Whataburger's Whatakid: Chet Weitz

Congratulations to the Whatakid of the month, Chet Weitz! The Region 10 native resides in Mason, Texas and is a senior at Mason High School. He heads in the team roping and ropes calves as well.

Chet will be finishing up his fourth year of THSRA competition this year. Throughout his time as a member, Chet said THSRA has created a lot of opportunities and friendships he might not have gotten had he not been a member.

“THSRA gives opportunities to high school kids, like myself, to further their rodeo career and have a better chance of being able to get to the professional level,” Chet said. He also mentioned the lessons he has learned and the character traits THSRA has helped develop. “Being a part of THSRA, and just the rodeo world as a whole, has helped me with the importance of responsibility, commitment, dedication, accountability, being respectful, and trustworthy,” he said. "There are a lot of people in the rodeo world who you meet, and build relationships with and you rely on them and they rely on you and you have to trust them and they have to trust you. It’s a community.”

He has been able to carry those traits into his extracurricular activities as well. Chet is a member of National Honor Society, UIL, the A-Honor Roll and he plays tennis, golf and basketball.

A typical day in the life of Chet starts at 6:15 in the morning with getting ready for school, a 45-minute drive one way to get to school, two hours of after school tennis practice, and then home to rope for two to three hours every afternoon. Once he’s gotten his practice in, he starts homework at around eleven in the evening and then gets ready for bed and prepares to do it all over again the next morning!

A common denominator amongst those who grow up in the rodeo world, is dedication and Chet is no exception. He said he stopped playing football and baseball so he could dedicate more time to roping. The time he spends in the practice pen or at rodeos could be time spent studying or hanging out with friends, but when asked what makes the sacrifices worth it, he said he loves to win. “I like the way rodeo demonstrates the cowboy way of life, but in addition to that, I love to be on top. I don’t want to be the first loser, I want to win,” Chet said.

And, while the desire and confidence was apparent in Chet’s tone of voice, so was the humility and gratitude. He has seen a good deal of success throughout his rodeo career including qualifying for the National High School Rodeo Finals, winning the Roy Cooper, Barry Burk and Joe Beaver Ropings, two Ultimate Calf Roping finals, and qualifying for the Jr. NFR amongst other various wins. He was also recently granted Rodeo Fame’s Lane Frost award in Las Vegas.

Behind great success is typically great support. Rodeo is a family affair for the Weitz family as Chet’s little sister is also a THSRA member, and both of their parents have rodeoed in the past. “Being together as a family and being able to practice together, we get to spend a lot of quality time together,” Chet said. “We are all doing something we love and that brings us closer together as a family.” Chet went on to express how thankful he was for all his family and friends have done and sacrificed to help him chase his own dreams.

In the fall Chet will be attending Texas Tech University with a rodeo scholarship. He is planning on double majoring in wildlife biology and agri-business. While his first goal is to rodeo professionally and qualify for the NFR, he is also interested in continuing his family business on Weitz Ranch.

Chet said he is very honored to be selected as the Whatakid of the month. “It means a lot because there are so many kids to choose from in Region 10 and for me to be selected is an honor,” Chet said. “I’m very humbled and honored.”

We wish Chet all the best as he finishes up this season of life and heads into a new one!