DAVID MIRHADI Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Thursday, November 8, 2007 12:00 am
The Cowboy State Games, saved just last year from cancellation, appear to have been put out to pasture for good.
The organization's board of directors decided to end the 22-year amateur sports showcase after executive director Eileen Ford, who has been associated with the games since 1988, accepted a new job. The three-member board of directors realized there wasn't any money in the bank to hire a new person to run the winter sports competitions, most of which were held in Casper.
"The reality is that it has become more and more difficult to raise the necessary funds to sustain the Games, and the board of directors believes the event has run its course," the three-member board of directors said in a statement released Wednesday.
The games, which had run on consecutive weekends in February, featured track and field competitions, wrestling matches, gymnastics meets - even some unusual events, including an arm-wrestling tournament held at the Eastridge Mall.
"Based on the last few years, with the struggles that the Cowboy State Games had, we felt it had run its course," Ford said in an interview Wednesday.
The Cowboy State Games began in 1986 in Cheyenne and were originally held in the summer. The games were moved to Casper after a few years and, in 2002, were shifted to the winter.
The games were in jeopardy of shutting down as recently as last year, when the plug was temporarily pulled due to a shortage of cash before the community rallied with donations, allowing the games to go on.