ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RURAL RETREAT
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Fifteen-year-old Rena Moore zig-zagged her Quarter Horse, Flash, between six poles placed 21 feet apart quickly enough to win the pole-bending event at a recent high school rodeo competition on the High Country Western Store grounds in Wythe County.
Earlier, she had placed first in barrel racing, where she had to run her horse in a cloverleaf pattern among barrels faster than other riders and without upsetting any of the barrels.
Moore has racked up an impressive number of wins at various high school rodeos, especially for someone who has only been competing for about a year.
"We've had horses all my life," the Rural Retreat High School sophomore said, but rodeoing was new to her. "I heard about it, and I joined ... I started last spring, but I've been in barrel racing a couple years, horse shows and all."
Her older brother, Christopher, leans more toward football (he will be playing at Emory & Henry College next year) but her 9-year-old sister, Hannah, is a rider and potential rodeo competitor. What Rena said she likes about rodeoing is getting together with people from different parts of the state who also enjoy it.
Virginia students couldn't do that until recently. Virginia became the 41st state or province to join the national association last winter in Reno, Nev., thanks to Carroll County resident Cotton Easter.
A Cana native whose career has ranged from teaching and coaching to playing country music on the road, Easter holds a degree in sports medicine. He has organized several athletic leagues in Carroll County and is a basketball and volleyball referee there.
He left college temporarily at age 20 to join a musical group, and toured for eight years before returning home because of his father's terminal illness. Now he raises horses and other stock, drives a school bus, runs his own recording studio and works as a special-education teacher aide when he is not officiating at athletic events, writing songs or promoting high school rodeoing.
``I rodeoed for quite a few years myself while I was on the road and playing country music,'' he said. ``That was my first involvement in it ... I think it came because of my ability to relate to farming.''
In rural Southwest Virginia, he said, there are high school students living on farms who already know how to ride horses and handle stock. Because of the long hours farm work takes, a lot of them don't have time for regular high school sports.
But they might take part of a weekend to travel to Tennessee or North Carolina for high school rodeo competition, for which farming backgrounds had already prepared them, he thought. "So I saw the direct need to bring it to Virginia at the high school level.''
Easter visited more than 50 high schools to promote the idea.
``It's growing ...I've handed out over 500 applications in the last six months,'' he said. ``We hope that the Virginia High School League will recognize it ... when they see what it can do education-wise.''
For one thing, rodeoing offers annual college scholarships totaling more than $106,000 based on points accumulated in rodeo events. Funding comes from individual donations and corporate sponsors.
``Out west, of course, it's a pretty common thing,'' Easter said. ``Kids grow up with it. It's a way of life and, surprisingly enough, it's a way of life in lots of rural areas of Virginia.''
Based on population, he said, Virginia is the second-largest horse producer in the country. ``This is a way they can express interest in an athletic event
Veterinarians and paramedics are on hand at events.
``As far as serious accidents, they're not as prominent as people think,'' Easter said. ``There are a lot of precautions taken to protect these kids. They go through training seminars and athletic seminars just like other athletes do.''
Until Virginia became part of the national association, riders like 16-year-old Grayson County High School student Justin Spurlin had to go to other states to compete.
For Justin, rodeoing is a family affair. His father, Marty, began entering adult rodeo events about six years ago.
``I started [at the high school level] when he did,'' Justin said.
His mother, Lisa, does behind-the-scenes work such as announcing for the recent Rural Retreat rodeo where he and Rena Moore competed.
It is an equal-opportunity sport for male and female students, although some of their events are separate. In fact, in Virginia last year, the female-male ratio of rodeo competitors was 60-40.
``I've been talking to some of the folks at Virginia Tech about trying to get beyond high school level,'' Easter said. ``Most of your major states do have collegiate rodeo ... The nearest collegiate team that we have would be South Carolina. But the facilities are already there at Virginia Tech. They have an arena, they have all the things we need.''
Further information is available by writing to Easter at Rt. 2, Box 227, Cana, Va. 24317, or Becky Kincer at 2480 W. Ridge Rd., Wytheville, Va. 24382.
The Virginia High School Rodeo Association will have an information booth at this weekend's Nabisco-Kroger Rodeo in the Salem Civic Center.
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. PAUL DELLINGER Although Rena Moore has only beenby CNBcompeting in for about a year, the Rural Retreat student has racked
up an impressive number of wins at various high school rodeos.
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2. COURTESY COTTON EASTER Carroll County native Cotton Easter has
been instrumental in bringing high school rodeo to Virgina. color