National Senior Pro Rodeo Association
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2016 HALL OF FAME

John Kissel

When John and Karen Kissel married 48 years ago, they not only committed to a long term successful marriage, they also quickly became a well know team of professionals, much in demand for providing judging, flagging, timing and secretarial services.

John, a junior high and high school math teacher for 30 years, joined the PRCA shortly after he and Karen were married in order to rope calves and team rope with his Dad. His teaching position allowed him to travel the rodeo circuit during the summer with Honeycutt Rodeo Company as a pickup man.

In approximately 1989, John joined the NSPRA and placed in the calf roping at four of the five rodeos he entered that summer. Those five rodeos were among NSPRA's biggest and best: Rocky Ford, CO; Longmont, CO; Woodland Park, CO; Henderson, CO; Douglas, WY. John has always trained his own rope horses and also prefers to flag rodeos on one of his own.

In the late 90s, he began judging PRCA rodeos and naturally worked into judging NSPRA rodeos also. He was selected as pick-up man at the Mountain States Circuit Finals and the Turquoise Circuit Finals several different years. He also judged the NSPRA Finals for ten years. In 2015 John was named Women's Professional Rodeo Association "Judge of the Year".

John has written a monthly article for the Fellowship of Christian Cowboy's newsletter, "The Line Rider", since 2007, and continues to do so today. He and Karen have always been devout Christians, and the way they have lived their lives and performed their jobs is testimony to their faith.

The utmost professional in the performance of his judging duties, John is always at the rodeo early, putting up the barrier, setting barrel markers, helping committees with their preparation, and making sure everything is ready to start on time.

His expertise as a judge includes helping the committee to put on a well run rodeo. Always concerned about fairness to contestants and enforcing the rulebook, John has even been known to stop a rodeo to work ground that was unsafe.

Needless to say, when event directors arrive at a rodeo and find out he is judging, they breathe a sigh of relief knowing that John will make sure things are done right!

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