Granite Hills FFA team roping fundraiser today

Granite Hills High School FFA will be hosting its 13th annual Team Roping Fundraiser at 9 a.m. today at the Porterville Fairgrounds indoor arena, 2700 W. Teapot Dome. Admission is free.

“We're going to have a lot of local ropers here, but we have people coming from way down south to way up north as well as from the coast,” said Danell Daniel, Granite Hills Ag teacher and FFA adviser.

Members of the American Cowboy Team Roping Association will be competing at the event, and the high point roper of the day will receive a Running P saddle certificate. Three buckles will be also be awarded, as well as hand-crafted halters and lead ropes made by FFA students.

Last year 533 twomember teams competed in the event, and Granite Hills FFA raised $5,000, which goes toward registration fees and expenses associated with FFA conferences.

Because of the large number of participants, the event has gone as late as 10 p.m. in past years, but Daniel expects this year's event to conclude at around 8:00 p.m,

In team roping, a team of two ropers are timed to see how quickly they can successfully rope a steer, with one roping its head and the other roping its feet.

The event will feature higher level ropers in the morning and work down to less experienced ropers as the day progresses.

S Bar J Cattle Company in Sanger will be providing about 100 team roping steer for the event, and the Granite Hills High football booster club will be operating a snack bar for refreshments.