The Rodeo Returns to SWFL

Dirt flying through the air. Broncos bucking to thunderous applause. That can only mean one thing. It's rodeo time in southwest Florida. The All Florida Championship Rodeo is big business, generating over $3 million in economic impact for the DeSoto County area. WGCU's Eileen Kelly made her way to the annual tradition in Arcadia, taking it all the excitement and emotions from this year's event. They set up the for. There's nowhere else you should be, but here they call it the granddaddy of them all. A four day action packed event where the bar is raised for a whole new batch of cowboys and cowgirls. This is a place of current record holders and those eager to set scores and times others cannot reach. This isn't a roadside rodeo attraction. Oh, no. Participants are vying for top rankings in the world. There's also a quarter million dollars in cash up for grabs at this premier stop on the professional rodeo circuit. Winners head to Las Vegas for a multimillion dollar razzle dazzle event. But first, they must master Arcadia, the country's largest rodeo east of the mighty Mississippi. Like I said, this is a big granddaddy of a deal. So I ask you, who's ready for professional rodeo? Right here at DeSoto. Now. It's all about set the pace of raising the bar for a whole new batch of cowboys and cowgirls the rest of the week. You want to make that score to where the others can't reach it. You want to make that time so fast they can't get. Let's set the pace in 2026. Let's go. All right. And that means that you get to. This is also a place where little girls and boys like Sen Veasey of Wisconsin Tech, attending his first rodeo off his bucket list. I'm just really excited to be at this rodeo. And I think it's going to be really fun. And I'm going to tell my buddies about it when I get back to Wisconsin. I've never been to a rodeo, so I think it's going to be, very well. Surprise. There's something else on Finn's bucket list. One day he wants to ride a ball. I think I'm just going to, like, spend some time practicing and, like, riding symbols. Finn says that when spring break is over and he gets home, he may even brag about his best day ever. We met up with a man with more than his fair share, a bragging rights and best days ever. Meet Berry Brown. He's 82 and living in Naples now. He's traveled to 47 of the 48 lower states, as well as Canada as a rodeo cowboy. In 1973, Brown was crowned Champion Bull Rider in the state of Florida. The following year, he was ranked among the top 15 in the world. Brown spent nearly 30 years covering up in rodeo speak. Cowboy up is what you need to do to push past common sense. Time after time again and get back on the back of a bucking bronco or bull. But cowboy up came at a cost for Brown. It was like if he took a chicken and not both wings up over the top of his back, squeeze them together and it just breaks the breast bone and I'll knuckle in my chest rod broke another 29 bones. I do four serious surgeries. I've had two life threatening injuries. Brown says he has just one regret. I'm just regret. And I'm too old. I can't ride him anymore. Brown first stepped into the rodeo at the age of 15. It was on a whim, and he admits he didn't have time to think about it. Best decision he's ever made. He said the rodeo became his life. From that moment on, and we met even younger cowboys and cowgirls in Arcadia last week for five and six year olds who crawled on to the back of sheep clinging for dear life in a fan favorite called mutton busting. Come on. William. Ooh. 74. 74. You think? Look at there. He's smiling. He got sand, red dirt, flake. And up that hill. But not everyone was smiling. Or as they call it, cowboy up. We met up with five year old Leo Garcia. After his tears dried, he gave it his best and was on top of the world excited when it was over. I asked how it felt to compete in a real rodeo. It's kind of scary. And if he had to venture to guess. How long did he think he was on the back of that sheep? My father, I forgot two minutes. In reality, it was more like five seconds of sheer panic. But fun for little Leo. Lincoln Rucker knows a thing or two about panic and fun. The six year old was crowned champion of Thursday's mutton busting competition today. At about 18 points. I like riding sheep. And while Brown, the 82 year old former state champion, we introduced you to skipped past mutton busting. He wants children and spectators to know this. It's great laugh and, ain't another lie flat. Indeed. Rodeo cowboy Brown indeed. Reporting from Arcadia. This is Eileen Kelly.