For a 13-year-old junior high student who just won the Elks’ Team Roping Championship, Chance Machado is pretty modest.
Chance and his father John are part of a father-son roping team who, in the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo’s final round on June 5, roped a calf in 9.6 seconds, putting their three-round aggregate time at 32.8 seconds.
Chance, who is finishing up the seventh grade at Orcutt Junior High, was the youngest buckle winner in the 68th annual event.
The rough-and-rugged cowboy scene is nothing new for him. According to his mother Sabrina, Chance has been swinging a rope since he could walk. Not only that, but his father was born and raised a cattle roper, having competed in high school and in college at Cal Poly in SLO.
“My dad and grandpa roped,” Chance said. “I wanted to start, too.”
Chance’s father John and grandfather Frank have handled his roping training. He said he trains three times a week for two hours each session.
He said he loves roping because of the fun and excitement that come with it—both feelings that certainly came after winning the roping championship. Although he admits he was nervous about the event, he didn’t show it.
“It was cool,” Chance said with all the excited brevity of a 13-year-old.
As it turns out, winning is nothing new for Chance. He’s won a number of events in the Elks mini-rodeo and took second place at the state junior high school team roping championships, competing in the California District 7 rodeo division.
He now has his sights set on the national championship competition in Gallup, N.M., which is set to begin June 23.
For Chance, who plans to continue roping through high school and beyond, the Elks Rodeo roping championship title is only the beginning.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2011.