Tucson Rodeo honors University of Arizona’s football team

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The sound of the crowd cheering, the kettle corn popping, and the sound of hooves running past you are all sounds we look forward to every year at the Tucson Rodeo, also known as La Fiesta de los Vaqueros.

This year the competition is celebrating it’s 99th year, just shy of being almost a century old!

The rodeo competition started with the national anthem and every branch of the military being honored.

“My most favorite was the opening…how they gave thanks to our troops and the community,” rodeo attendee Joseph Dempsey said.

In between the competition events, the University of Arizona football team was honored. The team rode onto the arena on horse-drawn carriages.

Head coach Brent Brennan was also in attendance and said it’s his first time representing a team in a rodeo, saying many of his players come from California where rodeos aren’t as common.

“We’re looking for a great time out here!” he said. “They’re fired up and we’ve got almost our whole team here….This is an opportunity for us to do something fresh, something that’s new and the guys were excited when I told them about this. “They said that sounds great!….Bear down!”

Several local businesses were also at the rodeo, taking the opportunity to expand their clientele.

Tammy Hahn, who owns the Punchy Boutique was selling, not just her products, but also other local brands’ products.

“We like to help out other local businesses, small businesses. We’ll carry a lot of their products like this gal, the Rowdy Society. We carry her hats. She does a trucker hat bar and then Attabrand. He also has hats and shirts and hoodies,” Hahn said.

Volunteers like Nicolette Salazar were enjoying meeting people at the rodeo, saying she enjoys seeing everyone smiling while she works.

“I hope that the little ones can be inspired by some of these riders out there and grow up to be cowboys,” she said.