Marsh Valley’s Tietsie Fly has done a lot, and dealt with a lot on the road to rodeo queen

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MCCAMMON — Being a student-athlete is difficult. Maintaining good grades and practicing an athletic craft, by themselves, can be highly taxing. But for Marsh Valley’s Tietsie Fly, it’s just life.

Not only is Tietsie involved in sports, she is a four-sport athlete: playing basketball, volleyball, golf and rodeoing. And within the sport of rodeo, she does seven different events — barrel racing, cow cutting, reigning cow horses, light rifle, pole bending, breakaway and queening.

It’s a heavy workload, she admits, but she has no interest in lightening that load — especially not if that means less rodeoing.

“I’ve rodeoed my whole life,” Tietsie told EastIdahoSports.com. “I started riding when I was tiny, and I’ve grown to love the sport.”

And why did she fall in love with the sport at such a young age?

“I just love to be around the horses,” she said. “Being in the sport of rodeo is, really, one of the greatest blessings that I have had. … I work really hard for rodeo — it’s, like, my safe place.”

That is why, for the first time since she began her rodeo life, Tietsie considered backing away from the sport earlier this year.

It happened in January, when her beloved horse and competition partner, Kicking Bird, died.

“That really put — I kind of froze for a moment,” Tietsie said about confronting the loss of her friend.

Tietsie went on to describe the great relationship she formed with the horse over the years of riding together, and how, though her family has other horses, not having Kicking Bird dampened, albeit momentarily, her passion and interest in the spot she had loved all her life.

“She was just such a fun horse,” an emotional Tietsie said of her beloved Kicking Bird.

But a family friend offered to sell Tietsie and her mother, Mackenzie Fly, a new horse.

Soon, her passion returned.

“It’s been a struggle, it really has. But we’re finally getting with each other,” Tietsie said of her new horse.

If any family understands the trials and tribulations that come with sports and life, for that matter, it’s Tietsie, her two siblings and Mackenzie.

Though she grew up rodeoing as well, going to Southern Utah University on a rodeo scholarship before getting her pro card for barrel racing, Mackenzie was born with Von Willebrand disease — a rare blood disorder that prevents blood from clotting naturally. That means a simple cut, if not quickly identified, could lead to massive blood loss, and in the case of Mackenzie, who had two fingers amputated, the loss of body parts.

“We have to be pretty vigilant about rodeo and things like that, because the bumps and bruises that don’t normally hurt, I guess, a ‘normal person,’ could end up killing us,” Mackenzie said.

Still, all the Fly children are involved in sports. And Tietsie not only does her four sports, but she also boxes in an annual fundraising event at Marsh Valley High School.

“I don’t feel like I’ve ever held my kids back from doing anything they want to do,’ Mackenzie said. “I don’t think that putting them in a box and not letting them live is a life either. … What is life if you’re not living it? You can get hurt just as easy tripping in your house and hitting your head.”

The kids, Mackenzie explained, get IV treatments before any big sporting events, and are on medication that helps their blood clot should injuries occur.

Mackenzie has been so vigilant in informing her children and others around the family of the special precautions needed, Tietsie and her siblings have been able to enjoy the “normal” things in life without fear.

“My mom has always had it taken care of for us,” Tietsie said. “It’s not really something that is my biggest worry.”

Able to focus on school, sports and, of course, rodeo, allowed Tietsie to earn the title of District 4 Rodeo Queen this year, a job that comes with responsibilities that help the teen grow even further.

Tietsie admitted that public speaking has never been a strength of hers. But as the rodeo queen, she is required to talk to people and introduce them to the rodeo and its many events. That, she said, has helped her combat her fear of talking, using rodeo and a need to spread information about Von Willebrand disease.

“I’ve always loved Queening, it’s helped me a lot in my life,” Tietsie said.

Mackenzie said it has been a great joy to watch her daughter grow through her duties as rodeo queen.

Between school, queening, volleyball, basketball and golf, Tietsie juggles a lot. But she always finds time to do the things she loves — even if that means riding at night. And she does it all with a heavy heart, while sharing with anyone who will listen, the facts of Von Willebrand disease.

“It gets a little time-consuming, but it’s all worth it,” she said.