NFR Flag Girls provide rodeo’s pomp, pageantry

Ask anyone connected to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo — fans, event officials, and of course contestants — and they’ll tell you that these 10 days are all about the competition.

But they’ll also agree that the pageantry of the NFR is a key component of what makes this event the annual spectacle that it is. And there’s arguably nothing that exudes that pageantry more than the NFR Flag Girls.

They number 21 in all, and every night of the rodeo begins with part of this extraordinarily talented team — dubbed the Opening Six — leading the way for the Grand Entry. In the dark, by the way, as the lights are turned down for the team’s entrance, giving a whole new level of appreciation for each rider’s timing and skill.

At various other points throughout the evening, all 21 riders are involved. Every one of them has a story to tell, too, about how they arrived at this point. Let’s endeavor to tell a few.

The architect

As the Flag Girls coordinator, Angie Burton oversees these 21 young ladies, generally in their late teens to mid-20s. And Burton knows what it takes to be in their shoes — or rather, in their saddles, as that’s where she once sat.

“I carried flags for the first time in the 1998 NFR. Then I competed for Miss Rodeo America in 1999, and then I carried flags for seven more years,” Burton said. “I’ve done almost every part of the pageantry.”

So in 2009, when the opportunity came along to direct the team, she was a natural fit.

“I love being involved in the production part of it. And I love having the opportunity to work with these women from across the country. They’re from Alaska all the way to Florida,” Burton said.

Burton’s job is to bind together 21 riders who, at best, only ride with each other once a year, if they’re Flag Girls veterans. And there are rookies in the mix, too. Burton annually does the job flawlessly, largely due to the talents of those on the team.

“These girls are great,” she said. “I just talk to them about being prepared for anything. They’re professionals, they’re cowgirls, they have great horsemanship. They truly make it look so easy, but it’s not. It’s about timing and precision. And all eyes are on them.”

Indeed, 17,000-plus fans pack the Thomas &Mack Center every night for the NFR, and the Flag Girls set the tone for the night.

“My most nerve-wracking part of the entire night is those first two minutes. You can never prepare for the energy of the arena,” Burton said. “My Opening Six riders come charging into the arena. They have to come in riding hard, and they set the stage. They do a great job, so amazing.”

A magical moment

Bailee Davis is in her seventh year with the Flag Girls, rising to the prestigious level of leading the Opening Six each night. The St. George, Utah, cowgirl echoed Burton’s thoughts about getting 21 riders in the same frame of mind, hitting their marks with precision for 10 straight nights.

“All 21 of us come together as a team in just a couple of days,” Davis said. “It’s a good challenge, and there has to be a lot of trust between all 21 of us and between us and all 21 horses.”

No doubt, those 21 beautiful black horses — experts in their own right — have become as much a part of the pageantry as any other element. For Davis, it’s an honor and a privilege, and very much a challenge, as she noted, to lead the team into the arena each night.

“It really sets the stage for the rest of the rodeo. It hypes up the crowd,” she said. “We’re riding into the arena in the dark. It’s a huge trust thing for all six of us to know our job. And when we come out, the crowd just loses their mind. The adrenaline rush for all of us is just insane.”

And for the Opening Six and really the entire team, there’s nothing quite like a perfect performance, from the Grand Entry to the moments throughout the evening that all 21 are on the arena dirt. And those perfect performances happen on the regular, by the way.

“When we nail it, we’re all giggling and laughing and yelling as we ride out of the arena,” Davis said. “It’s almost a release. It’s pretty magical.”

Special connection

Sierra Wertz is in her first official year as part of the NFR Flag Girls. In 2019, she substituted for one night — a memory that won’t go away.

“I’ll never forget that,” Wertz said, while noting that the new memories of this first time riding all 10 nights are equally indelible. “It’s exciting riding in each night. I feel like the excitement overcomes my entire body, to the point where I’m almost trembling, but not in a bad way. It feels like the stands are just sparkling. It’s just surreal.”

Wertz is from McClave, Colorado, a rural outpost in the southeastern part of the state. And no doubt, she is family proud and hometown proud — “I was adopted. I just want to make my mom proud and do a good job for my hometown,” she says — and very Colorado proud. Even the black horse she rides is from the Vold Rodeo Company in Avondale, Colorado.

“Riding a Colorado horse is very special to me, riding a Vold horse is very special,” McClave said, while noting she nurtures that rider/horse relationship the way most of us might with our trusted dog. “The best part is the connection I have with the horses. I always keep little cookies in my pocket for my horse. It’s just a special connection.”

Making the team

Born in Deadwood, South Dakota, Morgan Young arrived on the NFR Flag Girls team via the rigorous application/tryout process in 2018. There were 150 applicants, each of whom submitted two short essays, along with a two-minute video showcasing their riding skill.

From those 150, Burton chose 10 to come to Las Vegas during the 2018 NFR to interview and further demonstrate their horsemanship. And from those 10, three were chosen to join 18 returnees on the 2019 NFR Flag Girls team.

“I was a rodeo queen in South Dakota, and I wanted to be part of the NFR. I have a huge passion for the production,” Young said. “I’ll never forget the moment I got the call from Angie to be one of the 10 interviews.”

Then it was on to a whirlwind day for the last step in the process.

“It’s all in one day. I showed up in Vegas, did my interview and rode a horse,” Young said, noting it was an emotional few hours while waiting for the results. And even more emotional when those results were announced.

“When she called my name, I had tears in my eyes. It’s truly a dream come true, an extremely coveted position to be in. It’s surreal to be selected and acknowledged, that I have what it takes to be on this team.”

Young has learned a lot in her relatively short time on the team, quickly picking up on the rules to live by.

“Just ride your horse, don’t be complacent, and smile. No matter what, always smile,” she said. “It becomes like that movie ‘Groundhog Day,’ in a good way, because it’s every night. It would be very easy to get complacent. But you cannot sit back and relax. Everything is timed right down to the second, and we play a huge part in that, so we just always have to be on our game.”

Riding before a packed house of excited rodeo fans makes that easy, and certainly makes the hard work beforehand and during the NFR worthwhile. There’s no place Young and her 20 compatriots would rather be every December.

“It’s great being surrounded by 20 other girls who help me rise up, being with the best of the best, surrounded by such motivated people. That’s one of the coolest things. Each day, I feel so fulfilled,” Young said. “People say Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. I’d say the Thomas &Mack during the NFR is the happiest place on earth.”