — in October,
Claypool said Agribition has been excellent to work with, but the financial advantages presented to the CCA by moving the rodeo to Swift Current — which made a very strong offer and is closer to participants in Alberta and B.C. — clinched the deal.
He noted that the rodeo, over its existence, had been held in places like Lloydminster and Saskatoon before settling in Regina.
Agribition CEO Marty Seymour was also generous. “We’re losing a good partner, I think that’s fair to say,” he commented Thursday. “We’ve been able to grow this thing since they’ve come on.”
After the 2014 Agribition ended, he’d noted the rodeo’s final two nights sold out.
Seymour added the change, though a surprise, was amiable and also opens up opportunities for Agribition, which produced its own pro rodeo for 30 years between its early years and the arrival of the CCA Finals Rodeo.
“What we do, moving forward, is to try raising the bar,” he said Thursday. “It’s the biggest rodeo in the province, and we’re not going to take our foot off the gas pedal.”