Beverly Robbins is out for blood.
The only woman to have ever placed in the short round of the Bob Feist Invitational missed last year in the Women’s Rodeo World Championship (WRWC) to likely win about $85,000. It’s not going to happen again. True, she had been bucked off days earlier and torn every ligament in both wrists and could barely swing a rope. But still. She leads the Pro leaderboard into Vegas next month with 19,443 points. Second-place Kayelen Helton has 6,337.
“It just added up pretty quick,” said the former WPRA world champ from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, laughing. “I had a good year; it was fun. I probably overdid it with the points. But I was really mad about last year and felt like I had to redeem myself!”
Robbins is a 6 header, but also mom to a teenager, owns a family Teflon coating plant, owns and operates a health club and a local hotel, owns several rental properties and develops a lot of land along the Tennessee River. The WCRA was made for her.
“This concept just allows you to go to the ones that are convenient and nominate those,” she said. “I’m not to where I can drive across the country to qualify for anything.”
Ropers Earning a Position in the 2021 Women’s Rodeo World Championship
Any female over 13 can drive to Vegas and enter the WRWC, regardless. But Robbins’ first-place position on the Pro leaderboard means not only is she seeded directly into the Main Event that broke her heart last year, but she also gets a free hotel room and free stall. A new tweak this year means she and Jessy Remsburg can also enter all the preliminary rounds for the money, vacating any qualification slots they earn to the next team down.
Since last fall, Robbins has nominated World Series and big all-girl ropings around home. She knows that as more people learn the system, it’ll get even more popular.
“It seems like a lot to understand, but it’s a pretty simple process – just go rope and nominate where you’re going,” she said. “They’re doing a great job staying on top of making changes and listening to our wants and needs. They definitely are trying to make it good for everybody.”
It takes almost 30 hours, one way, for her to drive to Vegas with horses. But she and Jessy Remsburg are happy to do that in late October, then turn around and go back a month later for World Series Finale XV. The WCRA took a page from the World Series playbook when it tiered the competition formats into professionals and less-accomplished ropers. Robbins loves to see that whole other door opened up to people, and said she sees new faces every day at ropings because of it.
“With breakaway going the way it is, women’s team roping is a little on the back-burner right now,” she said. “We get to rope with the guys for big money. But I sure I hope this Women’s Championship continues. It’s just my thing. It works for me.”
You have until Oct. 3 to virtually nominate and earn points for the WRWC in Las Vegas
