By Lily Weinacht
Buzzing the arena astride her brown and white Paint, CSHSRA rodeo queen Kayla Boelsterli knows the value of a smile and a positive attitude. Armed with these qualities, the 17 year old from Arvada, Colo., has been representing the CSHSRA since June of 2015. Kayla held her first royalty title as the Evergreen Rodeo Princess in 2012. After trying out twice, she won the CSHSRA title her junior year.
The first generation of her family to rodeo and ride horses, Kayla started competing in barrel racing and pole bending in the CSHSRA as a freshman. Prior to that, she competed in 4-H, but when a friend invited her to come watch a high school rodeo practice, Kayla was hooked. Her ultimate goal is to win Miss Rodeo Colorado and run for Miss Rodeo America. “I met Marie Kidd – Miss Rodeo Colorado 2015 – through rodeo queening in the last year, and she has taught me how to be a better rodeo queen and how to better myself as an individual,” says Kayla, who passes her title to the next CSHSRA rodeo queen in June. Before that, however, she’s attending a rodeo queen jackpot in Oklahoma, which includes clinics and a rodeo queen pageant. Kayla further enjoys sharing her queening knowledge with other young ladies, coaching them in modeling, hair, speech, and studying. “I absolutely love sharing my passion with them,” she says.
Along with representing the association at all of their rodeos, Kayla also volunteered during the 16 days of the National Western Stock Show in Denver, while a highlight of her reign was an event held at the Denver International Airport during Christmas. “For Christmas, DIA flew terminally ill children around the airport and we helped wrap presents and decorate one of the landing strips like the North Pole. Visiting with the families and their children was a breathtaking experience – it really opened my eyes,” Kayla describes. Another highlight was competing in the NHSFR rodeo queen contest in 2015. “Those were the best ten days of my life! Even though the competition was really difficult, it kept me on my toes and helped me prepare for future competitions. I also met a lot of great people.”
Kayla and her mom, Carol Stearns, and sister, Jenna, make their home near Arvada. Kayla’s dad, Brian Boelsterli, lives in Texas, and her brother, Brett, is a freshman in college. Jenna, a freshman in high school, comes to support Kayla during rodeo season, and Kayla and her mom help haul other CSHSRA members and their horses to rodeos. Kayla’s own horses include Sky, her rodeo queen horse, and Dexter, her mount in the barrel racing and pole bending.
In addition to rodeoing, she is finishing her senior year at Ralston Valley High School. “I really enjoy math, and anatomy and psychology, but I want to go into nursing in college,” says Kayla, who currently plans on attending University of Wyoming. “I’m interested in either neonatal or becoming an emergency room nurse.” She also enjoys anything outdoors, from hiking and whitewater rafting, to snowboarding, often at Copper Mountain or Winter Park.
Kayla plans to college rodeo this fall, though her main focus will be on her nursing degree, and competing in rodeo queen competitions as she prepares for her ultimate goal – representing the Centennial State in the Miss Rodeo America pageant.
