Second Generation Ropers Aim
T his isn’t your father’s team roping. And a couple of kids are front and center in mak - ing that idiom a reality. At 17 and 19 years of age, Kavis Drake and Denim Ross have put the rest of the ropers on the Canadian pro rodeo trail on notice that they’re coming for a championship. “That’s one of the goals for us this year,” confides Ross, the elder member of the new partnership, which held down the number one spots in the CPRA heading and heeling standings as of mid- May. “Making the CFR is the number one goal and maybe in the years to come, we’ll try for the NFR.” And why not? They’ve got the pedigree, the skills, the support and, despite their young age, years of experience on their side.
“Oh, I don’t know, I’ve had a rope in may hand for long as I can remember,” muses Ross when asked when he started roping.” I want to say I start - ed team roping when I was about four. I kind of always headed up until about grade five or six and then I started heeling ever since.” It’s a similar story for Drake, who won a dum - my roping championship at the ripe old age of 21-months and bought his pro card at 15. “I’m still competing in high school rodeo in Sas - katchewan,” confirms Drake whose home base is Moose Jaw except during the summer when he bunks with the Ross family near Botha, AB.
Lea Park Rodeo Committee photo
Kavis Drake and Denim Ross, 2023 Agribition Maple Leaf Ciruit Finals. Chantelle Bowman photo
Canadian Rodeo News – May, 2024 – 18
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