Pushing the Barrier by Speed Williams - November 2008
A New Job
After roping for a living all my life I’ve taken something on that’s even more challenging in many ways. We had the first official “Speed’s Match Roping” at Lone Star Arena in Stephenville, Texas this month and the response was amazing. Ropers told me they had never had so much fun at a roping and spectators had never enjoyed watching a roping like this before. One participant told me that watching the whole roping was like watching a short round.
When roping head to head there are so many things that can happen. You can miss, break a barrier, rope a leg and still be in the roping – depending on what the team you’re matching does. In the Open there were teams that missed and still got to rope because the team behind them missed too. You might get in a tough match or you might get in an easy match. My goal in creating “Speed’s Match Roping” is to make the roping enjoyable, for both ropers and spectators, without any one roping lasting more than three or four hours.
I’m excited about the response and interest generated, but I now work at a desk for five hours a day before going to the arena to rope. I never guessed sitting at a desk could be such hard work. In the past all I did was rope and it was an all day job. Now I realize how challenging it is to rope when you have to shift gears after working at a desk for eight hours – both mentally and physically. Your mind is in overdrive and it’s hard to shut it off and rope. It takes an incredible amount of discipline to refocus and get the maximum benefit from your practice.
It makes practicing for the USTRC Finals, the Dallas Tour Finale and the National Finals tougher for me. I have two horses I’m preparing for the USTRC Finals and four that are being tuned up for Las Vegas. They are two very different scenarios. At the USTRC Finals you sit up straight, score and ride your horse. The steers hesitate and are angled toward the right fence. Near the back of the arena the steer starts coming toward you because the stripping chute is in the opposite corner. I don’t particularly like the set up but the reasoning is to give you more room to catch your steer.
On the other hand, at the National Finals in Las Vegas, you start out over your horse, try to throw at the end of the chute and then run to the wall and face. One scenario is very controlled and disciplined and the other is trying to be as fast as you can. Very different kinds of practice. It’s important to practice for the situation you will be competing in. You need to know the type of steers you’ll be roping and practice on that type of steers.
Next year I’ll be roping with Clay O’Brien Cooper. I told him I wanted to do a few schools, go to the bigger rodeos and jackpots and allow myself time to work “Speed’s Match Roping” and he was agreeable.
We’re really excited about the “Speed Williams Invitational Match” that will be held at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas on the Sunday after the National Finals. This roping will be held in conjunction with the World Series of Team Roping and will be great watching. With a field of 64 teams, first place will pay $60,000 and we have some major sponsors on board. I’m looking forward to sanctioning “Speed’s Match Roping” and giving producers a number of options and levels to choose from. For more information visit www.matchroping.com.
Speed is currently booking clinics for the fall/winter. For more information or scheduling you may email Speed at speedywilliams@gmail.com.
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