Ryan Bozer:
Hey there. Thanks for joining us here on SDPB News. I'm SDPB's Ryan Bozer. Joining me is our sports and recreation reporter, Nate Wek. Together, we're going to bring your morning in play.
Nate, listen, I know it's been a few weeks since the State High School Rodeo Championships wrapped up. I understand there's still some stories and athletes and stuff, and their stories may have stuck with you. Are there any of those that you're wanting to talk about today?
Nate Wek:
Yeah, I think with the National High School Finals Rodeo coming up here starting this coming week, I think it's important to just keep the tread on the tires as far as the rodeo conversation. So yeah, we've been posting a bunch of interviews with the state champions out of South Dakota for the different events in rodeo. We're going to be continuing to post those here through the rest of this week. Those are all going to be on our SDPB Sports Facebook page, our Twitter account, and our SDPB Sports Instagram page as well, so go check out those accounts.
But one interesting story that is outside of the state finals is more about a kid that was participating this year. The kid's name is Donovan Rose, he's out of Volga, South Dakota. He was actually adopted from the Democratic Republic of Congo, so out of Africa. He was adopted at about five, six years old is when the process for adoption began. Got adopted by a family, the Rose family that's in the Volga area, and they were really into rodeo. The family's into rodeo, all that stuff, Dad was a really good roper, so naturally Donovan got involved in rodeo.
And Ryan, I think one of the things too with me, whenever I talk to a rodeo kid, I like to say, "What is it about rodeo that's fun?" And it's an important question to just ask kids because you get that organic, their personal experience with it of what makes it fun to them directly. So, with Donovan, we went that same route during our interview process with him and we said, "Donovan, what was it about high school rodeo in South Dakota that's fun?" And here's what Donovan had to say.
Donovan Rose:
I just really think just being here, like the friends that you make during Rodeo. And just I think really the adrenaline for me, I just love everything that's competitive. I'm a very competitive person, so anything that's competitive based, I'll jump right in. I really like to win. Yeah, and this just adds on to the amount of competitive sports I play. And it's just my parents did it and they just brought me into it at a young age, I just fell in love with it. It's really fun.
Ryan Bozer:
What I'm hearing then is it's the connections that Donovan gets to make in doing this sport that really keep him coming back to it, which I think is great. What a wonderful way to connect. We've talked about before with rodeo of it's something everybody in the state can get into and get behind and root for, even if they don't know anybody in it because it's fun to watch.
Nate Wek:
Absolutely. And it's way different than a basketball or a football or volleyball where you might have a program that's like, "Oh, we don't like such and such. We don't like that school." There might be some friendly rivalries with rodeo, but they truly are friendly rivalries. Everybody genuinely is hoping that everybody does well because they're there celebrating the sport. They're celebrating each other and they want everybody to do well.
And with Donovan, he was in tie-down roping, he was in team roping. He didn't win a state title this year, but he still had fun. And he still is really, really good with a rope. Way better than I'll ever be with a rope in my hands. He's a great kid, very mature, very respectful. That's the other thing that we see with a lot of these kids there in rodeo, there's just a high level of respect, and Donovan certainly fits that mold and he certainly represents South Dakota very, very well.
And it's just cool to see that truly, it used to be a thing in South Dakota, you can go anywhere from here, type of thing. I don't know if that was SDSU's motto for a few different years, but it truly is. You come here, you're going to be given opportunities to try things. You're going to be given opportunities to be involved in a lot of different events, whether it be sports, fine arts, theater, whatever it might be, other types of academic clubs. And it's just fun to see that kids are willing to try it. Not just Donovan, but there's kids from all over the state that are willing to try a wide variety of activities to be involved in.
So, to see Donovan at State, getting a chance to meet him was certainly a thrill for me. And absolutely, he's one of those guys where you meet him once, he's got an infectious smile and he's a guy that you'll just continue to root for throughout the rest of whatever it is he does because he's just one of those kids, Ryan, that you just want to root for.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah. Yeah, man, that's great. I'm jealous I didn't get to meet Donovan yet. I want to go meet Donovan, and more kids like Donovan, right? Again, I think you hit it really well there of there's so much opportunity to try different things, different activities, different sports, and find the things that you enjoy. Or even if you don't enjoy it, find the community that you enjoy being around. And I think that's a wonderful opportunity that all these kids get to have.
Nate Wek:
Yep, absolutely.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah. So, we'll be able to find more stories like Donovan's and others popping up on our social media feeds and stuff. Do you want to give us that link again, Nate?
Nate Wek:
Yeah. Just for all of our sports content, the best way to follow along with day-to-day stuff is just go to our SDPB Sports Facebook page. Can also follow SDPB Sports on Instagram and Twitter. Also had a write-up by one of our own, Aidan DeBoer, this week on Marcus Phillips out of Roosevelt High School. He was a four-year letter winner for basketball and and baseball in high school, and he actually won national championship in the College World Series with the Tennessee Volunteers a few weeks back. So there's a cool write-up on that, that dropped this week as well, so go check that out. All of our stuff, day-to-day stuff, check it out on our SDPB sports accounts.
Ryan Bozer:
Again, sounds like another story. You never know where your activities in sports are going to take you. Nate thanks for jumping in with us again this morning and we'll chat again soon.
Nate Wek:
All right. Appreciate it, Ryan.
