Dear Roper,

I have had this job (in some form or another) for 15(!) years this month.

That feels… pretty wild. I don’t really know what to make of that passage of time. I try to be somewhat self-aware, having an idea of why I do what I do and say what I say. So this anniversary has me reflecting a bit on why I’ve been with this company and this brand for most of my adult life. 

It’s probably the industry as a whole that’s kept me hooked for this long, and this job is as close to the center of the sport as it gets. We cover the Ariat World Series of Team Roping, the USTRC and the rest of the jackpot associations alongside the ProRodeos and Open ropings. We’re at all the major futurities, the WCRA events and the biggest youth ropings in the sport. 

We get to talk to the businessmen and women who drive the industry as advertisers, sponsors and craftsmen. The producers who put on the events that keep you coming back. The breeders and trainers who make the horses that make this all go round. And the everyday ropers who put their hard-earned money up, week in and week out, to find a little escape in the arena. 

There’s nowhere that feels as central to the day-to-day happenings of the industry, which is perhaps the biggest reason why I’ve stayed this long—as well as what I’m most proud of being a part of over these last 15 years. We’re always working to stay a critical piece of the team roping puzzle, and I think, most of the time, we hit that mark. 

Whether you find us on TikTok making fun of some of our pals at the Open level, on The Score podcast having an in-depth conversation or just in these pages, old-school-like, we’re sure grateful you’re here. Thanks for sticking with me from the days I was just ‘the social media girl’ to nearly eight years as the editor-in-chief of this magazine. 

We’ll see you this summer in Reno or Cheyenne or Utah or… anyway, check your socials and teamropingjournal.com, because we’ll be everywhere. 

Chelsea