The athletic field at It Takes a Village Leadership Academy on the South Side usually hosts football and soccer games, but on Sunday it was home to a different kind of competition.

Cowboys, cowgirls and cattle thundered onto the field for a rodeo that also doubled as a resource fair to help connect military veterans with the services they need.

South Shore native Ben Minett, who served in the Navy from 2000 to 2003, said he’s “never really seen something like this before.” He said the event helped introduce him to some of the veterans’ benefits he qualifies for, which he didn’t know about when he left the military.

“Sometimes when you get back out in the civilian world you don’t even think about that, you just get back out here,” said Minett, 47. “This is really needed.”

The inaugural

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