Wear your spurs into Spurs Café in Wickenburg, Ariz., and they won’t kick you out. In fact, they’ll give you a discount. They love team ropers just as much as the rest of the town— and sometimes loving a team roper is hard to do. Located along Highway 60, an hour northwest of central Phoenix, it’s a cool western town, with western roots and the city works hard to maintain that culture today. And if you haven’t already heard that this once quaint, high desert locale has become the bustling Mecca of team roping there’s some question of your loyalty to the sport. From approximately November through April thousands of ropers make their way from all across the country and Canada to participate in the Wickenburg phenomenon.
Fifteen years ago the scene was vastly different when Beaver Bird introduced the first Over 40 Tuesday jackpots.
“He is the forefather of team roping in Wickenburg,” said Ty Yost. “He was the first to get 400-500 teams on a weekday. He is the king of Wickenburg for sure.”
Even five years ago it was Beaver’s Tuesdays and occasional events at the Everett Bowman Rodeo Grounds.
There was also the Silver Bit and Cactus Country Arenas down the way in nearby Aguila, but when permitting issues shut both camps down in 2011 it created a lull— or better yet, an opportunity. In 2012 Ty Yost partnered with Ty Grantham and Bob Crosthwaite to build Rancho Rio Arena and the following year saw the rise of the Downtown Arena. With permitting issues resolved at Western Trails Ranch in Morristown, plus Simpsons Ranch Arena and McFarlands Arena in Forepaugh now in full swing, Wickenburg was on a rapid rise to becoming the Team Roping Capital of the World.
“Did they give us that title now?” laughed Mike Fuller, who just recently purchased the Downtown Arena after producing his events there the last two years. His reference, of course, is to Stephenville, Texas, where multitudes of the top PRCA team ropers reside. But if you’re talking amateur team roping, then there’s no better place in the world than Arizona, and Wickenburg gets five stars.
“We were actually in the horse business,” explained Fuller. “This opportunity came up a couple of years ago and we got on board. We could just see team roping was on the rise here.”
The town has embraced the droves of team ropers in every way and it only makes sense. The housing market is hot, restaurants are bustling—the Wickenburg economy is doing well. What’s better, it’s no longer just a place for the over 40 crowd. From Century ropers to youngsters and high-numbered ropers, too; there’s something every day of the week, for everybody, on every budget, and most days you can take your pick.
