Bareback veteran, young barrel racer mentor Junior NFR contestants

For Tim O’Connell, pretty much anything that involves donating his time and talents to youngsters elicits an immediate response of “Sign me up.”

Children battling life-threatening medical issues. Kids learning to live with autism. And of course, youngsters looking to follow O’Connell’s path in the world of rodeo.

Each year during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the three-time bareback riding world champion makes sure to get out over the course of the week and take in the Junior World Finals. The Junior Finals take place at the Wrangler Rodeo Arena inside the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South Hall, alongside The Cowboy Channel Cowboy Christmas Expo.

“Anything that involves children, I’m in,” O’Connell said. “And there’s not a whole lot of things that I won’t do to help promote the sport of rodeo.”

So the Junior World Finals are a perfect platform for the Zwingle, Iowa, cowboy — putting kids and rodeo in the same place.

“With these Junior Finals kids, I know what it meant to me when I was first getting on calves and steers, to have a world-class athlete help me out,” O’Connell said. “I know I have a platform and a following, and that my words leave an impression. I’ve seen kids’ eyes light up when I shake their hand or give them words of encouragement.”

O’Connell, a Wrangler NFR qualifier every year since 2014, has made a point of mentoring young rodeo standouts since the Junior World Finals began in 2015. For barrel racer Bayleigh Choate, being a mentor is a whole new experience. That’s because just one year ago, Choate was competing in her fourth Junior World Finals. Twelve months later, her burgeoning career has already come full circle.

Monday morning, as this year’s Junior Finals barrel racers prepared to compete, Choate was addressing the fresh-faced youngsters — still a fresh-faced youngster herself, and now the reigning WPRA Rookie of the Year and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier.

“It’s a weird feeling because I am so young. I’m only 19,” Choate said with a laugh. “I actually spoke with the girls, just gave them a little piece of advice. It was a special moment because I was in their seat just last year. I never would’ve thought that a year later, I’d be here at the NFR. It’s kind of crazy.”

But Choate is already proving wise beyond her years, knowing the impact she can make on these up-and-coming barrel racers.

“I was always that kid who looked up to everyone. There were times when I was shunned by people I idolized, so I try really hard to not be that person,” Choate said. “I try to go out of my way to be approachable, so if they feel like they want to talk to me, they can come up and talk to me.”

Choate said the past four years of Junior Finals competition proved to be a great training ground for what she has experienced this year.

“The Junior Finals get you ready for your professional rodeo career. It prepares you for (tough) situations and for those high-pressure events,” she said.

Choate is riding consistently well through six rounds, and in that sixth go Tuesday night, she finally snagged her first NFR check: $17,255 for a third-place clocking of 13.63 seconds. She has been sub-14 seconds four times this week.

She’s staying patient and is humbled to be in the massive Wrangler NFR spotlight, just one year after racing a couple miles up the road in the Junior Finals arena. And her goal in mentoring this year’s Junior Finals barrel racing crop is to let the girls know that the Wrangler NFR is an achievable goal.

“We’re no different. If I can do it, you can do it. It’s not unreachable,” Choate said. “With a lot of hard work and dedication, you can do it too.”

O’Connell has proved that many times over, now competing in his ninth consecutive Wrangler NFR. Through six go-rounds, O’Connell was eighth in the world standings, cashing on four of six nights, including a third-place check of $14,690 in the fifth go to put him at $172,430 for the season.

He is in an important race as he pursues a fourth world championship. But he still makes time for the Junior Finals contestants.

“I want to show them my passion and my love for the sport,” O’Connell said. “And I want to be an open book for these kids. They can ask me anything, they can send me videos to critique. It takes 30 seconds of my time, and I don’t know the impact it makes, but it feels like it’s a big impact.”

At 31 years old and in the rough-and-tumble world of bareback broncs, O’Connell knows he can’t do this job forever, much as he would love to. But he also knows he can help solidify rodeo’s future with his outreach to the next generation of rodeo stars.

“I love giving back to the sport that’s given me everything,” O’Connell said. “I want to leave the sport better than when I found it. And it was a great sport when I found it. I want these kids to have better opportunities when I step away and it’s their time to shine.”