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Profile: Kash Lievers

A cowboy competes beside a brown horse in a rodeo arena as spectators and rodeo personnel watch from behind the chutes.

Cowboys bring strong seasons home to Pincher Creek

Written on . Posted in Sports.

Pincher Creek will be cheering on six familiar names when the rodeo gets underway this weekend, with six area competitors entered across three days.

The Pincher Creek Pro Rodeo runs Aug. 13 to 16, with professional performances Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Friday — Riley Roy and Billy Potts

Pincher Creek’s Riley Roy and Brocket’s Billy Potts both compete in team roping during the Friday night performance.

Riley is roping with Garrett Brownlee of Moose Jaw, while Billy is paired with Jay Louise of Vernon.

Riley heads into his hometown rodeo 21st in the Canadian team roping header standings, with $11,472.13 earned through 40 rodeos as of Aug. 7.

It has been a steady season of collecting cheques rather than relying on one big payday, with a top placing of second paired with Brett Buss at Sundre.

Billy has also been busy on the rodeo trail this season, appearing at a number of CPRA stops. While he hasn’t cracked the top 30, the heeler has a chance at a payday close to home.

Saturday — Otys Little Mustache, Ridge Flundra and Kash Lievers

Saturday afternoon belongs to three more local cowboys.

A bearded man in a cap smiles while playing guitar. Text promotes a Lloyd Spiegel concert at Empress Theatre, October 14, 2026, with ticket details and contact info.

Otys Little Mustache of Brocket is having a strong season on the Indian National Finals Rodeo trail, sitting 13th in the INFR Tour steer wrestling standings with $4,753.77. HIs biggest payday listed so far is $2,013.48 at Rocky Boy.

Ridge Flundra and Kash Lievers, both of Twin Butte, have spent much of the summer making their presence felt in junior steer riding.

Ridge sits fourth in Canada with $5,412.78 in season earnings as of Aug. 7. Only about $50 separated him from third place when the standings were posted. He has also climbed to the top of the C-Bar Buckers Junior Steer Riding Series.

Ridge has collected money consistently through the season, with wins at Airdrie and Williams Lake. The Airdrie win was an 80.5-point ride.

Kash was 17th in the Canadian steer riding standings with $1,432.33 as of Aug. 7, but that total is already out of date.

He added a 70-point winning ride after the standings were posted, tying for first and earning another $632.34. That brings his winnings over $2,000.

Sunday — Ben Mitchell

Ben Mitchell of Twin Butte gets the final local turn in front of the hometown crowd during Sunday’s performance.

He comes home 18th in the Canadian steer wrestling standings with $15,516.73 earned from 42 rodeos as of Aug. 7.

An older couple smiles while leaning on a wooden railing outdoors, above text describing their $879 profit share from Vision Credit Union and a website link.

Ben’s results come from a combination of speed and a busy summer on the road, including a 4.0-second run to share the win at Taber, another 4.0 at Lea Park and a 4.4-second victory at Bassano.

Lundbreck cowboys making noise elsewhere

Two local names won’t appear in the Pincher Creek draw this weekend, but their seasons deserve mention.

K’s Thomson is ninth in Canadian saddle bronc standings, with $29,586.16 earned through 25 rodeos.

His season includes an 87.5-point win at Wainwright and an 88-point second-place ride in Williams Lake.

K’s has also given bareback riding a go, earning $125.25 through two rodeos. It’s just something he does “every once in a while.”

Ryatt Thomson is making his own mark in novice saddle bronc, where he sits eighth in the Canadian novice standings as of Aug. 7, with earnings of $4,402.44.

His season includes wins at Wilwood and Sundre, with a season-best 78.5 ride at Wildwood.

Junior Steer Riding, Rodeo, Saddle Bronc, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping

A youth baseball team in red shirts and white pants poses with coaches in front of a chain-link fence. Some players stand, one is held up, and three lie on the grass at the front. Everyone is smiling.

Rare triple play seals 10-8 win for Red Dust Devils

Written on . Posted in Sports.

A rare game-ending triple play sealed a 10-8 win for the Dust Devils (Red) over the Dust Devils (Grey) at Juan Teran Park on June 18. The teams are among three Pincher Creek squads competing in Chinook West Little League’s junior division, which includes players aged 13 to 16.

“It was one of the coolest things,” says Red team head coach Kevin Yaworsky. “That rarely happens in a baseball game.”

He says it was a great back-and-forth contest, with good hits and good pitching, that came down to the wire in the top of the last inning, before the triple play sealed the deal.

Grey opened the scoring before Red responded aggressively with five runs to take an early 5-1 lead after the opening inning. Down but not out, Grey responded with three runs in the second to close the gap to 5-4.

Red answered by keeping Grey scoreless in the third and increasing their lead to 7-4.

Grey scored twice in the fourth inning, but Red solidified their lead with four more runs to make it 10-6 heading into the fifth and final inning.

