Youth Rodeo Spotlight: Averie Sanders
Averie and her horse Tennessee compete at a rodeo.
Averie with her show lamb at the Weber
County Fair.
Averie Sanders is a thirteen-year-old seventh grade girl in Weber County who is working on making a name for herself in the Junior High Rodeo Association. She has received many awards and achieved quite a bit in her young years and aspires to achieve much more as she gains more experience and practice in the next few years.
Averie is heavily involved in rodeo and has achieved much, but outside of her life in rodeo, she excels as a student. Her favorite subjects in school are math and art, which is quite the unlikely combination. These two subjects show that Averie is an analytical person who thinks deeply about the things she’s involved in, but also that she is creative and loves to find outlets for her self-expression. She loves to focus on drawing sunsets and landscapes, which is no surprise given that much of her life is outside in nature. As a student, Averie puts her studies as a top priority and makes sure that she is first and foremost a good student, then as the books close, she is quick to head outside to her rodeo haven.
Getting involved in rodeo when she was only four-years-old, Averie has had quite a bit of time to experience many different events and work her way up to the success she is experiencing today. Like most kids, she started out with goat ribbon pull and stick horse barrels, but in no time, Averie was participating in barrel racing, poles, goat tying, and ribbon roping. She says out of the events that she has participated in, breakaway is her favorite.
With all this experience under her belt, Averie has been no stranger to competing and being successful in many events and competitions. To date, she has earned 12 buckles, and just this last year she earned the allaround saddle in the UYRA (Utah Youth Rodeo Association). For such a young girl to achieve such a big award was no easy accomplishment. Averie put in many hours of practice and honing her skills to accomplish this goal. Traveling all around Utah, she has been involved in many junior high rodeos and is looking at getting back in to competing this summer as rodeo season comes around again.
Outside of rodeo, Averie loves being involved in 4H and is hoping to win Grand Champion with her 4H animals this summer. She’s excited to pick out her hogs and lambs to train and groom for the upcoming 4H competition. Averie has many goals to look forward to in the coming years, all of which will continue to motivate her to be her best self. She says she’d like to make it to Nationals and the NFR Rodeo in Las Vegas in the next few years. Watching her achieve these goals will be rewarding to her family, friends, and community. In the distant future, Averie would love to go to college to become either a veterinarian or a neonatal nurse.
With so much going on in her life, Averie does find time to relax and unwind, and she says her favorite way to do this is with her family while watching a movie. This shows the gratitude and appreciation she gives to those who support her the most.