BROADVIEW — For Kade Erickson, it’s just a normal part of life.
“When I was little, maybe 3 years old, I was out on the combine with my dad falling asleep," Erickson said of growing up on the family's farm. "I was tired of it at the time, but looking back on it, it's really shaped me into who I am and has given me a lot of life lessons that will stick with me."
Erickson had just wrapped up his redshirt freshman season for the Rocky Mountain College men’s basketball team when teammate and Lewistown product Royce Robinson was pondering a summer job.
“We were on a roadtrip or in the dorms or something and I was like, I don't know what I want to do this summer. I wanted to be close to school so I could work out, especially with the new coach coming in. I was like, 'It would be nice if I knew someone with a ranch that I could work for,' and the idea was born," Robinson said. "One of my buddies did this last year. He parked his camper on a friend's ranch and worked for them all summer. Our camper was just sitting at our house, so I thought, shoot, I'll do the same thing."
Robinson isn’t completely unfamiliar to a life in agriculture, having participated in 4-H when he was young. But this is certainly a step up from showing sheep at the Central Montana Fair.
“You obviously see it but you don't really know the ins and outs of it. It's been really fun to learn that from Kade's dad. Whatever Kade tells you, I already know as much as him," Robinson said.
Don’t worry. It’s not all work for the teammates, as Robinson has been introduced to the friendly confines of the Broadview gym.
“We have a pretty good routine going. We try to get up early before we go out and work and go lift at the high school here, then either get some shots up or go into town a couple times a week," Robinson said.
A little trial run for these guys as they prep to be roommates in the fall.