Scoring twice more at the top of the fifth, Grey made it a close game again.

With runners on first and third and nobody out, the potential tying runs were on base with the go-ahead run at the plate.

Event flyer for International Credit Union Day at Vision Credit Union on October 15, inviting community members to bring food bank donations in exchange for a wall calendar.

Then came the play Yaworsky has witnessed only once in more than a decade of coaching baseball.

Red team pitcher Levi Cottle delivered the pitch and batter Austin Kaupp hit the ball straight up.

Cottle caught it on the mound for the first out and threw to first baseman Xxavier Prairie Chicken for the second. Catcher Ridge Flundra caught the ball at home and tagged out the runner from third to complete the triple play and end the game.

“Everybody on our team was jumping in the air, and they were excited about it, and I was excited for them,” Yaworsky says. “I was quite proud of them.”

He says both teams played well throughout the evening.

“The other team, to be fair, they made some good plays, they had some really good hits,” he says. “They had some really good pitching on their team. So yeah, it was just a really good game to watch.”

In a social media post, Carlye Ouellette said that “according to Google, the odds of a triple play in any given minor league baseball game are roughly 1,400 to one, occurring approximately once for every 400 to 500 team games. This rare event requires the exact alignment of zero outs, at least two baserunners, a sharply hit batted ball and a baserunning or defensive error.”

In a season Yaworsky says had multiple games affected or cancelled due to weather issues, this game comes as a highlight for local baseball as the sport continues to gain traction in the community.

Baseball, Little League Baseball, Triple Plays, Youth Sports

Young boy squeals with delight while riding a sheep

Local kids ridin’ into rodeo weekend

Written on . Posted in Community Life.

Local youths will put their best boot forward this weekend as they participate in various events, including the kids rodeo, mutton bustin’, wild ponies and more.

“They’re our future rodeo stars,” says Marie Everts, a member of the rodeo organizing committee.

“Having youth involved in the rodeo weekend is always an important aspect of the events in order to grow these future rodeo champions, stars, volunteers, participants and all of the other people that make the rodeo a success.”

The opportunities for the future rodeo stars begin Friday at 10 a.m. with the Kids Fun Rodeo, a free event for participants and spectators alike. 

The Kids Rodeo features a wide range of events, including keyhole races, barrel racing, pole bending, flag races, a boot race and, a favourite among spectators, the toilet paper race.

Anyone 18 and under is welcome to participate. Those interested must register in person at the rodeo grounds between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. on the event day. A parent or guardian must be present to sign a waiver.

The fun doesn’t stop there for kids, as local youths will compete in mutton bustin’ at noon on Sunday. Children aged three to six will be put to the test as they attempt to ride sheep in the rodeo arena.

Despite increasing the number of available sheep for this year’s rodeo by 10 compared to last year, all 30 sheep have a rider ready for the event.

Get Stuff’d meat and seafood shop sign, located at 214 13th St. in Fort Macleod, open Thursday through Saturday from 12 noon to 6 p.m., phone 368-996-1968, follow us on Facebook at Get Stuff’d.

Participants in the mutton bustin’ event must have a properly fitted helmet and be at the arena by 11:45 a.m. on Sunday.

Wild ponies will return once more as the followup to the bull riders on Saturday and Sunday. 

Following the event’s successful debut during last year’s rodeo, children aged nine to 14 will compete in teams of three to see who can mount and stay on a bucking pony the longest.

One team member acts as the anchor, holding the pony and trying to slow it down, another attempts to put their arms around the pony’s neck to hold it still, and the third is the rider.

This year’s teams feature:

—Kash Lievers, Ridge Flundra and Lachlan Stauffer

—River Koster, Nash Lund and Acey Adair

—Stran Lievers, Cooper Plain Eagle and Jaydon Vold

—Jack Emerson, Casey Emerson, and Hayden Stav

—Angelina Morris, Morgan McNabb and Natalie Donahue

—Grady Dwyer, Rudy Barrios and Sierra Chartier

Ace of spades card on ad for Chase the Ace at the Pincher Creek Legion

Teams will be ranked based on their average times scored on Saturday and Sunday, with prizes handed out to the team with the best average.

The calf scramble is also back thanks to the Pincher Creek Legion’s donation of four bikes for the event. The scrambles will occur during intermission, following the trick riders’ performances on Saturday and Sunday.

Kids aged seven to nine and 10 to 12 can chase after a calf with a ribbon tied around its tail, with the goal being to get the ribbon and bring it back to the announcer. The fastest youngster in each age group wins the race and a bike.

Preregistration is not required and children can head down to the calf scramble once it is announced at intermission. 

Lastly, there will be a sandpit, loads of kids games and much more. There’s something for children of all ages at this year’s rodeo!

 

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Alberta | AB, Calf Scramble, Children/Youth, Kids Rodeo, Mutton Bustin, Pincher Creek Events and Entertainment, Pincher Creek Rodeo, Summer in Pincher Creek, Wild Pony Racing