Some 21 years ago, as team roping was just starting to grow at an astronomical pace thanks to the creation of the United States Team Roping Championships, the founder of this magazine sought to bring the knowledge of the pros to the everyday team ropers looking to step up their game. And I’d like to think that for the last two decades, the sport has benefited from our efforts on those terms.

As we watched, and wrote, this sport has grown in ways the early founder could have only dreamed. Single ropings at the South Point in Las Vegas now pay millions of dollars, and thousands of you flock from all corners of the country—and the globe—for the Cinch National Finals of Team Roping in Oklahoma City. In the winter, retired teachers, veterinarians, business people, ranchers and so many more load up and head to Arizona to soak up the sunshine and rope at the daily jackpots. Each of you are investing your hard-earned dollars into the dream of a fast flag in a short round.

The sport we love has gotten so big in fact that there’s now a need for something a little different than what we’ve been doing all these years. Shoot, I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to do here at Spin To Win, but we’re ready for even more. We have been asked to become the official publication of the industry, serving the members of the WSTR, USTRC and the NTR. Thus this will be the last issue of this iconic magazine that started as a 12-page, black-and-white newsletter in 1997.

So while you are enjoying your last issue of Spin To Win, get ready for the new and improved Team Roping Journal. It will be the one-stop shop for everything team roping. It will continue to have so much of the same knowledge from the best in the game to help you improve your roping, plus it will give you the chance to read in-depth stories about the people, places and horses that inspire this great sport—from the girl in Wyoming hoping to enter her first roping this fall with her dad to the businessman in Texas working to help individuals with disabilities gain their independence. There are more stories to tell, and we’re honored that we’re getting the chance to get them in print. We’re excited to give you all a front-row seat to the changes happening in this sport you love. Smash your hat down tight, it’s going to be quite a ride.

Thanks for sticking by us all these years,

Chelsea

P.S.

This note will appear in the August issue of Spin To Win Rodeo. Our digital presence–and our emphasis on providing you with the most up-to-date team roping coverage–will not waiver. While our name will change, our commitment to the team roper will not. You’ll begin receiving a new magazine PACKED with more team roping coverage than ever before, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.