Elma woman competing for NW rodeo queen title

With a big goal in mind, every day this summer Brandy Young has practiced her riding skills with her thoroughbred horse Misty.

The 21-year-old Elma woman wants to be Miss Northwest Professional Rodeo Association, or Miss NPRA, a title that would allow her to travel around the Northwest spreading her love of rodeo. It would also help her make a name for herself in rodeo circles and increase her chances to be in the national rodeo spotlight in the future.

The association began in Oregon in the 1950s and if cowboys and rodeo queens perform well on the regional level, it can open doors to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Young said.

"It's kind of like a right of passage," she said. "Once you get your name in (NPRA), people start to know you."

Young has had rodeo aspirations since she was a child. At age 9, she talked her mother into getting her a pony. Young said she used to ride a miniature cow for fun, but it was hit by a car and killed. It took two years for her mother to buy her the pony, and after that, Young was hooked. Today, she has five horses at her family's Elma home.

During the school year she attends Shoreline Community College to study medical billing and coding.

Young and Misty, her 16-year-old horse, have been practicing rodeo, English riding and jumping skills for the Miss NPRA pageant Sept. 23 through 25 in Elma.

This will not be Young's first time in front of judges. She competed with horses at the Puyallup Fair for six years and she's competed in public speaking events for nine years. Her biggest honor was winning the title of queen at Grays Harbor's rodeo in 2008.

Young is having to gear up mentally for the upcoming pageant because it will be rigorous. She is one of eight young women from the Northwest vying for the title of Miss NPRA. The women will all travel to Elma for the NPRA Rodeo Finals and their pageant will be a series of events the same days as the rodeo, said Jean McPherson, the Miss NPRA director.

The women will display horsemanship, give interviews to media, visit local schools, go through a personality interview about themselves and current events, take a written test on their knowledge of the association's history and rules, go through a horsemanship interview, be present at rodeo performances, participate in a parade, be judged on modeling and a prepared speech on rodeo, give a 2-minute speech on the radio and do mock TV interviews.

McPherson said the competition needs to be this complex because Miss NPRA is a big job with the association.

"She's our ambassador; the face of our public relations," she said. "We need to pick the best young lady."

The 2009 Miss NPRA won the title of Miss Rodeo Oregon and will compete for Miss Rodeo America this December, McPherson said.

Young said she and other rodeo queens idolize Miss Rodeo America.

"We kind of follow what Miss Rodeo America does," Young said. "She's kind of like the queen of England."

Miss Rodeo America certainly has great rodeo skills, but the queen's sense of style has a big impact on queens across the country, Young said.

Young uses hot rollers to get the traditional large mass of bouncy curls under her cowboy hat, but she said she has seen more women wear their hair straight after the current queen did.

There are special websites and retailers the women frequent for the Western style shirts, pants and dresses. Another staple of the uniform is a large, shiny belt buckle. Young's buckle is the one she won when she was Grays Harbor's rodeo queen. The sparkly costume jewelry she wears was passed down to her from previous queens, she said.

Young believes she has a good shot at becoming Miss NPRA, but she's realistic. She believes there's always other pageants if she doesn't win this one.

"I try not to have too much of a cocky attitude," she said. "I'm confident I'll do well."

She said she would love to spend the year traveling around the Northwest as Miss NPRA. Either way, she has big dreams for herself. She already has her eye on competing for the Kitsap title and possibly even Miss Rodeo Washington.

The Miss Rodeo Washington competition is so serious that contestants must turn over cell phones and radios and are secluded from their parents, she said. But, Miss Rodeo Washington gets the ultimate chance - a shot at Miss Rodeo America.

"I've been thinking kind of big lately," Young said with a mischievous smile.

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Online:

http://missnpra.blogspot.com

http://www.nwprorodeo.org

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Information from: The Daily World, http://www.thedailyworld.com