The Cochrane Lions Rodeo Royalty competition is back for its 6th year and is looking for young women to compete in the annual pageant.
The orientation portion of the competition begins in mid-August and the final crowning of the princess and the queen takes place Sept. 1 during the intermission at the 48th Annual Cochrane Lions Labour Day Rodeo.
Susan Black is a member of the Rodeo Royalty committee and is the event coordinator.
Black said the pageant itself gives young women an opportunity to participate in riding events, public speaking and what she called social interaction at community events.
“It is designed to bring young women together and to give them an opportunity to get to know their community and understand a little bit about what it looks like when you are an ambassador for the Lions Club, the rodeo and the community of Cochrane,” she said.
The competitors are judged on personality, appearance, horsemanship, judgment and decision-making ability and public speaking skills.
Black said there is a formal and an informal approach to the activities. During public speaking, the contestants have an opportunity to write and deliver their own speech. There are also a number of impromptu questions during the public speaking and social events. Black said this really allows the committee and the judges to understand what each competitor’s abilities are.
Black explained that the number of contestants that sign up each year comes and goes in waves.
“There has been seven competitors some years and some years there has been two. This year we’re expecting probably around six,” she said, but said she did not know the exact number.
Black said this event is important because the rodeo itself is a real legacy for the Town of Cochrane.
As far as the importance for the women who compete in the pageant, Black said it provides an opportunity for them to develop skills such as social awareness.
“They get to develop that independence and that confidence. I see them grow from the beginning to the end,” said Black. “They’re very strong young women and confident young women. By the end they could probably go just about anywhere and be that much more successful because of those experiences.”
Nineteen-year-old Sydney Perozak was the 2014 Rodeo Royalty princess and said the last year has been a whirlwind. She grew up in Rocky View County between Airdrie and Cochrane.
Her friend Melissa Gablehaus won the title of queen along side her in 2013.
“It has been fantastic,” she said excitedly. “The people we have met and the events we’ve gotten to do. Even my horses have gotten better. They’re learning things and are getting to experience it just as much as I am. I look back at pictures and I can’t believe I did half of those things.”
Perozak said she had always looked up to Rodeo Royalty and always wanted to compete.
“We get girls coming up to us who are like ‘I want to be like you when I grow up’ and it’s cool to me because I was like them 10 years ago,” she said.
As for critics who say Rodeo Royalty is out-dated, Perozak said she disagrees. She referred to a magazine article she had recently read about rodeo queens in Cosmopolitan magazine.
“They talked about how it is about the speaking, being an ambassador and about the representation. It was cool to see the response it had on social media,” she said. “There does still seem to be a lot of interest in it. In no way is it outdated. You use the skills for the rest of your life.”
Black agreed with Perozak, saying those who think the event is outdated would be “short sighted.”
“We’re not a beauty pageant. It’s an opportunity for young women to build on their own skills and represent the town of Cochrane,” she said. “These women are developing what I think are lifelong skills that they will be able to build on that. It will help them well into the rest of their career.”
The entry closing date is Aug. 4 and applications can be found at the Cochrane Rodeo Royalty website, cochranelionsroyalty.com.
