Making Waves
RODEO Comes to the Beach
BreakaWave Rodeo is the Wild West at the country’s Pacific shore.
Written by Amelia Fleetwood
Photographs by Elizabeth Hay
We all know what a quintessential California postcard looks like: swaying palm trees, a cloudless sky, and perfect sets of waves rolling in from the Pacific Ocean onto an expansive beach. Take that endless-summer image, and add a rodeo on the sand. Sunbathers and surfers make way for galloping horses and bucking broncos, while young women and men wielding lassos and wearing cowboy hats fiercely compete in the fourth annual BreakaWave Rodeo. It’s the Wild West at the country’s Pacific shore, with the ocean acting as the fourth fence of the competition arena.
The one-of-a-kind rodeo experience takes place this year on September 17 at Pismo Beach in San Luis Obispo County. The event is created and hosted by the rodeo team at California Polytechnic State University, and it’s the brainchild of head coach Ben Londo.
As the fourth generation of bucking-chute regulars, Londo comes from rodeo royalty: His father was famous for holding the National Finals Rodeo world record in the saddle broncs event for an astounding 22 years. But Londo himself is no slouch when it comes to rodeo. The Cal Poly alum competed in saddle bronc and bareback events professionally during college and won a world title before retiring from the arena in 2017. In 2013 he returned to Cal Poly as the head coach with his young family in tow. Thanks to him, the school is one of the top universities creating high-level rodeo professionals.
“Rodeo is one of the most humbling sports. Nothing comes easy, and you have to work hard for it.”
With an incomparable get-it-done attitude and a massive ability to multitask, Londo has kept the history and tradition of rodeo alive, while bringing it into the modern world. He balances nostalgia and innovation, seeking to improve the BreakaWave event each year. That name refers to not just the waves crashing on the beach but also “breakaway roping,” a women-only event that takes center stage at the competition.
“Our focus has been pushing for more of a female presence in rodeo and Western heritage,” Londo says. “Women did not have much to do in rodeo traditionally other than barrel racing, but now the popularity of breakaway roping gives women another platform to rise to the top and earn equal prize money to the male ropers. We have been trying to help build up that atmosphere of putting women athletes where they belong—up on a pedestal in rodeo.”
Londo jokingly describes his role at Cal Poly as a glorified janitor, but the achievements of his 105 students—75 of them women—suggests otherwise. The school has one of the toughest and most respected college rodeo programs in the country, and breakaway roping is the event they are winning most.
It started as an idea to help boost students’ morale during the COVID-19 shutdowns. “Having the kids just practice to practice, with nowhere to compete, got me thinking about how to create an opportunity for them to build up morale,” Londo says. “In the past we had used the beach as an alternative place to train. When heavy rains flooded out the arena, we would pack up and have a fun day practicing at the beach.” As luck would have it, the beach was one of the first public spaces to reopen, and in 2021, in keeping with the school’s mantra, “Learn by Doing,” the BreakaWave event was born.
Haleigh Grant, one of Cal Poly’s top student athletes, competes at the collegiate level of breakaway roping and hopes to make the National Finals Rodeo someday. “The BreakaWave is unlike any other event I have ever competed in,” she says. “I competed the very first year, and I had so much fun. It’s a memory I will never forget. Last year the tournament-style setup was unbelievable.” (The women compete concurrently in different pens.) “There’s nothing that will ever give you that much adrenaline, not knowing how the other girl across from you just did and having to focus on your own run. I can’t wait to see what Coach Londo has planned for this year.”
Londo notes, “Tensions build because we have such a narrow window of time to put this event on between tides, which is one of the big challenges for the production team.”
Ultimately, Londo’s favorite part of working with the team at Cal Poly is being able to give these student athletes opportunities. “I’m dealing with pretty high-caliber individuals. To get into Cal Poly they have to be very well rounded and very dedicated, and I’m facilitating chances for these kids to become better in and out of the arena. That’s really rewarding.”
Grant adds, “Rodeo is one of the most humbling sports. Nothing comes easy, and you have to work hard for it. Rodeo has taught me to accept loss and be even more determined in the practice pen. I have learned so much.”
“As a school, we have been lucky in regional championships and at the national level,” Londo says. “But all that can feel like back-burner accomplishments compared to the feeling I get when a kid calls me three years after they graduate and asks me to officiate at their wedding because I made an impact on their lives. That is what it really boils down to.”
There is a beauty to rodeo that might not seem immediately apparent to the casual onlooker, he explains. “What I’ve seen from a coaching level in the kids is the sheer determination and willingness to work hard. The payoff might be the connections they make, the experiences they have, and the people they develop into through being part of a team, in a program that is pushing these values and learning by doing.”
