AMount Gambier rodeo star has finished his season in the top spot after being crowned the best in his category.
South East young gun Kade O’Dea, 16, has been named as the Junior Australian Champion Heeler following a winning performance at the Junior National Finals Rodeo at Emerald Rodeo in Queensland.
The success follows on from Kade’s performance at Emerald Rodeo last year where he won the second round of the Junior Team Roping at the 2023 Australian Rodeo Association Ariat Australia Junior Nationals Finals Rodeo.
Kade said it “feels really good” to achieve his goal and be crowned the Junior Australian Champion Heeler.
“My goal was to make the finals and to win the Australian championship,” he said.
“There are three rounds, two on Friday and one on Saturday, and you try and win as much money as you can in the rounds and then it all rounds up at the end.
“To qualify I travelled to rodeos all season and won as much money as I could to make the top 10 to get to the finals.
“My first goal was to win the state heeling and then I worked up to win the Australian championship.
“I would like to do it again maybe in a couple more events like heading and breakaway.”
It was a family affair for Kade, who team roped in heeling with his younger sister Jolie O’Dea, 14, at the Junior National Finals Rodeo for her first competitive year rodeoing.
“My sister Jolie, she is always helping out in the practice roping, we rope together and she made it to the finals with me. It was really good her being there and seeing her rope,” Kade said.
Kade and Jolie’s father Scott O’Dea said he loved watching the effort the kids put in to caring for their horses and practicing for the rodeos.
“The rodeo side of it to me is just the day, it’s all the work that goes into it prior they do together,” he said.
“Feeding horses every day and night, it’s not something that all teenage kids would be able to do.
“The smiles when they come out of the arena was my highlight and they just had a good time while they were there.
“They bounce off each other very well. They have got that common ground with one another where they can just sit and watch and when you have got that same person next to you all the time, it has to be a little bit easier I think.
“They are getting to that stage now where it is a bit of a competition to make sure you try and beat the other one.”
Kade also won the junior heading at the recent Mount Isa Rodeo and placed second in the breakaway roping.
