Meadow Lake's Cody Coverchuk keeps his hand closed during a previous rodeo. He goes in as the favourite in the 2023 PBR Canadian Finals. (Covy Moore/CovyMoore.com)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Bull Rider

Meadow Lake’s Coverchuk favoured to win top prize in bull riding finals

Nov 15, 2023 | 12:24 PM

His brother dared him to get on a cow when he was 10. Now, 19 years later, Cody Coverchuk is going into the 2023 PBR (Professional Bull Rider) Canada National Finals as the number-one ranked rider in Canada.

“That’s kind of a new experience for me; I never went into the PBR Canada Finals being the guy that everybody’s chasing,” he said.

The event will take place in Edmonton, Alta. this weekend at Rogers Place which will see over 20 bull riders vying for the $225,000 purse plus a bonus of $100,000 that Coverchuk hopes will be his.

It’s been a life-long passion, and he has been chasing the eight seconds ever since.

“Your career only spans so long so, you gotta make the most of it while you can,” he said of his career thus far.

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“Definitely getting up there in the age – in the bull-riding age – I feel like probably 55 or 60, so I don’t know how much longer I’m going to go. I’m not done yet after this year; I’m going to keep going.”

According to the PBR Canada National Standings stats, Coverchuk comes in as the favourite with 44 out of 78 attempts ridden (stays on for eight seconds) and leads the board with 710.16 points – 68.5 ahead of the second-place rider.

“We have four rounds so essentially, I’m going to be keeping my hand closed for 32 seconds and that doesn’t sound like a long time,” he said.

“That’s getting on four of the rankest bulls not just in Canada but the world, so it’s definitely – it’s going to be a hard, grueling weekend.”

If he does his job, the kid from Meadow Lake will have that bonus cheque at the end.

“Hopefully the cards are in my favour and yeah, as far as bull riding is yeah, it’s simple. Just keep your hand closed and stay on the bull for eight seconds.”

The journey to get to this moment was a long time coming. After his initial attempt on that cow as a boy, Coverchuk rode his first full grown bull at 14 and during his junior and senior years, jumped on around 200 bulls every winter as he trained once a week in Vermilion, Alta.

Then he would get on between four to 10 bulls every session and drive back for school the next day.

“My dad made sure I was at class at 9 a.m., or else I couldn’t go to Vermilion ever again,” he said.

“It’s kind of unique because, yeah, most high school kids go to basketball practice on Wednesday night and I went to bull riding practice.”

Choosing the sport was a natural fit for Coverchuk he said though he didn’t expect it would lead somewhere.

“I just thought ‘I‘ll just take it day for day see how it goes, rodeo to rodeo’ and the next thing you know I turned it into – this is my job for the next 11 years,” he said, noting that as an adrenaline junkie, he fell in love with the sport.

As Coverchuk heads to Alberta, he leaves knowing that there is much riding on this performance. If he stays in top standings and wins, he will join fellow rider Aaron Roy in a tie for winning three national titles.

“If somebody tells me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it and that’s just like bull riding every single day for me,” he said.

“The odds are always stacked against you, so it’s an awesome sport.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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