A cowboy with several family connections in Sundre and Calgary recently took the novice bareback title during the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Red Deer.
Mason Helmeczi also placed second in the same event last year after qualifying for his first performance in the main national rodeo competition in the country, which after 44 years was for the last time hosted in Edmonton.
“I was in the Canadian Finals Rodeo last year for the last year of it being in Edmonton, and here for the first year ever in Red Deer,” he said during a phone interview.
“It was kind of neat to experience the last and the first…Edmonton always did a great job, but Red Deer really kicked ass on their first year,” said Helmeczi, adding he was “super pumped” about winning the novice bareback title.
“That’s what I worked for all year, that was my goal,” he said, adding some injuries and setbacks earlier this summer had him all but convinced that he did not stand a chance at even qualifying for the CFR this year.
But fortunes changed, and a combination of determination as well as drawing the right horses with “a little bit of luck” helped him secure the top spot in the finals, which earned him a buckle that will feature his name engraved on it.
“I’ll be patiently waiting for it to come in the mail,” said Helmeczi, who last week spoke with Round Up from Texas, where he is enrolled in his first year at Western Texas College to study welding.
He had previously spent two years studying agricultural business in Vermilion at Lakeland College, but decided to change gears by pursuing a trade that would allow him to focus a bit more on rodeo. Every spring after completing a semester, he packs up to move back to Sundre for the summer.
Helmeczi is originally from Esterhazy, Sask., which is where his mother and father — Lona and Kevin — still call home. A few summers ago, the 20-year-old started living part time in Sundre which, being more central to rodeo circuits, facilitated pursuing his career.
Growing up with an interest in rodeo, Helmeczi said he always enjoyed watching bull riding. As he grew, so did his passion for the sport, and by the time he was 13, he rode his first horse bareback and before long got involved in high school rodeo.
Although his dad was fully supportive from the start, the only child said his mom, who had concerns about the risk factor, needed some persuasion.
“I begged her enough and she let me do it,” he said, adding his dad also helped persuade her to grant permission.
“We had to work a little bit to convince mom to let me do it.”
Initially riding bulls as well as horses throughout most of his high school rodeo career, Helmeczi said he felt stronger on the latter and so decided to focus exclusively on that discipline.
Although he will stay in Texas for the upcoming American Thanksgiving, Helmeczi wants to come home for the Christmas holiday season, when he will be on break for more than a month, to visit family in Sundre, Calgary as well as in Esterhazy.
“Dad’s got work for me to do,” he said, adding that his father runs a plumbing and construction company.
Even with a scholarship, every additional dollar — including the odd freelance farm job pounding fence posts — helps cover all of the costs of going to post-secondary school in the States, he said.
For now, he looks forward to again securing a spot in next year’s CFR to earn the opportunity to return to Red Deer for another shot at the title.
“All of the contestants were really pleasantly surprised by how good a job they did (in Red Deer). It’s gonna be a good venue for the next 10 years.”
