Rodeo bringing a new twist this year

Sometimes a chance meeting can produce profound results. The results of such a meeting will be exhibited in Libby later this month.

Professional stuntman Sammy Maloof and a director with the World Professional Rodeo Sports Group (W.P.R.S.G.), Allan Parent met in a restroom six months ago.

“It’s truly fate how we met,” Parent said.

Since that meeting, the pair has teamed up to make an impact on the younger generation. “All the years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve only met one man who thinks and has a vision like I do, and that’s Allan,” Maloof said. “When God is ready to bless your life I believe he’ll send a person your way.”

Maloof was doing a number of things before starting his career as a stuntman.

“I was illegally street racing and arm wrestling all across the world. That’s how I was making my living,” he said. “I was getting paid a lot of money to compete in illegal street races. Then one day God reached into the cesspool of this world and pulled me out. He never told me to quit racing, he told me to quit illegal street racing. He never told me to quit fighting, he told me to quit fist fighting.”

Maloof believes that each individual has gifts and talents. He wants to help people find out what their gifts and talents are.

“I believe every one of us has gifts and talents,” he said. “The problem is people don’t operate their gifts and talents.”

He said it’s important for people to not only find their talents, but also to figure out how to use them. Education is part of that, but should come after deciding what a person wants to do.

“I’m 100 percent for education, but figure out what you want to be before getting educated,” he said. “People go to school and don’t know what they want to do and have student loans. They get done with school and get a job and two years later they have a career change. Knowledge has never been power. Working knowledge is power.”

Maloof started using his gifts and talents at a young age.

“I used my gifts and talents at a young age and started using them in the industry world,” he said. “I have a race shop that I’ve operated for 33 years. I do stunts and my outreach is called ‘Winning at the Race of Life,’ where I go all over the U.S. and put on stunt shows.”

Maloof said in order to be successful an individual has to have the right attitude and a winner’s mentality.

“Winners do daily what losers do occasionally,” he said. “Winners focus on what they go to in life. Losers focus on what they go through in life. Winners never become losers and losers never become winners. Losers win once in a while, but they never become a winner, because they always make excuses why the winner wins and why the losers lose.”

Maloof is teaming his program with the W.P.R.S.G. to train individuals from the inside out.

“What Allan and his group are going to do is train kids at a young age from the inside out,” Maloof said. “Every individual is defeated from the inside. You can’t have a good relationship if you constantly have negative thoughts. You can’t have a victorious life if you are defeated from the inside.”  

For Maloof and Parent it’s been a great working relationship because they believe in what the other is trying to accomplish.

“Allan digs deep inside an individual,” Maloof said. “He finds their gifts and talents and builds a foundation. He trains them, he helps them, he nurtures them, he follows them, he leads them and guides them all the way up to the chain. It never stops. He never says no. I believe in what they are doing 100 percent. It’s why I got on board.”

The W.P.R.S.G. was created to bring life back into the rodeo industry and to make a lasting impact on the younger generation. “We are using the rodeo as a conduit on getting the word out, because it’s really about the kids.” Parent said.

The group will host 10 events in the U.S. and 10 events in Canada, with Libby as their launch. “The rodeo industry and Libby need a boost. We want to do something that’s going to pick them up. We are hoping this event gives them their energy back,” Parent explained.

Their mission is to provide mental, physical, spiritual and business mentorships capable of nurturing small business enterprises and community non-profits so they can become confident, successful contributors to their families.

“We are reaching into the kids the day they are born, until the day they die,” Parent said. “You just have to be a kid to be part of the program. We are going to teach kids from the inside out, before drug dealers get to them. Before the pimps get to them.”

For Parent it’s about getting to the kids at an early age and building a solid foundation. “We are getting to the kids before the bad guys get to them and building a foundation at a young age,” he said.

The key for Parent is teaching kids how to make choices on their own, rather than telling them what to do and what to think.

“We are going to fight drugs by teaching them how to say no, rather than telling them to say no,” Parent explained. “If mom says don’t steal or don’t do drugs, the kids are going to do drugs and go steal. We are going to train them how to say no by themselves by teaching them from the inside out.”

Maloof believes that teaching kids how to think for themselves is important.

“When I was growing up we were trained to think,” he said. “The kids nowadays are trained what to think. What Allan is doing is taking them back through mentorships and training them how to make decisions on their own.”

W.P.R.S.G. will have two separate schools, the school of soft knocks and the school of hard knocks.

“In soft knocks we teach them how to run their own business in rodeo or any kind of business,” Parent said. “They are going to come up with their agenda for the rodeo. With that agenda they are going to have to calculate their budget.”

The school of hard knocks is a more hands-on approach.

“We are going to have 10 cabins at 10 different locations,” Parent said. “At each location we can host up to 30 kids at a time. These kids are going to learn how to run a business using a hands-on approach. They are going to work with the animals. They are going to answer the phone and pay the bills. They are going to be running that place through our mentorship program. Our guys will be there with them and watching them. They will be getting paid $20 per hour. We will take $5 out of that and put it into their retirement fund.”

The concept is to train them how to manage and save their money.

“30 percent of what we do goes into retirement funds for the kids that sign up,” Parent said. “It costs $450 to sign up, but right away $45 of that goes into their retirement fund. 30 percent of our ticket sales go into those retirement accounts. We have a clothing line, 30 percent of our profits go into those accounts.”

The events will kick off Wednesday, July 22, on the street in front of Timberline Auto. There will be a barbecue, robotic bull rides and the Pistons and Ponies race car rides with Maloof.  

The rodeo will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 23, at J. Neils Park. Rae-Lynn Armstrong will be putting on a trick riding show. At the end of the rodeo a police chase involving Maloof and local police will take place.

“Maloof will be chased through the park and he will hit a pipe ramp and crash. The sheriff will come in and throw his hat down and the song Proud to be an American will play,” Parent said.  

Following the car chase the Dancing in the Dirt concert will start. Country Legends will start the concert and be followed by Hollywood Yates.

Parent is excited to get the word out about W.P.R.S.G.

“The more the people hear about it the more people want to get involved because it’s a great program,” Parent said. “We are making a difference and we are going to make an even bigger impact.”