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On Saturday, Sept. 4 and Sunday, Sept. 5, there will be a kickoff rodeo for the Alabama High School and Alabama Junior High Rodeo associations at Chambers County Agricultural Arena, according to Eddie Adams, chairman of the Chambers County Recreation Board.

The event will start at 11 a.m. Central Time on Saturday and conclude for the day around 6 p.m. On Sunday, there will be a church service at 8 a.m. at the arena, after which the rodeo will start. Adams said the event will end earlier on Sunday so participants and their families can get home earlier.

“We had the kickoff here a couple of years ago with 87 kids participating,” Adams said. [Some from] the state of Alabama, a few from Tennessee, and a few from the Florida panhandle. And of course, they brought their parents and their siblings, grandparents, so it was a pretty good crowd of folks coming in for this thing.”

Adams said many activities would happen at this year’s rodeo.

“The events for the cowgirls will be barrel racing and pole bending and goat tying,” he said. “And then we have bareback bronc riding and bull riding for the boys. Steer wrestling and team roping, tie-down roping, and breakaway roping for the girls.”

Adams said the participants would be competing to make it to the National High School Finals Rodeo, the largest rodeo in the world.

“It’s normally about 1,600 to 1,800 kids from the United States, Canada and Australia,” he said.

“And they take the top four from each event in each state [to] make it to the national finals. There are a lot of scholarship opportunities.”

Adams said there will be concessions at the rodeo and that no admission will be charged. Visitors are welcome to make donations.

“It’s a true American sport, rodeo is,” he said. “It was founded here.”

On Saturday, Aug. 28, starting at 6:30 p.m. central time, the National Barrel Horse Association will hold a barrel racing competition at the Chambers County Agricultural Arena.

NBHA member Candace Powers said that when the event will end depends on how many people will participate.

Powers said that the event would mainly involve adults, mostly from Alabama and possibly a few from Georgia.

She said the event won’t charge admission, but participants will have to pay fees ranging from $10 to $35 depending on the classes they enter.