Rodeo team competes out of the spotlight

By DAVID ERICKSON/Whitefish Pilot

They may not get the glory and press ink that other student athletes get, but the Whitefish members of the Flathead Valley Rodeo Team are just happy to be a part of their sport.

In fact, although most people in the community think high school sports are long done for the year, there is still one state competition to go. Schelbi Scherping, a Whitefish High School sophomore, is competing at the State of Montana High School Rodeo Finals in Missoula this week.

Along with Scherping, freshman Brittany Petrina and sophomore Phillip Wisnewski make up the Whitefish High School contingent of the Flathead rodeo team, which has about 30 members.

"My friends know that I'm on the team, but other than that, I don't think anybody at our school really knows what we do," Scherping said.

One would think it would take years of practice to be able to lasso a running calf from atop a galloping horse, but both girls said they only recently learned roping techniques. They practiced once a week this winter at the Glacier Jet Center, with instruction from long-time professional roper Darv Averill.

"He's a really cool guy," Petrina said. "He has helped both of us a lot."

The girls spent countless hours practicing on bails and dummies made of wood so they can compete in the breakaway competition, where a cow is released and the rider has to rope it in the least amount of time.

"It's hard, but it's really fun," Scherping said.

Both girls compete in several events — pole bending, barrel racing, breakaway, goat tying and calf-roping, to name a few.

Cutting involves keeping a cow separated from the herd for a set amount of time. Pole bending is a fast competition where riders have to navigate their horse around a series of six poles without hitting any. Points are added for every pole that is knocked down.

"It is probably one of the hardest things to do," Petrina said of controlling the horse through the poles. "It is normally the person's fault when things go wrong. Sometimes I jerk him too much. When I just ease up, we do a lot better."

The girls said they love being a part of the rodeo team, especially because they get to meet people from all over the state and compete with their horses.

"It's cool because we have people on our team from Columbia Falls and Kalispell, but instead of everybody being rivals, like in other sports, it's uniting them," Scherping said. "Everybody is competing against each other, but it's not super crazy competitive like it is in football and other sports."

They both plan to compete on the team for the remaining three years of high school. Both are well aware that numerous schools around the country offer scholarships for rodeo teams.

"Montana State University in Bozeman has a really good team," Petrina said.

The girls will face challenges along the way, however, mainly due to expenses.

"It costs a lot of money to travel around the state and compete," Petrina said. "We have to have horse trailers, and with diesel fuel costs now, it is really expensive for our parents."

Brittany's mother Michelle confirmed that the sport is hard on the wallets for everyone involved.

"It cost us $11,000 just to host the district qualifiers this past weekend," she said. "So it's really important for us to have fundraisers throughout the year."

Scherping also said that unlike football players and members of other sports, the girls have to make up all their physical education classes missed due to competition.

"We miss a lot of Fridays during the year, and occasionally Mondays," Scherping said.

Both girls said they don't mind getting a little recognition for all the hard work they've put into the team this year.

"I'm loving it," Petrina said. "It's awesome, and I'm making a lot of friends."