It was a cool, summer Missouri morning. Kids of all ages were getting loosened   up   for   their   specific   swim  team event. This whole swim team thing was new to the Boardman fam-ily  and  their  first  event,  the  8  &  under  Freestyle,   was   about   to   begin!   Each  little swimmer was at their appointed position, waiting for the bang of the gun, except their son who declared that he was not participating. After a few seconds of heated conversation be-tween father and son and with the ap-proval of the meet coach, the child was gently ‘helped’ into the pool. When the race was over their son had handily won the event and he proudly left that

day with more ribbons than anyone. Who would have ever believed that little guy would grow up to absolutely thrive  on  competition!  The  frightened  little swimmer described was Cimar-ron Breck Boardman, Professional Calf Roper at the grand age of seven.

Cimarron’s parents loving raised their sons to be responsible and inde-pendent thinking young adults. They wanted them to grow up to be happy, successful men that could have a posi-tive effect on the world they lived in. They choose a cattle farm as the en-vironment to raise their family. The farm allowed Cimarron to experience a  life  filled  with  family  and  animals  of  

all kinds. He learned early to have a strong work ethic, whether helping to check cattle from a backpack worn by his father or in a playpen by the side of   the   hay   field.   Since   they   had   cat-tle, dogs and cats and the occasional squirrel or raccoon, Cimarron learned about loving and caring for animals. All of those early life lessons provided a great foundation for what would be his future life endeavor.

As Cimarron grew sports became an integral part of his life. Among the endless farm activities, Cimarron par-ticipated in every sport he could; he was on the school basketball, football, soccer, and baseball team, as well as seasonal recreational league teams. To participate in any sports in the Board-man family, you had to have all home-work completed and maintain high grades; have all daily chores complet-ed; always do your best; do whatever the  coach  asked  and  finally  –  No  Quit-ting. It seemed like simple rules but as life continued, Cimarron learned that the rules were also applicable to every-day life.

Cimarron didn’t begin to rope until very  late  in  life.  Cimarron  got  his  first  horse  when   he  was   10   years   old   and  with his father’s help, began to learn horsemanship and all of the responsi-bilities that go with it. A few months later, a family friend suggested that the boys learn to calf rope. Cimarron’s dad built a calf roping dummy and bought a rope for each of the boys. He gave them implicit instructions: Practice Every Day. They were not allowed on a horse with a rope in hand, until they  could  rope  the  dummy  100  times  without missing. If there was a miss they started over at one. Cimarron was about  13  at  that  time  &  suddenly  learn-ing to handle a rope took priority over other sports.

In  1994,  Cimarron’s  family  decided  to build a large indoor arena & their western-style activities jumped up a notch. They planned and implemented events every weekend – youth rodeos, team ropings and barrel races. While

BoardmanCimarron Boardman

Face Everything and Rise

continued on page 42Rodeo Athletes Magazine | Summer 2014 41

It was a cool, summer Missouri morning. Kids of all ages were getting loosened   up   for   their   specific   swim  team event. This whole swim team thing was new to the Boardman fam-ily  and  their  first  event,  the  8  &  under  Freestyle,   was   about   to   begin!   Each  little swimmer was at their appointed position, waiting for the bang of the gun, except their son who declared that he was not participating. After a few seconds of heated conversation be-tween father and son and with the ap-proval of the meet coach, the child was gently ‘helped’ into the pool. When the race was over their son had handily won the event and he proudly left that

day with more ribbons than anyone. Who would have ever believed that little guy would grow up to absolutely thrive  on  competition!  The  frightened  little swimmer described was Cimar-ron Breck Boardman, Professional Calf Roper at the grand age of seven.

Cimarron’s parents loving raised their sons to be responsible and inde-pendent thinking young adults. They wanted them to grow up to be happy, successful men that could have a posi-tive effect on the world they lived in. They choose a cattle farm as the en-vironment to raise their family. The farm allowed Cimarron to experience a  life  filled  with  family  and  animals  of  

all kinds. He learned early to have a strong work ethic, whether helping to check cattle from a backpack worn by his father or in a playpen by the side of   the   hay   field.   Since   they   had   cat-tle, dogs and cats and the occasional squirrel or raccoon, Cimarron learned about loving and caring for animals. All of those early life lessons provided a great foundation for what would be his future life endeavor.

As Cimarron grew sports became an integral part of his life. Among the endless farm activities, Cimarron par-ticipated in every sport he could; he was on the school basketball, football, soccer, and baseball team, as well as seasonal recreational league teams. To participate in any sports in the Board-man family, you had to have all home-work completed and maintain high grades; have all daily chores complet-ed; always do your best; do whatever the  coach  asked  and  finally  –  No  Quit-ting. It seemed like simple rules but as life continued, Cimarron learned that the rules were also applicable to every-day life.

Cimarron didn’t begin to rope until very  late  in  life.  Cimarron  got  his  first  horse  when   he  was   10   years   old   and  with his father’s help, began to learn horsemanship and all of the responsi-bilities that go with it. A few months later, a family friend suggested that the boys learn to calf rope. Cimarron’s dad built a calf roping dummy and bought a rope for each of the boys. He gave them implicit instructions: Practice Every Day. They were not allowed on a horse with a rope in hand, until they  could  rope  the  dummy  100  times  without missing. If there was a miss they started over at one. Cimarron was about  13  at  that  time  &  suddenly  learn-ing to handle a rope took priority over other sports.

In  1994,  Cimarron’s  family  decided  to build a large indoor arena & their western-style activities jumped up a notch. They planned and implemented events every weekend – youth rodeos, team ropings and barrel races. While

continued on page 42

Cimarron & his brother Kaden spent most of their free time practicing rop-ing, the rest of their time was split be-tween school & working at the arena.

