Rapid City to host 1994 INFR Rodeo

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The 1994 Indian National Final Rodeo will be held in Rapid City, South Dakota October 26-30.

Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been the home of INFR for 14 of its 18 years of existence. Salt Lake City, Utah, hosted the first finals in 1976, also the following year and 1979.

The INFR commission including Chairman Clem McSpadden of Oklahoma, Mel Samson of Washington, Pete Fredericks from South Dakota, Bob Arington from Oklahoma, and Fred Gladstone of Alberta voted in February to change the venue.

The site for the finals is the Rushmore Plaza Civic Centre, situated in the heart of Rapid City, combining some of the most advanced convention facilities in the Midwest.

The seating capacity for the rodeo arena is 10,000, while the convention centre has over 10,800 square metres that would easily accommodate the trade show and powwow that go hand-in-hand with the rodeo.

The new format of the INFR Commission would be an added boost for the rodeo contestants, as one representative from the 10 recognized rodeo regions of North America will have a say in the 1994 production as an elected board member of the INFR. The representative will be re-elected on at least a two-year basis.

Moving the finals closer to the Canadian border should prove to be of added interest to rodeo contestants, powwow participants and vendors from the three western provinces of Canada.

IRCA board chairman Byron Bruised Head of Standoff, Alberta, is excited about the involvement of the active rodeo contestants to the finals.

"In the past we've never really had any say in the actual production of the INFR. This time around the rodeo cowboy will have input into the finals, Bruised Head said.

One of the major concerns of the contestants in the past has been the quality of the rodeo stock. Recent history reflects that the stock is not championship quality and in fact, rough stock mounts have been chute-fighting horses, and have also been transferred from bareback to saddlebronc and vice versa.

Timed event cattle have continued to decline although the contestants have recommended that all cattle be run through at least one day prior to the first performance and that any which are not suitable be removed from the draw.

The region's representatives strongly recommended that Indian stock contractors from professional ranks be allowed and selected, among others, to provide stock to the INFR.

The format for the finals will remain the same, with a total of 22 contestants per event representing 11 rodeo regions. They will be competing in four go-rounds of competition. Championships are to be determined by money won during the four performances.