Dear Roper,

The ProRodeo Hall of Fame’s Induction Ceremony took place during the production of this issue, a subject which Kendra Santos and I have both covered already on these pages. 

Trevor Brazile gave the last speech of that event, and in it, he thanked the media–especially those who were in the business of promoting rodeo before there was so much television and digital coverage of the athletes. “It took a lot more work to create star power,” he said. 

He’s not wrong. Recently, we cleaned out a storage unit in our old office building, where I found a binder of the very first Spin To Win “magazines” from 1997. They were a black-and-white newsletters, and the man who’s the CEO of our company now, Tom Winsor, was writing many of the articles alongside Kendra and Jake Barnes. 

They put in the real effort to get this whole roping-magazine thing off the ground, and the different iterations it’s taken since then have been nothing short of astounding. From Spin To Win, to Spin To Win Rodeo (a version that covered all of the rodeo events each month) to The Team Roping Journal, which began five years ago this month. 

It’s certainly been a journey, adding Roping.com, “The Score” and full-scale digital coverage of the entire sport of team roping, among other things I’m sure I’m forgetting. We’ve developed valuable partnerships with all of the major roping associations, from the Ariat World Series of Team Roping, the USTRC and the NTR to the American Rope Horse Futurity Association, the Royal Crown and the Riata Buckle. 

Happy Anniversary to our entire staff, who works so hard each and every day to constantly promote the sport and inspire your time in the arena. 

As always, let us know how we’re doing. 

Chelsea

Team Roping Ties Heavy Into 2022 ProRodeo Hall of Fame Class with Brazile, Harris, Mote and Potter