The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page - June 12, 2007
RODEO CLUB LOOKS TO CHANGES
Princeton Rodeo Club will spend the summer examining itself under a microscope. A meeting of the Club June 14th saw discussion revolve around how to change the event to attract more people to Princeton.
President Mike Theal says that although the rodeo was good, the Club lost a bit of money hosting both the Bull-A-Rama and CPRA Pro Rodeo on the same weekend.
"I'm not opposed to the Bull-A-Rama. I'm opposed to holding it with the Rodeo."
In addition to affecting attendance figures, the three-day event costs more to operate and is a lot of time to ask of volunteers.
A preliminary financial report shows the Bull-A-Rama earned the Rodeo Club only $117.37 with costs totaling $12,507.63. The two-day rodeo cost $51,601.74 and brought in only $36,124.03 in revenue.
There is still about $10,000 in bills and revenues to come in, but the picture is clear. Once the final financial report is completed in August, the Club will show a loss.
Add to this the expected changes to rodeos across the province following fall out from the Cloverdale Rodeo, and Princeton's Rodeo Club will be making some serious changes to the local event.
During the weekend following Princeton's Rodeo a calf was put down in Cloverdale after breaking it's leg in the calf-roping competition. Days later the Cloverdale event became the first in Canada to ban all calf-roping and controversial events at it's rodeo.
The Princeton Club is looking at a number of possibilities in enhancing it's event ranging from changing from a CPRA (Canadian Professional Rodeo Association) 'professional' status back to the BCRA (British Columbia Rodeo Association) 'amateur' status to a change in rodeo dates to splitting the Bull-A-Rama and Rodeo into two separate events, possibility combined with an existing local event.
