Broken Hill’s Grace Norley is one of seven young women vying for the title of Rodeo Queen of Australia at the Australian Rodeo Queen Quest on the Gold Coast in May, and it looks like she’s in with a good chance.
The 18-year-old is determined to raise enough funds to compete and hopes to win and then go on to represent Australia.
“I think I have a fair chance,” says Grace. “All the girls are gorgeous and they’re all raising a lot of money but if I won it, I think I’d probably start crying.”
A lover of horses since she was a little girl, Ms Norley has ridden all her life, taught by her mother, Cecilia, who gives lessons at Silver City Riding Academy.
Ms Norley began with dressage and jumping, then started barrel racing and enjoyed the adrenaline rush so much she wanted to compete in rodeos.
She joined the rodeo circuit last year with her horse, Morns Royal Spinner, competing across Australia, and has won a couple of events including the Deniliquin Rodeo and Homebush Rodeo.
“I started barrel racing and I think the adrenaline, when you go to a rodeo, you just get so much excitement just watching the entertainment and I really found that enjoyable and I was like, I want to do this each weekend and go and compete.
“The environment, obviously it’s very bushy. There’s bulls and horses, lots of cowboys and cowgirls and it’s a really fun, it’s definitely my scene and my boyfriend, he’s not bushy at all but I took him and he enjoyed it so it’s something for everyone to enjoy.”
Founded in 1992 by Sharon Piggott, the Australian Rodeo Queen Quest was adopted by the National Rodeo Council of Australia after recognising there was a need to promote and encourage young women into the heritage sport of rodeo.
The Quest also aims to empower young rural women and provides an opportunity to not only promote the sport they love in Australia and overseas but has proven to be a confidence builder and opened the door to many new and exciting possibilities.
Entrants in the competition take part in planned promotions and a rigorous schedule over a week, judged by an independent panel of judges including civic leaders, rodeo personnel, and business people.
Entrants are judged on personality, appearance, horsemanship, speeches, modelling, written examinations and interviews.
Points are compiled at the end of the week, after which the Rodeo Queen of Australia is awarded the title and the opportunity to travel to the Calgary Stampede, among other places in North America, representing Australia.
“I’m representing not only Broken Hill but I’m the only Queen in SA so I’m representing South Australia. And then if I win, we go overseas to promote Australia,” Ms Norley said.
“It promotes women to believe in themselves and feel confident. It’s basically a beauty pageant and you just need to have confidence in yourself.
“I struggled throughout school with bullying and a lot about my personal looks and when I got asked to do this, I thought it would be a good opportunity to change myself around, telling myself I can go away and get chosen to be a beauty pageant model so I think that really made me want to go.
“I know I’d be making my family proud but not only that, I have a lot of younger girls who look up to me because there aren’t many people in Broken Hill who do ride horses and the ones who do are trying really hard.
“I hope I can look back and say ‘look girls, I made it, you can too, don’t stop trying, you can keep going’.”
“I’ve had little kids come up to me going ‘I want to be you when I’m older’ and even young girls my age saying they want to be me, and I think that kind of pushes me further because if I end up overseas, I hope I can look back and say ‘look girls, I made it, you can too, don’t stop trying, you can keep going’.
“I know how hard it is being young and a teenager and you have to have to have a goal – that’s how I’ve gotten through life, and just keep going for that goal until it’s achieved and I really would love to keep pushing until I get this. My mum’s just pushed me through it going ‘now, you’re doing it, don’t stop now’.
“I think that once I get there it will be a massive achievement because I can look back at all the people in Broken Hill and say ‘just because you’re in Broken Hill, a small rural area, doesn’t mean you have limits. You can go far’. I think that would be great to represent our small town.”
Ms Norley has been fundraising, holding garage sales, a fun day at the riding school, and raffles, even gaining a main sponsor, Lawrence Engineering. She points out without their support, she wouldn’t be able to consider entering.
“It’s $5000 to $6000 that we have to raise to be able to have a chance at winning but a lot of girls do have sponsors, some girls can get $10,000, some girls get up to $15,000. Basically, whoever raises the most money will most likely win it,” she said.
There are several ways to donate to Ms Norley’s quest to be crowned Australian Rodeo Queen, including her personal Facebook page, the ‘ARQQ 2023 Entrant – Grace Norley’ Facebook page, or via her GoFundMe at https://bit.ly/3kCWqyI.
