HE’S from non-rodeoing parents, but Tamworth teenager Nick Penrose has taken the bull by the horns and stepped out into the grit of rodeo to pursue his dream as a bull rider.
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The 17-year-old apprentice auto electrician, who can already boast two Australian Bushmen’s Campdraft & Rodeo Association (ABCRA) steer riding titles in his short career, will accompany the Australia team to Gillette, Wyoming (USA), in July for his second crack at the National High Schools Rodeo Association Finals.
Nick will contest the bull ride in the senior division during the week-long competition from July 17.
He qualified for that at the completion of the Australian High School Association’s recent national finals at Tamworth’s AELEC.
“We rodeo at different venues throughout the year for points, and the top four on points in the various events qualified at the finals,” he said.
Last year at Rock Springs, Wyoming, Nick “did no good”, but this year he reckons he has the advantage of knowing what he’s up against in the States.
“I know what it’s like now, and what to expect. It’s a lot bigger over there, much bigger than it is here.”
Unlike many young rodeo talents on the circuit, Nick didn’t follow his parents Lonnie and Andra into the sport.
“I used to go to a few PBR (Professional Bull Riders) rodeos, and really liked it. Then I thought I’d like to give it a go one day, so did,” he said.
In 2010, as an 11-year-old, Nick climbed onto his first steer.
Two years later, he landed the 2012 Australian steer riding title in the 11-14yr division, then did the same in 2014 with the 14-18yr ABCRA national buckle, after being runner-up the previous year.
The modest teenager, though, can boast quite a long list of achievements in his short time on the circuit. Some of those include victory in the junior division of the PBR Invitational at Kempsey 2014, being a member of the Young Guns at Sydney Royal in the same year, placing in three of his four competitions, gaining McCarthy Catholic College’s Outstanding Sporting Achievement Award (for bull riding) last year, and being a member of the 2016 NIAS Lonestar Junior Bull Riding Program.
During their trek to Wyoming next month, the green and gold representatives will compete in both junior and senior divisions.
“We’ll have two performances during the week, then, if we do well enough in those, will get to ride in the championships round,” he said.
And making it big in the bone-jarring sport of bull riding is high on the young apprentice’s list of achievements to pursue.
“I’d signed my apprenticeship papers (in February with A&K Auto Electrical and Air Conditioning in Tamworth), then two weeks later was offered a scholarship over in the States (at Odessa College in Texas),” he said.
But he’s decided to “stay here and get a trade”, then follow his dream into the professional arenas of bull riding, both here and abroad.