The 2013 Rodeo season has begun and DeKalb County High School Rodeo athletes are ready to compete for top honors. While football may be a tough sport with injuries almost expected each season, football players don’t have to deal with a ton of mad muscle attempting to do bodily harm to their opponent. Yet that’s what the tough boys and girls of the DCHS Rodeo team deal with at each event.
Seniors Brandon Barnes and Waylon West, sophomore La-Kota Luna, and new member Victor Roller are competing in the bullriding events this season, while Cody Hattaway, also a senior, competes in steer wrestling, team roping, and tie-down calf roping. Shara Adcock, a junior, competes in breakaway roping, team roping, goat tying, and occasionally pole bending and barrel racing.
Adcock, Barnes, and West represented Tennessee this summer at the National High School Rodeo Finals held in Rock Springs, Wyoming. In order to compete at the national level, contestants must finish the season ranked in the top four of their events.
The first two rodeos of the 2013-2014 season  were held recently at the Shelby Showplace Arena during the Delta Fair on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. The rodeos are sanctioned by the Tennessee High School Rodeo Association (THSRA) and by the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA).
DCHS was represented by five rodeo athletes at these competitions with Luna winning first place in the bull riding in the first rodeo, while Barnes tied for second and third.  Also competing in the bull riding event was West.
Hattaway won first in the steer wrestling and third in the tie down roping during the first rodeo.
Adcock, the only cowgirl from DCHS, had an impressive start for this season.  She won second in breakaway roping and goat tying during the first rodeo. During the second rodeo, she won fourth in breakaway roping, while winning first place in both the goat tying and team roping events, garnering enough points to put her in the lead for All-Around Cowgirl honors.   Shara currently serves as student president of the state association.
All of these rodeo athletes will next compete in Cookeville, at the Hyder-Burk Ag Pavilion on Oct. 5 and 6. They will be joined by approximately 100 other cowboys and cowgirls from across the state for competition in all rodeo events. The team is asking everyone to please come out and support the local athletes at 7 p.m. on Saturday and at 10 a.m. on Sunday. This will be the closest THSRA sanctioned event all year. Following the Cookeville rodeo, the next competition will be in Bowling Green, KY on Oct. 26 and 27.
The rodeo team is also involved in the community and hosts a "special" rodeo event for children with special needs. The event is held in conjunction with Structured Athletics for Challenged Children on Saturday afternoon, Oct 5, at 2 p.m. Rodeo contestants team up with a special needs child and assists him or her to participate in modified rodeo events. They learn how to flank a goat, tie a calf, rope a calf dummy or steer head dummy, ride a real horse around a mini barrel race pattern, and possibly ride a mechanical bucking bull.
The team says that this is a unique opportunity to involve students in serving others. It's an event favorite and everyone looks forward to this rewarding activity every year.