15-year-old West Michigan bull rider rides at Van Andel Arena

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — 15-year-old Moria Novakoski has been riding bulls for only a year and is already making a name for herself.

“It’s made me become a better person, in my eyes,” Novakoski said. “Just being able to talk to people, doing stuff like this. I’ve been able to be somebody people look up to, little girls in the stands. It’s just really cool.”

No, she doesn’t worry about getting hurt.

“In World finals, I may have gotten stepped on and broke my leg,” Novakoski said. “I never got it checked out or nothing, but I was limping around a little bit the next couple of weeks. I was out in Utah, so I never thought about it.”

Yes, her mother knows she does this. In fact, she supports it.

“She knows I would do it if even if she wanted me to or not,” Novakoski said. “She knows the dream of mine, and she’ll help me accomplish it for sure.”

Moria is an adrenaline junky. She also has love and respect for animals. So, when she met family members who casually rode bulls, she gave it a shot. 

She was hooked. Her mom, Jody, got her tickets to watch PBR in Grand Rapids a few months later. This year, she’s competing in it. Moria’s determined to be the first woman to make the PBR tour.

Moria competes with PBR Next Gen, a program mentoring young bull riders and allowing them to compete on the PBR Velocity Tour. Turning a hobby into a passion has led to daily workouts, four-hour car rides just for practices and even longer flights. 

But on Friday, she didn’t have to go far at all. 

Moria got to compete in her hometown at Van Andel Arena in front of about 50 friends and family.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing everybody,” she said. “It’s all these people I haven’t seen through the winter yet and I get to see all the amazing faces through it.”

There were even more fans in the stands cheering for her. Little girls looking up to Moria, exchanging bracelets after her ride and getting autographs.

“I just wear these little, like, banded bracelets at all my rodeos… I’ll wear five to ten each ride,” Novakoski said. “It just, it means a lot for the little girls that I’ll sign their autograph and then give them one of these and I’ll be like, ‘I just rode tonight in that.’ And they always think it’s really cool.”

Moria fell off before the eight-second goal mark, so she didn’t get a high score. However, she takes something away from every ride, even the short ones.

“It’s been such a dream of mine,” she said. “Sitting in the stands of county fairs watching all the bull riding, I always told my mom I was going to do this one day and it’s been amazing to see that I can.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.