Heading down the roads with their moms led to a pair of bull riders establishing a long-time friendship and a trip to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
“I have known Brock for a long-time,” said Okotoks’ Jordan Hansen. “Our moms used to barrel race together when we were just little kids and we used to hang out… We kind of lost touch, I was born in Hinton, but when we moved to Okotoks when I was 14, Brock and I became best friends.”
Hansen and Brock Radford, a pair of Foothills Comp grads, will compete in their first Calgary Stampede this year.
“I will finally actually be riding there and not just watching,” Hansen said. “It’s a life-long dream for sure. It’s one of those rodeos that as a kid, you always wanted to go to.”
Hansen, a 2011 Comp grad, is going in as the reigning Canadian champion, taking the title at the CFR in Edmonton last November.
“That is definitely kind of cool because you want to live up to that for sure,” Hansen said. “But for me, it is whole new season. I’m just concerned about the bulls in front of me and take it one bull at a time.”
So far, so good
Hansen was ranked sixth in Canada as of July 4,
He is up in Pool A of the Stampede from July 7-10. The Stampede means the Comp grads are on the rankest bulls competing against the best riders in the world.
“It doesn’t matter which pool you are in,” Hansen said. “Sooner or later you are going to have to face the top ones sooner or later.”
Radford can hardly believe he will be on a twisting, raging bull at the Stampede. Years ago, just a trip on the Tilt-a-whirl at the Calgary Stampede would turn his stomach.
“I remember as a kid, the night before we went to the Stampede I couldn’t sleep, I was so excited – it was like Christmas Eve,” said Radford who graduated from Foothills in 2013. “I wasn’t too into the midway, those things used to make me sick. I went on a few of them but I liked going to the rodeo.”
The DeWinton native could care less about riding the Matterhorn, his focus is trying to stay on the best bulls Wayne Vold and the Calgary Stampede can throw at him as he rides in Pool B from July 11-14.
He’s done well in the Stampede City in the past – even though he has not ever competed in its most famous rodeo.
“I ride really good every time I go to Calgary,” Radford said. “I won the Cinch final there last year and I did pretty good at [Okotoks’] Cody Snyder’s PBR there earlier this year. It’s easier when you have that home-town vibe.”
He’s got rodeo and the Calgary Stampede in his blood.
His grandmother is rodeo hall-of-famer barrel racer Isabelle Miller and his mom, Bobbi-June, also turned barrels – competing against Hansen’s mother Adel.
Brock still has a photo of his dad, Max, bronc riding at the Stampede, hanging in his room.
Radford qualified for his first Stampede by finishing third in the Canadian Pro Rodeo Association standings in 2016.
Although the Stampede is right smack in the middle of Cowboy Christmas and he is thrilled, he wants to treat it as just another day of work.
“I’m not going to change anything right now, I am just going to keep doing what I am doing,” he said. “It’s been working. I am going to go in there and try to ride each bull, and let the rest take care of itself.”
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Radford is second in the Canadian standings, a few notches ahead of his long-time pal Hansen.
He would love to see Hansen and himself in the Stampede Sunday Showdown, competing for $100,000 on July 16.
“Me and Jordan go way back – I’ve known him since we were itty-bitty kids,” Radford said. “It’s really cool to be at the Stampede with him.”
The top four bull riders in each pool advance to Stampede Showdown Sunday for $100,000 on July 16. The six riders from each pool who do not qualify can earn one of two spots for the showdown in Wildcard Saturday on July 15.
For information about the Stampede go to calgarystampede.com
