EMMETT, IDAHO — Starting Thursday night, Emmett will host his first-ever professional rodeo at the Black Canyon Stock Show & Rodeo.

• Emmett has been organizing rodeos under the ICA for years.
• The rodeo board is now moving to the professional level and joining the PRCA.
• Many riders are young beginners trying to break into the sport.
• Click here to buy tickets.

(Below you will find the transcript of the broadcast story)

Rodeo is not a new concept for Emmett. But for the first time ever, Emmett will see professional riding here on the rodeo grounds. I’m your Emmett neighborhood reporter, Alexander Huddleston, and I spoke with the rodeo’s director about what fans should be excited about.

For years, Emmett rodeos as part of the Idaho Cowboys Association. This year, however, the rodeo board has made the switch to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, which is like the Steelheads joining the NHL.

“We just want to put on a great show so we can get more competitors,” said Rodeo Director Matt Askew.

Askew says that at this event you will often see stars of the future trying to boost their careers.

Askew continued, “This isn’t the Snake River Stampede, the Eagle Rodeo, the Caldwell Night Rodeo. This is a rodeo you have to sink your teeth into.”

“This makes me even more excited because it’s part of my community too,” said Andy Rogers, a local.

Rogers told me that being born and raised in Emmett, he’s seen all kinds of rodeos, but never one this big in the valley.

Rogers continued, “It’s a much bigger rodeo. So you get a much higher caliber of cowboys and cowgirls here, which was really big for our community and really big for our fair board.”

But what can fans expect?

“We have all the standard events. We have a breakaway that a lot of PRCA rodeos don’t have. Our pre-rodeo is pretty cool. We have mutton busting, mini bareback riding, mini bull riding and mini saddle bronc riding. It shows those young kids that are trying to grow in the sport,” Askew mentioned.

Tickets are available online, but Askew says they will be more expensive at the gate. The fun begins Wednesday with the stock show kicking things off.

Rogers concluded by saying, “Now that the fair is going on, we have all of our kids working hard for a couple months over the summer to raise the animals for the auction and the fair. It’s just a great time to be a part of the community and watch a great rodeo.”

Askew says there will also be live music and dancing for people to enjoy after the festivities.