Coalville-native Rhett Kelly just finished middle school, but that hasn’t stopped him from already making a name for himself in the rodeo world.
June 29 in Des Moines, Iowa, Kelly won a national junior high rodeo title in bareback riding.
Four years ago, Kelly started riding 900-pound steers. His family has a deep background in rodeo, including a grandpa and uncles who are rodeo announcers and a dad, Van, who used to be a rodeo clown.
Kelly has lofty future goals in the sport and aspires to win two high school titles, as well as to ride collegiately and professionally. While he hopes to ride on a rodeo scholarship, he’d also like to get a sports medicine degree for when his career wraps up.
It’s safe to say Coalville and its small town atmosphere has positively impacted Kelly and helped shape his life. Kelly and his family live on a small ranch in the Summit County town.
“Humble, hungry and aggressive,” said Kelly on his keys to junior rodeo success. “Go out there and do the best you can.”
Kelly said his mind went blank when he completed his last ride and was announced as champion. Though he’s clearly self-motivated, Kelly thanked his dad Van for helping him win.
Kelly was the 19th-best rider in the country as a seventh grader last year and declared he would work tirelessly to come back and be crowned champion at nationals. Van got him a spur board and a bucking machine and said there wasn’t a day Rhett didn’t train.
Kelly also wrestles, which he says helps ready him for rodeo.
“Blood, sweat, tears,” added Kelly on his year of hard work. “I just kept working and working every day, and finally I got it.”
Kelly will level up this year to around 1000-pound horses in the high school ranks, and he’ll lean on his community and work ethic to climb towards the next mountaintop. He said he’ll get to practicing on family friends’ bucking horses in Evanston.
Kelly also has his eyes set on high school state titles.
“Hard work, dedication, value,” said Kelly on the benefits of growing up in Summit County. “I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. … My mom and dad pushed me, and they support me a lot and drag me around all these rodeos.”
Kelly also credited his cousin McCarty, Miss Rodeo Utah this year, and Utah’s Casey Fields, six-time bareback world champion, for their positive influences on him.
Van said he couldn’t be more proud to see how hard his son is working and how successful he is. He admitted he always wanted to ride bareback.
“For me to raise a kid like him, that is just so dedicated to a sport, it’s actually humbling,” Van said. “When the time of competition comes, he looks flawless, and he looks in control and looks strong.”
Van has always encouraged and supported Kelly to chase these lofty goals. He knows his son will have to grow in stature in high school, but Coalville is the perfect place to keep developing as a person and rider.
“It’s been a part of of who we are,” added Kelly. “That’s why people moved to Summit County because it’s the country. There’s something almost sacred about living up here. … Some of the bareback riders in the world all come from Utah.”
National high school rodeo has riders from all across the country and some other countries like Australia and Mexico, similar to junior high rodeos. They also held their national championships June 23-29 in Des Moines this year.