MYRNAM – The best cowboys in Canada competed at the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) from Nov. 2 to 6 in Red Deer, and among them were some of the youngest cowboys taking part in the Canadian Championship Dummy Roping.
Owen Grykuliak from Myrnam, Alta., made it to the top 10.
At home, when Avery Grykuliak, Owen’s older sister, asks her little brother if he had fun, Owen affirms with a “yes.” Owen also plays hockey in the winter and does rodeo in the summer.
Avery then asks Owen what the best part of the competition was, to which Owen responds, “there were lots of prizes and kids from as far as Manitoba.”
Kim Grykuliak, Owen’s mom, says her son has been watching rodeo since he was quite young, and “he always wanted to rope.”
“So, he got his first rope for Christmas a few years ago,” and then Owen started to practice on his own, trying to teach himself the skills. Owen’s dad taught him what he could, before the family found others who could teach Owen properly.
Among Owen’s roping teachers include his uncle Mitch Campbell, Trey Nowasad, and CFR competitor Clint Buhler, who recently made a trip to St. Paul to teach other youth about roping. According to Kim, Owen wants to become a team roper and compete at the CFR in the future.
In order to practice his skills, sometimes they pull one of Owen’s dummies with an ATV to simulate a moving animal, while Owen tries to catch it, while riding his horse.
“That’s his next goal – to catch his first live calf,” says Kim.
When asked about the importance of encouraging her children to take part in sports like roping or hockey, Kim says, “both my husband and I really encourage active living.”
“We do anything to keep them busy so they’re not sitting around on their phones or doing nothing,” says Kim. As “farm kids,” her children also have a lot of chores to do, which includes roping, and “roping is helpful at home because Owen can catch a [calf or goat] with his rope better than his dad.”
“We’re just super happy and supportive of our kids,” she says, adding that two of her three children, Owen and Avery, both compete in junior rodeo.
Kim reiterates that she and her husband are happy that their children can do what they love.
