Some kids say they want to be astronauts, ballerinas or professional race car drivers when they grow up. Others want to be rodeo stars.

“I always wanted to, but I never really got involved until I came to college,” said Jeff Timm, an animal science junior. “Now I have the help to actually do it and learn how.”

Timm, a member of the MSU Rodeo Club, will participate in the bull-riding competition this weekend in the annual Spartan Stampede at the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education.

Timm will be strapped to a raging bull and must try to stay on, gripping only a rope, for at least eight seconds. He said he wasn’t phased by the prospect of performing the dangerous stunt, but rather by the pressure of being watched by a large crowd.

“It’s scary the first couple of times you ride, but after a while it just becomes a rush,” he said. “If you’re in front of 2,000 people your heart drops to your knees because you don’t want to screw up.”

Timm said he’s excited to be one of three MSU students competing for the first time against professional contenders from such states as Maine, Maryland and Arkansas.

“There are some great athletes I’m competing against,” he said. “I’ve never met any of them, so it will be a learning experience as well as a mentor type leadership.”

The event used to be a part of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, or NIRA, but will turn professional for the first time this year as part of an agreement with the International Professional Rodeo Association.

The Spartan Stampede returns to MSU after being canceled last year. The cancellation came as a surprise to the Rodeo Club, since the group’s annual rodeo had been a tradition for more than 30 years.

“NIRA wasn’t going to put us on the schedule for the year, so we went ahead and booked the IPRA, which are professional cowboys and cowgirls,” Rodeo Club secretary Cheryl Strautz said. “They are professional rodeo riders that ride all over the place and we were fortunate enough to get it sanctioned by IPRA to have them.”

Strautz, an agriculture and natural resources communication senior, said more than $7,000 was raised through donations and fund-raisers by the club, enabling Spartan Stampede to be larger than it’s ever been.

“We’re really excited about that and we’re glad to have a rodeo,” she said. “This year we have more competitors than we’ve ever had.”

Among the seven events offered throughout the weekend are bull riding, calf roping, team roping and barrel racing.

Calf roping and team roping involve catching a calf or a steer with a lasso in a specified amount of time, and barrel racing is a timed event in which the horseback rider who makes the quickest turnaround of barrels set up in a cloverleaf pattern wins.

Some stunts may seem dangerous to audience members, but Rodeo Club President and kinesiology junior Cory Karsten said she didn’t know of any injuries at the Pavilion.

“One thing we can’t emphasize enough is the safety of the animals and the safety of the contestants,” she said. “We have an on-site veterinarian and an ambulance here during the performances.

“We’re definitely looking out for everybody.”

The seven events aren’t the only part of Spartan Stampede.

During intermission of Saturday’s show, the winner of the 2002 MSU Rodeo Queen Contest will be announced.

The winner of the contest is responsible for acting as a representative to the Rodeo Club and promoting the group around the state at various events and rodeos. Contestants performed with their horses on Wednesday and will be judged after giving a modeling contest and interviews on Saturday.

One contestant, pre-vet sophomore Amanda Hudson, said the competition has been a fun experience.

“I think I’m a pretty good representative of the club,” she said. “I also get to have my horse here for a week, so that’s kind of a bonus.”

Although not all club members will have the opportunity to participate in a professional rodeo, Karsten said the group continues to represent MSU.

“All the riders in our club have done very well,” she said. “Whether it be an amateur show on the weekend or a sanctioned event, they have made the club proud.”

And Karsten said Spartan Stampede is no exception.

“The rodeo is our big focus point,” she said. “We end up being like a big extended family.”