“I went into the American Hat store to buy a new hat for my first NFR breakaway in 2020,” said Shelby Meged, the 2023 National Finals Breakaway Roping (NFBR) World Champion. “That is where my relationship with them started. I partnered with them after that, and I have been with them since my first NFR.”
The three-time NFBR qualifier spoke highly of her contacts at American Hat Company and her experience as an athlete
with the team.
“It’s more of a family. I can call any of them at any time for anything, even if it is not hat-related,” she added. “If I am ever
in a bind and need somebody to help me, there is always somebody I can call.”
Meged, who grew up just outside of Calgary in Langdon, Alberta, Canada, said she had arope in her hand from an early age, but it was a gift from her parents that jump-started her record-breaking roping career. “From the time I started swinging a rope, the only thing I ever wanted from my parents was a Fast Lane dummy,” she said. “Once I got one, all I did was rope. I wanted to be one of the best female ropers ever.”
Meged said she was at a slight disadvantage as a roper because there were few places forher to compete in Canada as a breakaway roper. “There’s not a lot of opportunity in Canada for breakaway roping, she said. “There were maybe one or two jackpots I could go to each year.”
Though she said the Alberta High School Rodeo Association lacked the contestant numbers of its counterparts in the United States, the competition was just as fierce. “In Alberta, we only had three regions compared to the ten regions in the Texas High School Rodeo Association,” she said. “I still had to be super competitive, but I was not roping against 200 other kids.”
After moving to Ranger, Texas, on a college rodeo scholarship in 2017. Meged said she was in awe at the amount of roping found in the state. “I remember running myself broke because I was going to every jackpot. I went a little crazy,” she said. “I went to every jackpot I could once I got here because the amount of roping was insane. It was all just so new to me. I could go to three jackpots a week and an hour from my house.”
Meged said that although she was roping more often, it was a while before she started to see success in her new home. “I think it took me about two years to win anything down here,” she said. “I got my butt kicked for a long time. It was a pretty big eye-opener for me.”
Then, in 2019, she was crowned the Reserve National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Breakaway Roping Champion. “I had a huge year in 2019,” she said. “I was making good money and doing well at all the jackpots. I realized I wanted to stay
here because I was hooked.” Meged qualified for her first NFBR the following year. The Inaugural NFBR ran with the 2020
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) at Globelife Field in Arlington, Texas.
“Roping in Arlington was cool because we were roping out of the same box and in the same arena as the other NFR contestants,” she said. “I did not have a very good NFR my first year,” she added. “I didn’t want to feel that way again when I left the finals that year, so I knew I wanted to work on some changes. They didn’t happen overnight, but everything eventually paid off.”
After finishing eighth in the world, Meged said she set out to achieve the goal she had set as a young girl. She was the reserve world champion the following year at the 2021 NFBR in Las Vegas. She was ranked fifth in the world standings at
the end of the 2022 NFBR. But Meged returned to the finals and finished the 2023 season with her first world title and a record- breaking $197,706 earned.
“I want to keep going back and chasing that next gold buckle because it’s an addiction,” she said. “Our sport is always evolving. There are always new, up-and-coming ropers, and the competition seems to get tougher every year.”
