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Women's Professional Rodeo Association was formed in 1948
when thirty-eight cowgirls came together in San Angelo,
Texas to create an organization dedicated to the promotion
and advancement of women in the sport of rodeo. The earliest
pioneers of the Girl's Rodeo Association (GRA) were ropers,
bronc riders, and barrel racers. They were fed up with
a system which did not grant them competitive opportunities
in the arena and, when it did, operated under unfair conditions.The
GRA began with 74 original members with 60 approved contests
and total payout of $29,000. In 1981 the GRA changed its
name to the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association.
It is the oldest women’s sports association in the
country and the only one governed entirely by women.
Today, the fast paced event of barrel
racing dominates the activities of most WPRA members.
WPRA barrel racers compete for millions of dollars each
year, culminating in twelve circuit finals rodeos held
throughout the country, the Dodge National Circuit Finals
Rodeo held in Pocatello, Idaho in April, and the Wrangler
National Finals Rodeo held in Las Vegas each December.
The WPRA still honors its roots
by hosting the WPRA World Finals Rodeo in Tulsa, Oklahoma
each November. The World Finals Rodeo is the largest
all-women’s rodeo event in the world. At the World
Finals, the WPRA crowns world champions in ten events,
including original events, bareback riding, bull riding,
tie down roping, team roping, and breakaway roping.
In addition to the traditional events,
the WPRA has formed new programs to promote growth in
the industry. Beginning in 2007, the WPRA now crowns
a WPRA Junior World Champion Barrel Racer through its
WPRA Juniors program for ladies under the age of eighteen.
The WPRA also crowns world champions in the futurity
and derby programs, designed for young horses in their
first years of competition.
Today, the Association is headquartered
in Colorado Springs, Colorado and boasts of over two
thousand members. The WPRA is governed by a fourteen
member Board of Directors and officers of President
and Vice-President, all elected by popular vote of the
membership. The membership is spread across the entire
United States as well as several Canadian provinces.
WPRA members compete for millions of dollars in prize
money each year and are now featured in their own television
show, “Women’s Pro Rodeo Today,” which
runs Wednesday nights on RFD-TV.
In 2008 the WPRA celebrated sixty
years of women in rodeo and are looking forward to the
next sixty as the future of women in the sport of rodeo
has never looked better.
The WPRA . . . the past, present,
and future of women in rodeo!
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