A move from one side of the country to the other is proving fruitful for rising rodeo star Isaac Leclair.
Bucking the trend of young people leaving the country to move to the city, the 24-year-old, who grew up in Western Australia has moved his life to Tamworth to continue to pursue his complementary careers in rodeo and fitness.
“I was stuck in NSW during COVID and while I was here, I made a few friends, grew connections, then drove home for Christmas,” he said.
“Once a couple of years had gone past, I thought I had to come back, and eventually I had to tear the bandaid off and I moved over in early 2023.”
Isaac has an uncle who lives close to Tamworth and with his contacts that he’d already made, he said it was a good move both professionally and personally.
“I had a bit of a starting point with a foot in the door,” he said.
“In terms of rodeo, there are a lot of rodeos around here with the National Finals at AELEC and most of the people I know around here have horses and bulls you can go ride and practice on.”
How did Isaac get hooked on such a dangerous sport? He was born with rodeo in his blood.
“I was 12 or 13 when I hopped on my first steer and, on my mum’s side of the family, they have been involved in rodeo for quite a long time,” he said.
“So, I had gone along to watch while I was growing up and there was a practice going on, and they asked my brother and I, ‘did you want to have a go?’ I was a little hesitant at first, but after coming off into the sand, I thought, ‘that wasn’t as bad as I thought’ and I wasn’t sore and not hurt.
“As I grew, the bulls I got on got bigger and bigger and the last few years I’ve turned it up a notch and taken it more seriously as a professional bull and bareback bronc rider.”
As Isaac continues to push himself further in the rodeo world, the titles are rolling in, being named 2022 Rookie All Round Cowboy of Australia and, in the Western Australian titles, Rookie Bullrider of the Year, Rookie Bareback Rider and Rookie All Rounder.
This year, he ticked off a bucket list item and rode at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
Over five days, there were bulls, bucking horses and steer wrestling.
“As an international event, it is one that cowboys and cowgirls want to get to at least once,” Isaac said.
“I competed in the bull ride and on bareback broncs.”
To stay on top of their game in the rodeo world means athletes must keep up a high level of fitness and Isaac’s other career as a trainer with F45 works in well.
“I bumped into Damien Sweet, the head coach of F45 Training South Perth, in Kalgoorlie, and he asked how I prepared for these events, and I said I go to the gym and keep my fitness levels up, so he asked if I’d heard of F45,” Isaac said.
“He asked me to come over for a week to see if I liked it, so I go there for a week, then another month, then I find out F45s are everywhere, so I started training there in Tamworth for functional fitness.
“Tamworth manager Hunter Thompson asked if I would like a job at the gym when I moved, so I did my Cert III in fitness so I’m coaching as well as training and working in the creche, too.”
Isaac said he enjoys using his platform as a coach and member of F45 to get the word out there because he’s “covering these bulls, getting on these horses and it’s all working together”.
“I’m able to show how fitness is so important because with these bulls and horses, coming onto the professional level, they’re not wild bulls brought in from the bush, the bulls and horses are bred from good stock from Australia and the US and they’re getting better and better,” he said.
“As an athlete, you’ve got two choices – train and keep up with them or fall off and get left behind.”
Isaac said his goal is to incorporate both rodeo and fitness and to show people the significance of how they go ‘hand in hand’ through his work with individual clients with sport specific exercises/workouts and also group fitness, together with his F45 training and wants to work on getting more people involved and showing the importance of fitness in general life.
Since moving, life has fallen into place for Isaac and he said life in the New England was treating him well as Tamworth was both “big enough and small enough” and he’s spreading the word on the region.
“It has everything you need, and small enough not to be travelling long distances to get from A to B and is central to rodeos,” he said.
“I do have a couple of friends who are interested in moving over.”
The future continues to look bright for the rising star of the rodeo scene.
“I would like to have the opportunity to ride at National Finals this year, but if not, there will always be next year,” he said.
“Rodeo opens up a lot of doors to everything because I wouldn’t have seen 80 per cent of Australia if it wasn’t for rodeo.”
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