Whataburger's Whatakid: Slade Baumann

Congratulations to the Whatakid of the month, Slade Baumann! Slade, a 17-year-old senior from Canyon, Tx, is a force to be reckoned with. He competes in team roping and calf roping. While he enjoys both of them, he does tend to team rope a little more because there simply is more team ropings available to go.

He currently rides two different horses: Rolex and Smack. Rolex is his head horse, while Smack is his calf horse. He mentioned how both of the horses just work well with him and he really enjoys riding them.

Slade has grown up in rodeo. He attended his first junior rodeo in kindergarten at age five. At the time, Slade had no idea how much he would come to love rodeo. “I just liked the idea of it,” Slade said about his junior rodeo days. “I didn’t really think about doing it my entire life, but here I am still roping.” He is currently a member of THSRA.

Slade’s favorite rodeos have been the Vegas Junior NFR and Spicer Gripp Memorial. Last year, Slade won the pro-am team roping and scholarship roping at the Spicer Gripp. He also won a round in team roping at the Junior NFR in 2018. His greatest accomplishment is qualifying for nationals in team roping out of Texas this year. “It was kind of surprising honestly,” Slade said. “That had been my goal for a while but when you finally get there it’s like holy cow you actually did it this time.”

Rodeo is Slade’s favorite because it combines his two favorite things: competition and horses. “Rodeo is a sport where you can have both, which is why I have always been drawn to it,” Slade said. He is thankful that rodeo has taught him how to set and accomplish goals and how to be a hard worker.

One of his favorite rodeo memories is from the Spicer Gripp in 2018. The rodeo was the day after his grandad’s funeral, and he roped in the Junior NFR qualifier roping. “He would always come watch me and really enjoyed being at my rodeos,” Slade said. “I won first and second in the average that day. It was a cool way to honor him.”

Not only does Slade compete in rodeo, but he is also a member of the varsity football team, Future Farmers of America and National Honor Society at Canyon High School. He mentioned that he really enjoys football because of the intense competition and FFA because of the learning aspect involved with the club.

In addition, he also takes his academics very seriously. Slade has been awarded the superintendent scholar all four years of high school and is in the top 10% of his class. His favorite class is currently biology because he “finds it interesting and wants to major in something related to biology.” In his free time, Slade can probably be found hunting coyotes or fishing.

“My parents have always told me to go be great every day,” Slade said when asked what his motto on life is. “I just try to be great at whatever I have lined up that day. I think it is important to try as hard as you can no matter what you are doing.” Slade is constantly reminded of this by his dad, David Baumann. “Every day, when my dad sees us in the morning, he tells us to go be great today.”

Someone that Slade looks up to is his dad. “He has always given me a great example to look up to,” Slade said. “He taught me the right way to be.” In addition to just being a great example, Slade admires how hard his dad works.

In the future, Slade plans to attend Texas A&M University with the goal of one day becoming a dentist or orthodontist. He plans to continue rodeoing at Texas A&M.

Slade is honored to be this month’s Whatakid. “It feels really good,” Slade said. “It gives you something to hold on to. It lets you know that someone recognizes the work and time you have been putting in.”