The 2009 South Dakota High School Finals Rodeo returns to Belle Fourche on June 24 through June 28, bringing with it all the thrills, spills and rip-roaring action.

And again this year, the rodeo will present a competition somewhat unique to rodeo though clearly synonymous with rodeo's western heritage: A marksmanship competition sponsored by the National Rifle Association and organized by the Belle Fourche Center of the Nation Sportsman's Club.

The Cowboy Light Rifle and Trap Shoot competition gives South Dakota high school rodeo participants - girls and boys - the chance to earn a place on the South Dakota team that will travel to the National High School Finals Rodeo in Farmington, N.M., in July and compete for valuable college scholarships.

"We have conducted the event for the past five years," said Carole Hollers, the director for the state rodeo association. "The first year in Huron, there were only a couple of kids. And when we moved to Belle, I called the local club (Center of the Nation Sportsman's Club) and asked if they would run the event, and the last two years it has gotten considerably bigger and better. They have been extremely helpful."

Hollers said that without the cooperation of the local gun club, the rodeo shooting event would be an impossibility.

"We feel that one of the primary purposes of our club is to provide a place where people can go and practice target shooting," says Rick Walton, club treasurer and board member. "We have the small bore shoot at our range and we take the kids over to the trap range between Belle Fourche and Spearfish for the trap shoot. We also provide belt buckles and certificates for the kids as well as ammunition, targets and whatever else they might need."

Walton said that the expenses and the time donated by club volunteers is repaid by the gratitude expressed by the rodeo shooters whom they serve.

"I'll tell you what, it has been a real joy to host them. They are very polite, very appreciative and they thank us many times for allowing them the chance to shoot. That's why we keep doing it."

The shooting competition originated in 2004 when the NRA became a national sponsor of the National High School Finals Rodeo. As a method by which NRA contributory funds could be funneled to the participants, a shooting competition was an obvious choice.

A shooting event not only allowed the NRA to promote gun safety to high school youth - one of its primary goals - but shooting and marksmanship, particularly with a lever-action .22 rifle, were a perfect mix for rodeo's inherently western theme. The only requirement for participation is that the shooter be a member of the State High School Rodeo Association.

"It was a lot of fun to compete at nationals last year," said Connor Sell, a recent graduate of Bennett County High School, who along with Wanda Maude, of Hermosa, made up the two-person light-rifle South Dakota team. "Everybody was really friendly. If everything goes well and I can qualify, I would love to go back again. It's a lot of fun and to go again would be really nice."

Sell also competes in saddle bronc, bull riding and roping events.

Daine McNenny, a roper and steer wrestler from Sturgis, shot at the state level last year and hopes to do so again this year. Daine provides a perfect rationale as to why shooting and hunting have great appeal not only to rodeo kids, but to young and old alike.

"My dad got me started in shooting when I was about six or seven," he said. "He let me shoot clay pigeons down by the river, and we did a lot of hunting together. It's a sort of a bonding time for us."