Team Polaris athlete Sage Kizmey goes for the World Title this week.
20 minutes on a 450 cc machine for the Supercross title. One run in the halfpipe for Olympic gold. One last skate for a street league title. All of these moments and more still fail in comparison to the most extreme sport on the planet…..
Imagine strapping yourself down with only a flat braided rope to a 1800 pound animal who wants nothing more than to toss you off of its back. Welcome to bull riding.
This week in Arlington, Texas and Globe Life Field, the 2020 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) have brought the world’s best rodeo athletes as they compete on the biggest stage of the sport.
Team Polaris, an elite group of five competitive rodeo athletes who embody the hard-working values of the brand, are ready to give it their all, including bull rider Sage Kizmey.
“I know when I enter the locker room ahead of a contest, I have worked just as hard if not harder then every other athlete in that room,” said Kizmey.
And that is exactly how Kizmey approaches life on and off the rodeo.
“When you put in the work, you achieve the results that you expect,” Kizmey added. “Sometimes, there is an expectation of greatness with no work. In bull riding, work and greatness go hand in hand.”
There is an old cliche that in order to master a craft you put in 10,000 hours of training on your craft. However, if you put 10,000 hours on the back of a bull, you will be a broken mess.
“Physical fitness is key in an extreme sport like bull riding,” said Kizmey. “As much as you want to train on the real thing and put in the hours, it just is not practical so you learn to be creative and train using other methods. You learn to be progressive in how you approach training.”
Like most athletes, growing up around skiing, snowboarding, racing and even the rodeo, affects the career direction you pick. But at some point, there is a level of insanity that goes along with looking at a bull that weighs as much as a car and thinking to yourself, “I should go ride that.
“My identity in life is being a cowboy,” said Kizmey. “First and foremost I’m a cowboy. Secondly, I am a bull rider. I never really thought about doing anything else. There is no event that gives you a rush like riding a bull. When I was 16 just after I got my license, I won a few contests that summer riding bulls and made about $30,000 dollars. Being 16 and having $30,000 to your name gives you all sorts of grand ideas and that sealed the deal for me. It was bull riding and nothing else.”
This season, Kizmey continues to win. Sitting in second for the all around world title and taking first place in contests during the season, Kizmey credits a great team surrounding him as well as the mental strength that keeps him at the top of the leaderboard.
“The mental side of this is the hardest part of the sport,” said Kizmey. “Injuries happen. At the end of the day it’s bull riding. You cannot expect to walk away healthy all of the time. There is an aspect of having selective amnesia when it comes to the sport. You cannot dwell on the injuries or the mistakes. Danger is a very real part of the sport. The most important lesson is learning to minimize the mistakes and capitalize on your assets. This is where the hard work really comes into play. Not only does hard work breed success, it solidifies my confidence. Whether you are the prodigy or not the most talented, the work you put in determines how far you go, no matter what profession you pick. I learned that from a young age. Growing up on a ranch, the work never stops. There is no 9-5 work day on a ranch, it is 24/7/365. That work ethic I learned from a young age translates to how I carry myself to this day.”
Team Polaris knows what it takes to be at the top of the leaderboard just like Kizmey.
“I don’t know how anyone who works on a ranch, doesn’t have a Polaris machine,” said Kizmey. “It is not a luxury, it is a necessity. So to be aligned with a brand like Polaris, a brand who’s name speaks for themself, it is a career honor. You want to be a part of a brand that speaks for itself. There is credibility that comes when you don’t have to explain what the brand stands for.”
Any else want to try a bull just once? It’s only 8 seconds to the bell.
