Winning the Resistol Rookie Heeler of the Year title was Scott Lauaki’s plan, but 2024 proved to him the growth in your rookie year is a win in itself.
The 23-year-old from Springville, Utah, sits fifth in the Resistol Rookie of the Year heeling standings with $21,995.77 won on the year but is $34,227.69 behind standings leader Logan Moore. With a little over five weeks left in the season, Lauaki is staying home on the circuit front, content with a year of learning the ropes and overcoming the obstacles thrown his way.
“For the circumstances, I think it’s been ok,” Lauaki said. “Not the greatest we could have done, but it definitely was a good learning curve to figure it out. I mean, from partner changes and, then, from good to green horses—everything in between kind of got thrown at me this year. But I think there’s no better year for it.”
While Lauaki knows winning the Resistol Rookie of the Year title is a significant milestone, he’s also aware it doesn’t define you or your career.
“I don’t think it was make or break to my career,” Lauaki said. “I did have big goals on making it and winning it at the [beginning,] but then when I started roping with my cousin, we kind of went to, ‘Let’s just both do the best we can and see if we can’t get into the top 50 or 30 and go from there.”
Partner swaps and everything in between
Lauaki grew up on a ranch in Utah, riding and training horses. But it wasn’t until around high school that he caught the team roping bug. When the opportunity to rope full-time with Ben Jordan arose, the two set out on their permits for two years before deciding that 2024 would be the year they went at the Resistol Rookie of the Year title.
“We roped together mostly those two years, and so we just thought no better year than the year you have to buy it,” Lauaki said with a laugh. “We’d been going together anyway. It would be good to go everywhere you can and give yourself the best opportunity you could for your rookie year.”
Jordan and Lauaki kicked off their rookie season picking up a $1,184-a-man go-round check at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver and $1,550 a piece at the High Desert Stampede in Redmond, Oregon.
Like most, they went out West in the spring and they picked up $4,044 a man between the Clovis Rodeo (California) and Redding Rodeo. They also took home the Resistol Rookie Roundup title, pocketing $3,136 each. Come the beginning of June, however, they decided to part ways, and Lauaki started roping with his cousin, Howard Hutchings. Lauaki also decided it was a good time to prioritize exposing some green horses to the world.
“I’ve always been alright with some changing, as far as horses and trying something new,” explained Lauaki. “When me and Ben split, I started roping on a bunch of colts and younger horses to where it was, more or less, I was trying to help my horsepower out and get it more ready for the future instead of worry about the rookie year right now.”
Best foot forward
As the 2024 season winds down, Lauaki sees the value in shifting his efforts from winning to growing. As he learned this year, horsepower is vital to rodeoing professionally, so it’s emerged as a priority for him moving forward.
“I’m trying to get a couple horses together because it takes a lot of horsepower to be able to stay on the road and keep them sound and wanting to work for you,” Lauaki said.
In the Wilderness Circuit standings, Lauaki is currently 14th with $8,699.12. Just $780.53 separates him from 12th, so he’s staying closer to home to give himself a shot at qualifying for the circuit finals.
“We’re keeping it home now,” Lauaki said. “We’re entered in six rodeos from here to the end of the year—we’ll end in Mona, Utah (Sept. 27-28). So that’s really close, and we’re just going to really focus on some horsepower, regrouping and getting ready to hit it hard there in Denver in January.”
Being home also gives him more time to up his game in every aspect.
“I’m also trying to improve my roping and my horsemanship skills to where I can be better at that,” Lauaki said. “You don’t really get to work on it on the road as much, so kind of taking advantage of the time you get home. I want to give it a shot and I kind of just want to get all the small stuff prepared where I can be ready hopefully in a year, maybe two years.”
