Breakaway Roping's Rapid Rise Continues

For years, the memory stuck with Shelby Boisjoli.

The sound of the crowd exploding in celebration as her cousin, Jake Watson, captured the saddle bronc championship in 2016 at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo was truly unforgettable. For a teenager who grew up in rural Canada, it was a moment that hasn’t faded, even all these years later.

For a long time, it felt like something Boisjoli would never get to experience herself.

Back in February, that changed as she got the opportunity to create a memory of her own in the Lone Star State.

“I just remember we were so proud of him. We cried happy tears because it was so cool that someone from our family, up north, kind of middle of nowhere in Canada, could go win such a prestigious rodeo like that,” Boisjoli said. “Flash forward to 2023, I was able to win San Antonio. I didn’t know then (in 2016) that that would ever be an opportunity for me. It was such a full circle moment and it really made me realize how far we’ve come and it was just awesome.”

Breakaway roping championships at places like San Antonio, Houston, Cheyenne and other major rodeos sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association have steadily become a reality in recent years, giving female rodeo contestants a second event to compete at on a major platform.

The road to this point has been anything but easy – and the journey is far from over.

Creating Space for Something ‘New’

In reality, breakaway roping isn’t new. The WPRA recognizes world champions dating back as far as 1974, with a season winner being crowned annually since 1989.

The competition has long been around. It’s just the platform that has expanded.

When Jackie Crawford started chasing calves, the best a breakaway roper could hope for was to compete at amateur rodeos and jackpots throughout the country. During the season, she followed her husband, Charly, an 11-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier as a team roping header, to major rodeos and then had to find a unsanctioned events to compete at herself. 

“People always think that breakaway has just come about, but the thing is if you go back and look at the numbers, the breakaway has been around for a very long time,” Crawford said. “It’s the opportunity to win that hasn’t been there. And now the opportunity to be able to showcase that has grown. The girls have always been there, doing their thing – it’s just the opportunity that was missing.”

The change started slowly, mainly in the northwest portion of the United States. Veteran breakaway ropers like Crawford, Erin Johnson and Jennifer Casey used connections to talk with rodeo committee leaders about the possibility of adding the event to their competition slate. 

The World Champions Rodeo Alliance was the first to make a move, followed by the American Rodeo Association. The Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo, which turned 100 this year, was one of the earliest PRCA-sanctioned events to include the category, along with the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up.

From there, things have exploded.

By 2019, the WPRA was working with 30 rodeos to hold sanctioned competitions at PRCA rodeos. A year later, any PRCA rodeo was allowed to add breakaway to its portfolio, many of which have responded.

“Women are hungry for more opportunities. We’ve had one option if we wanted to get to a big stage and barrel racing isn’t a fit for every woman,” Johnson said. “Just because that one thing isn’t our passion doesn’t mean we don’t have the passion and the drive to get to a top level. Breakaway, I think, has grown so fast because of that – just the hunger that the women have.”

Still More to Come

Breakaway ropers are extremely grateful for the rapid growth the sport has experienced. But, it’s easy to see where the it still has to go.

In 2020, the National Finals Breakaway Roping event was officially sanctioned as part of the larger NFR experience, taking place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. When the NFR moved back to Las Vegas the following year, the NFBR was held at the Orleans Arena. Since then, a breakaway champion has been crowned at The South Point Arena ahead of NFR. The 2023 competition runs December 5-6 and will feature the top 15 competitors in the standings, including Boisjoli (ranked first with $164,549 in earnings, a regular season record), Crawford (10th, $85,240) and Johnson (15th, $66,742).

But the focus for everyone remains on the future and what the sport can become. While that includes the Thomas and Mack Arena as part of the NFR program, it’s not the only concern.

“The thing now is we’re gunning for equal added money at the NFR. That’s really how all the PRCA guys and barrel racers make money and end up on top at the end of the year,” said Kelsie Domer. She qualified fifth for the NFBR with $112,281 in regular season winnings. “Everyone else is going throughout the summer, we’re all spending the same amount of money traveling. Breakaway ropers are the same as everybody else. We’re still paying all the fuel, still going all the miles. We can definitely make it a living now, but hopefully we get to the point where we get to run at $30,000 rounds too. Then it’ll really be game-changing then.”

The total NFBR payout is $250,000, with each go-round being worth approximately $17,500. First-place per round receives $5,080.08. Each contestant will do five runs on the first day, followed by five more on the second.

By comparison, the total guaranteed prize money for barrel racing contestants taking part in the NFR is $1.2 million, with each go paying almost $100,000 in total. A round winner will bring in $30,706.41 for the best time. And barrel racers only have to run once per day for 10 days.

To achieve that kind of equality, sponsors or reconfigured contracts will be necessary. Those discussions are ongoing and while there’s no clear timeline on when such a significant change could occur, there is hope it could take place sooner than later.

It’s been a long journey to this point, and it’s clearly not over.

But the commitment remains, and if recent history is any indicator, breakaway roping’s explosion is far from over. 

“I think that’s everybody’s goal – to get to nod your head inside the Thomas and Mack. That would definitely be just the all-time high,” Boisjoli said. “That’s the dream. If we ever got to do that, that would be amazing. That would be everything.”