Sidney Brothers to compete at National High School Finals Rodeo in Wyoming

  • Brothers Rashaun and Rhaden Sidney headed off to Gillette, Wyoming, this weekend to compete in the National High School Rodeo Finals. Follow the live broadcast Monday morning, July 17, and Friday evening, July 21, on The Cowboy Channel as they try to put Hallettsville back on the Rodeo map!
    Brothers Rashaun and Rhaden Sidney headed off to Gillette, Wyoming, this weekend to compete in the National High School Rodeo Finals. Follow the live broadcast Monday morning, July 17, and Friday evening, July 21, on The Cowboy Channel as they try to put Hallettsville back on the Rodeo map!

    Rashaun Sidney, a senior at Hallettsville High School will be competing with his little brother, Rhaden Sidney, a sophomore at HHS, at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Wyoming, July 16-22.

    The Sidney brothers have been on horseback since they could sit up straight and have had a rope in their hands just as long. If they weren’t on horseback, they were roping the dummy hours at a time.

    The boys entered their first local team roping at the local play day. It wasn’t long before the Play Days became boring and they wanted to step it up a little bit. They had been wanting to try bigger roping events, but their dad didn’t think it was time, and there were many conversations about it. Being that Rodeo wasn’t his thing, he sat back and let Cornelius handle it.

    Finally, he saw whatever it was he needed to see in the boys to give them the go ahead, and they’ve been hooked on team roping ever since. A few short years later Rashaun asked to join TJHRA with his good friend, Wyatt Leopold.

    Of course, he said yes, and signed him up not long after, having a clue what they were getting themselves into. They’ve been members of the Texas Rodeo Association ever since.

    Each year he has placed in the top 5 or 10 of each event he participated in and made it to state, which is always a huge accomplishment. Unfortunately, it never turned out the way they wanted.

    Then came Rhaden. Rhaden is competitive and losing is not an option. Rhaden also joined TJHRA and made it to state each year by placing in the top 5 in each event he participated in at region. His eighth grade year he was the boys breakaway champion. But just like Rashaun, state never went as planned.

    Last summer the boys, Cornelius and their dad went back and forth about who was going to do what. I think literally the last day the paperwork had to be turned in, it was decided Rhaden was going to head for Rashaun. The season started out a little rough, and it wasn’t until the last two rodeos they clinched their state spot.

    After region, they’d enter together at all the jackpots they could and for some reason it just wasn’t clicking.

    Two weeks before state the boys actually asked their dad to call the secretary if they could switch ends at the State Rodeo.

    After many discussions in a short time, all decided to go with what got them there. And here they are, the Sidney brothers from Hallettsville where High School Rodeo first started, headed to Gillette, Wyoming to compete in the National High School Rodeo.

    The boys will have their first run in Gillette on Monday morning, July 17, and second run on Friday evening, July 21. You can see the live broadcast on The Cowboy Channel.

    Good Luck, Rashaun and Rhaden. Let’s put Hallettsville back on the Rodeo map!