Cimarron’s  first  real  rodeo  came  dur-ing his freshman year in high school when he and his brother joined the Missouri High School Rodeo Asso-ciation. They made it to NHSRA that summer in team roping. Though they did not win anything notable, it was the start to their ‘rodeo careers.’ During his sophomore year in high school Cimar-ron dropped all other sports for rodeo. His days were spent in school, doing homework,  working  at  the  arena  &  fi-nally practicing. His skills continued to improve as all of his abilities were fo-cused  into  one  area  -­  roping!  

Competing for the Missouri High School Rodeo Cimarron won the State Calf Roping Championship title. He competed four times at the National HS Finals, at the IFYR Team Roping Championship, and Reserve AQHA Youth World Title. Cimarron realized that roping could be his future and that meant a lot of traveling. His family re-alized that for Cimarron to continue to improve & to catch up with other ropers his age, he needed every roping experi-

ence possible. Most weekends Cimar-ron & his mother were on the road,

either going to a high school ro-deo or a calf rop-ing jack-pot. As

long as calf r o p i n g

was involved, they went anywhere & everywhere. Soon Cimarron was of-fered a full-ride scholarship to West Texas College in Snyder, TX.

Cimarron’s  first  and  second  response  to  the  scholarship  offer  was  a  definitive  “NO  Thanks.”  It  was  too  far  away  from  friends & family. His third response, on the other hand, was “I’ll think about it”   and   he   finally   agreed   to   meet   the  coach and visit the campus. When his mother picked him up from the airport, she knew he was Texas bound. Though his family was uncomfortable with him moving  15  hours  away,  Cimarron  real-ized that if he wanted to be a profes-sional Calf Roper he had to be where the action was, and that meant relocat-ing.  Cimarron  received  the  2nd  largest  college scholarship in his graduating class   of   375,   but   because   they   didn’t  consider ‘Rodeo’ a legitimate career, it was left out of the program.

Cimarron turned Professional as soon as he could and has continued to

continued from page 41

professionally rope ever since. He has won some of the nation’s largest ro-deos and he still challenges himself to be better and faster. He loves the sport of rodeo and the friendships that have been forged along the way. Rodeo life has  been  good,  though  financially  tough  at times; it has allowed Cimarron to de-velop the gift that God gave him.

There is an old saying about fear – “F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Every-thing And Rise’; the choice is yours. Through the years, friends and family of Cimarron thought that a successful rodeo career for a young Midwestern farm boy was just a dream. It was and as Cimarron knows, dreams can come true.  A  lot  has  happened  since  that  first  scary swim competition all those years ago. A lot of miles have been traveled and a lot of hard lessons learned, but, now, looking back, his family is thank-ful that Cimarron chose to ‘Face Every-thing  And  Rise’!

42 www.rodeoathletes.com

Cimarron & his brother Kaden spent most of their free time practicing rop-ing, the rest of their time was split be-tween school & working at the arena.

Cimarron’s  first  real  rodeo  came  dur-ing his freshman year in high school when he and his brother joined the Missouri High School Rodeo Asso-ciation. They made it to NHSRA that summer in team roping. Though they did not win anything notable, it was the start to their ‘rodeo careers.’ During his sophomore year in high school Cimar-ron dropped all other sports for rodeo. His days were spent in school, doing homework,  working  at  the  arena  &  fi-nally practicing. His skills continued to improve as all of his abilities were fo-cused  into  one  area  -­  roping!  

Competing for the Missouri High School Rodeo Cimarron won the State Calf Roping Championship title. He competed four times at the National HS Finals, at the IFYR Team Roping Championship, and Reserve AQHA Youth World Title. Cimarron realized that roping could be his future and that meant a lot of traveling. His family re-alized that for Cimarron to continue to improve & to catch up with other ropers his age, he needed every roping experi-

ence possible. Most weekends Cimar-ron & his mother were on the road,

either going to a high school ro-deo or a calf rop-ing jack-pot. As

long as calf r o p i n g

was involved, they went anywhere & everywhere. Soon Cimarron was of-fered a full-ride scholarship to West Texas College in Snyder, TX.

Cimarron’s  first  and  second  response  to  the  scholarship  offer  was  a  definitive  “NO  Thanks.”  It  was  too  far  away  from  friends & family. His third response, on the other hand, was “I’ll think about it”   and   he   finally   agreed   to   meet   the  coach and visit the campus. When his mother picked him up from the airport, she knew he was Texas bound. Though his family was uncomfortable with him moving  15  hours  away,  Cimarron  real-ized that if he wanted to be a profes-sional Calf Roper he had to be where the action was, and that meant relocat-ing.  Cimarron  received  the  2nd  largest  college scholarship in his graduating class   of   375,   but   because   they   didn’t  consider ‘Rodeo’ a legitimate career, it was left out of the program.

Cimarron turned Professional as soon as he could and has continued to

continued from page 41

professionally rope ever since. He has won some of the nation’s largest ro-deos and he still challenges himself to be better and faster. He loves the sport of rodeo and the friendships that have been forged along the way. Rodeo life has  been  good,  though  financially  tough  at times; it has allowed Cimarron to de-velop the gift that God gave him.

There is an old saying about fear – “F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Every-thing And Rise’; the choice is yours. Through the years, friends and family of Cimarron thought that a successful rodeo career for a young Midwestern farm boy was just a dream. It was and as Cimarron knows, dreams can come true.  A  lot  has  happened  since  that  first  scary swim competition all those years ago. A lot of miles have been traveled and a lot of hard lessons learned, but, now, looking back, his family is thank-ful that Cimarron chose to ‘Face Every-thing  And  Rise’!