CanAm Cup hits Majestic Valley Arena today

Just two weeks after The Event at Rebecca Farm, another world-class equine sporting event begins in Kalispell.

The fourth annual CanAm Cup, a United States Team Penning Association event, starts today at Majestic Valley Arena. About 900 teams from 17 states and provinces will compete for a purse exceeding $100,000.

The CanAm Cup is a three-day event comprised of team penning and ranch sorting. Today is monopolized by team penning while ranch sorting begins Saturday afternoon and continues Sunday.

In team penning, three riders have 60 or 75 seconds to separate three identically-numbered cattle from a herd of 30. After cutting the cattle from the herd, penners must drive them into a pen at the opposite end of the arena. A team is disqualified if more than three cows cross a foul line.

In ranch sorting, two riders sort 10 numbered cattle in ascending order between identical pens which are separated by a 12-foot opening. It is judged a "no time" if a cow is sorted out of order or comes back from the other pen to cross the foul line. Two unnumbered cows are mixed in with the numbered cattle to challenge riders until the very end.

There is always a healthy Canadian contingent at the CanAm Cup, but event chairman Tom Britz said there will be more Canadian penners than ever this year due to the inception of The Cec Papke Traveling Trophy.

Cecil "Cec" Papke is a veteran Canadian baseball and hockey coach. He revolutionized team penning two decades ago by stressing teamwork and strategy in a sport which was previously unruly.

The inscription on The Cec Papke Traveling Trophy reads in part: "Commemorating the innovative spirit and contributions to the sport of Team Cattle Penning, and the traditions of sportsmanship and camaraderie that Cec Papke gave to our sport."

The trophy will be awarded to Team Canada or Team USA based on individual winnings of competitors at each class. Penners will vote for an honorary captain from their country whose name will grace the trophy along with the winning team. If the trophy is won by Team USA, it will be kept in Majestic Valley Arena. If it is won by Team Canada, it will reside in a place chosen by Canada's honorary captain.

The CanAm Cup is produced by Majestic Valley Arena and the Northwest Montana Team Penning Association. According to Britz, the CanAm Cup was produced by USTPA in Fort Worth, Texas, the last three years and held in Kalispell. This year, it is almost completely produced locally.

Though there are about 900 teams, there are only about 200 riders because penners may enter multiple times in multiple classes as long as the same team doesn't ride together more than once.

"These are the best team penners in the world," Britz said.

Penners are rated from Nos. 1 through 7 based on experience and winnings. According to Britz, there are only 11 riders in the world with a rating of 7 and about half of them will be at the CanAm Cup.

Four of the event's top riders are brothers. Jared, Joel, Jamin and Jordon Lesh traveled from Perry, Okla., to compete at the CanAm Cup.

Other star riders are Louie Saggione III from Mokena, Ill., and Justin Underwood from Waco, Texas.

According to Britz, it is common for top riders to leave Kalispell with $4,000 or $5,000 in winnings. But Britz says even the riders who don't win much money enjoy the CanAm Cup.

"It's a great facility," Britz said. "Majestic Valley Arena - we are blessed with having that facility and that management group to work with."

The CanAm Cup is one of three major national team penning events. By the end of the year, Majestic Valley Arena will have been host to 22 days of team penning.

"There is a tipping point of critical mass where the show gets big enough that it starts creating its own reputation," Britz said.

The CanAm Cup may be nearing that point. The event already has a reputation for having good cattle and being smoothly operated.

"That only happens when you have a ton of local volunteers," Britz said.

NWMTPA members have been setting up arenas and fences and putting numbers on cattle all week.

Team penning events don't typically draw huge crowds, but Britz says he has seen increasingly larger audiences at each major event he has attended.

According to Britz, CanAm Cup spectators are usually the friends and family of riders, as well as vacationers and locals who simply love horses and are curious to see what team penning is about.

Competition begins at 8 a.m. each day and admission is free.