You might say the rodeo is in Garrett Yerigan’s blood. His mom and dad were both rodeo competitors, and when he was 2 weeks old, he attended his first rodeo. It’s something he’s known all his life.
But for this Pryor, Okla., resident, his path in rodeo took a different turn when he was younger because he discovered the microphone. At age 14, the Pryor High School FFA member received an opportunity to announce his first professional rodeo. That opportunity was just the first step in his journey as a rodeo announcer.
Yerigan became involved in FFA in eighth grade and part of that involvement included the agricultural communications proficiency. During his junior year, he focused his supervised agricultural experience on being a Pro Rodeo announcer. In 2014 he had his first trip to the International Finals Rodeo as the announcer and set the record for being the youngest announcer in the rodeo’s 46-year history. In addition, he was selected to work the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Des Moines, Iowa, as well as a three-month-run in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
In 2015 he had his second trip to the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA) and was given a chance to join the team of in-house announcers for the Professional Bull Riders.
His SAE is now his full-time vocation and he couldn’t be happier. He gets to educate an estimated 100,000 people each year that modern rodeo was born out of agriculture and everyday tasks performed on working ranches. He credits FFA for molding him into the person he is today and says that he will continue to live the motto‑ “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live and Living to Serve”‑ every day.
Yerigan is the son of Kathy and Dale Yerigan. He is a member of the Pryor High School FFA Chapter, led by advisors
Walt Taylor and Jarrod Melugin.
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