Northern Lights College Rodeo team heading to finals

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Northern Lights College rodeo team will be heading to a finals competition in May. 

In a Facebook post on April 21st, the NLC Rodeo team announced it was taking 13 athletes to compete in eight events at the Canadian College Rodeo Finals in Rimbey, Alberta, from May 1st to 3rd. 

Ethan Nelson, a first-year environmental science student at Northern Lights College (NLC) is in his first year as a member of the rodeo team.

Nelson said he learned about the NLC rodeo team during his high school years.

“NLC is pretty big in the Peace Region, especially with their marketing in high school rodeo,” said Nelson. “I’ve been a part of high school rodeo for seven years prior to this, so NLC was definitely pushed to us.”

Before enrolling at the NLC Dawson Creek campus, Nelson graduated from Chetwynd Secondary School.

Nelson said it means a lot to represent the Peace River region.

“We have a pretty strong group that comes out of not only Dawson Creek, but Chetwynd, Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope…so it’s pretty meaningful to be able to represent the Peace Region.” 

Nelson this said year’s team consists of a large number of new members. 

“I’m very excited to see how our varsity team does at finals, as this year in the CCRA [Canadian Collegiate Rodeo Association] our team has been named the rookie team, as we have a lot of new members versus other colleges. 

According to Nelson, his favourite part of rodeo is the growth the sport provides.

“For me, it’s watching not only myself grow but also our competition horses’ progress as they come up from colts to your go-to performance horses.” 

When the team travels to Alberta, Nelson said he will have friends and family from B.C. and Alberta travelling to support him. 

While he is unsure about his plans for school next year, he is certain he will return to the rodeo team.