Team Roping Central Through the Years
Dee Yates asked me the other day, “Where was Team Roping Central in the early days of team roping?” She had just returned from Wickenburg, AZ and was in awe at all the team roping activities going on this time of year.
I didn’t have to reminisce long until I thought back to the early days of team roping becoming very popular in the early 70’s, not long after Ropers Sports News started in 1968. In those days, I guess you could say roping central was split between the Central Valley of California and Arizona – two regions that shaped the foundation of our sport.
The Central Valley of California had several arenas within a 200-mile radius where a roper could find action almost any night of the week. There was always generally an hour or so of practice prior to a jackpot or two that followed. They were pretty much “enter when you got there” type of ropings – no pre-entries or complicated classifications like today. In those days, 25-30 teams at a weeknight roping was considered a big turnout, a far cry from the hundreds you might see now.
Most all of the Pro ropers hung out in California as team roping was not popular in Texas and Oklahoma at the time. All of the spring rodeos in California had team roping as an event. Some pros would rodeo on the weekends and go to jackpots on the weeknights to win enough money to go to the rodeos the next weekend again – a pattern that kept the sport alive and growing.
This was before handicap systems, so if you went to a roping, you might find yourself facing the likes of the best in the business. Very few had even drawpots in those days. Because of the pros being there, many areas would have “funny money” in each go-round rather than pay fastest time money. The time would be drawn prior to the round, and the time closest to that time won. This clever approach let the pros ride a colt in training and not hurry the run and still win – a win-win for everyone.
Ceres, CA probably hosted the majority of the arenas within a 25-mile radius. Many snowbirds and out-of-state ropers would come to the area to rope for the winter. There weren’t living quarter trailers in those days, but some had pickup campers or motor homes. Many just stayed with other roping friends, strengthening the community bonds that have always defined our sport.
Many of the popular spring ropings came about that time of year like the Muley Ropings in the state plus the Dr. Lane Falk roping which was always in February. Riverside, CA hosted a big roping in January followed by the Falk, and then the Chowchilla Stampede was in March. This made for a good three-month run in California, creating a natural circuit that ropers could follow.
Some chose to go to Arizona and hung around the Phoenix valley. Scottsdale hosted a lot of ropings as did the Cave Creek area. You would buy a local newspaper and look in the want ads to see which ropings were listed – no social media or text alerts back then. Arizona also had many reasons to be there if you liked to rope—the weather was generally pretty good, and their rodeos hosted team roping at a time when it wasn’t yet standard in PRCA events elsewhere.
Then Bill Roer started his Roer Ropathon which would go on for a week in the LaVeen, AZ area, and his place was a great place to hang out while going to the spring rodeos in Arizona. Southern California also was a nice winter hangout for team ropers because of the mild winters and the Riverside Rancheros Roping club that hosted a big roping in December and January.
Today, Wickenburg, AZ is definitely team roping central for almost five months a year now, and my Resistol hat is off to those producers that have made all of this happen. Ropings are scaled to where any talent of roper has a place to rope every day—except the pros. The pros pretty well have to go to the rodeos in the area or find an open roping somewhere. Many of the ropings have an age limit range which eliminates the young roping talents from competition.
When I look back at those early days and compare them to what we see in Wickenburg now, I can’t help but marvel at how far we’ve come. What started as small jackpots in California and Arizona has evolved into a sophisticated industry with million-dollar payouts and specialized divisions. Yet despite all the changes, the heart of team roping remains the same – two partners, their horses, and the undeniable hook of catching both ends of a steer. Those early roping grounds might have been humble compared to today’s mega-complexes, but they laid the groundwork for everything we enjoy now. The spirit of those California and Arizona pioneers lives on every time headers and heelers back into the box, no matter where roping central happens to be.
