Rodeo: 3 locals have eye on big prize

The 14-year-old puts in hours of work each day honing his skills. He travels to monthly events and gets to do something he loves with people he cares about.

But while the basics are the same, there are a couple things you won't find on a baseball field or basketball court: Garcia starts every day tending to steers, goats, calves and horses at his grandmother's house in southwest Tucson. Later this month, he'll spend a week at the Super Bowl of junior high rodeo with $175,000 in scholarships and prizes at stake.

Garcia is one of three Southern Arizona eighth-graders who will participate in the eighth annual National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Gallup, N.M., June 24-30. Garcia will compete in breakaway roping and goat tying in the rodeo, which features more than 1,000 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from 47 states, Canada and Australia.

Samantha Contreras and Jacob Lopez - both 14 - will also compete. Contreras will do breakaway roping and goat tying, and Lopez will take part in calf roping. Contreras, Lopez and Garcia train together twice a week and travel together whenever possible, something they've been doing for as long as they can remember.

"We see the Garcias and Contrerases more than our own family," said Norbert Lopez, Jacob's father.

But despite the big stage and amount of work he has put in, Garcia said he isn't nervous. He also qualified for the national finals as a sixth-grader - the top four from each state rodeo qualify in each event - and he said that experience is paying off now.

"Just knowing what everything's about will help me out," Garcia said.

Because of the number of contestants, the event is held in a larger ring sectioned off into three smaller ones.

With three events going on at a time, it might seem easier for the mind to wander and get distracted. But Lopez trusts his experience to get him through.

"When you're doing your event, you just focus, and you're not really distracted by anything," Garcia said.

Here's a look at Garcia's rodeo career in his own words:

• How he got started: "I've always had a family background in rodeo. My dad, grandpa, uncles, everyone was part of it. I've been on horses since I was little. I started junior rodeoing in Marana, then from there it just went to junior high rodeo."

• What he likes: "Doing it is just like football or baseball to me. It's just, to me, fun. I've been around it all my life. I get to go to rodeos and hang out with family friends and friends I make there. It's just something I'm used to."

• Favorite rodeo memory: "Winning the junior part of the Tucson rodeo. I won that with my dad in team roping. Yeah, that was real special to me. I'd think he'd say the same thing."