Team roping's "Great Ambassador"

First Annual Vernon West Memorial captures essence of rodeo’s growing sport and its late emissaryBy Aaron HarrisFeature WriterThere was a big ol’ family reunion in Sonora the first weekend in June.Of course, it doesn’t take someone long to figure out that anyone who knew Vernon West felt like they were part of his family. The First Annual Vernon West Memorial Team Roping took place June 2 and 3 at the Sutton County Arena in Sonora, and while the roping action was intense – with over 500 teams competing Friday into the early hours of Saturday, and 65 teams with over 200 cowboys and cowgirls moving on to the Invitational Saturday – the general mood of the event was more cozy and happy-go-lucky than most rodeos you might attend.And that’s just how Vernon would have liked it. The genesis of the Vernon West Memorial took place almost exactly three years after his death, June 1, 2003. It could be said, however, that this event has been long in the works even before the passing of the legendary roping aficionado.That’s because team roping wouldn’t be the sport it is today without Vernon West.And what the sport is today is the rodeo event that is considered by many to be growing in popularity the most.While events like bull-riding garner the most publicity in the rodeo world, team roping is quietly becoming rodeo’s “ace in the hole.”According to Ryon West, the person responsible for putting on the Vernon West Memorial, and the grandson of the man the event is named after, team roping is rodeo’s “family sport.”“It’s an event that a whole family can be involved in. Anyone can learn to participate and have a great time doing it, and it doesn’t matter how old you are,” West said. “My little boy ropes. I rope.”That notion is seconded by the fact that the weekend in Sonora saw competitors as young as 15, and as old as 65.“We’ve had doctors and lawyers roping here this weekend – you name it!” Randy Edwards said, team roper and long-time friend of Vernon West. “Girls compete with the guys, and can even beat the guys.”In fact, some cowgirls at the Vernon West Memorial did very well and beat the boys – which epitomizes the kindred spirit of the sport. “I’m not sure if the guys liked losing to the girls that much, but there are some talented cowgirls out here,” Edwards said with a chuckle.The lack of gender and age barriers in team roping is a large part of its surge in popularity. “It’s the largest growing sport in rodeo because it’s something anyone can do as a hobby,” Edwards said. And Edwards, 47, wasn’t just an interested onlooker that weekend. In between catching up with old friends at the Sutton County Arena (and there were many), he mounted his horse and competed with everyone else.So did the event’s coordinator, Ryon West, who was admittedly disappointed he narrowly missed the short round.In fact, from men and women alike, to the young and – well – not so young, it was pretty difficult to tell who was competing in the rodeo and who was just a spectator. Such is the nature of the sport of team roping.Team roping was not just randomly born, either. It has a deep-rooted heritage in the cattle-culture of the prairies and open ranges of Texas as far back as the 19th Century. Cowboys of the time used the same modus operandi to work cattle as you see in the rodeo arenas today.And then there was Vernon West. When asking anyone in attendance at the Sutton County Arena about Vernon, you would obtain a similar reaction: a vibrant smile that echoes the spirit he bestowed upon people while he was still around. Some people shook their head with a smile recalling the “old rascal,” as one cowboy called him – all repeating what seemed to be the least common denominator – that Vernon West was one of a kind. Vernon was a roper himself up into his late years, and had a great passion for calf roping.Edwards calls him “The Great Ambassador of the Sport.” Such a title seems to be very fitting, and not just because he furnished horses and was great friends with current and past legends and World Champions of the sport, like Jim Bob Altizer, Phil Lyne, Mack Yates, Tee Woolman, Houston Hutto, Cody Ohl and Ray Wharton – just to name a few. However, as longtime friend and Refugio County Judge Roger Fagan recalls, you didn’t have to be a well-known rodeo cowboy to be friends with Vernon West.“When a child needed a horse, Vernon was the man you called because he seemed to know just the right one for any particular child,” Fagan wrote in remembrance of Vernon. “When a child that he was helping won buckles or just a ribbon, Vernon had a way of making that child feel like he had won a World Championship.”Edwards remembers Vernon West as a man who gave a lot to those around him.“There was never anyone like Vernon, and there never will be. If you roped, and you needed something – anything – all you had to do was call Vernon West. That’s how much he loved the sport, and the people who he met,” Edwards said. “He was one of the largest sponsors of the American Junior Rodeo Association, and gave so much to the sport.”Ryon West has more personal recollections of Vernon. The tall, broad-shouldered cowboy fought back tears when asked to recall his lasting memories of his grandfather.“He was a giving person. He wanted everyone he knew to succeed in life and have a chance. Whether it was in roping, or anything in life,” West said.That spirit is manifested in the $7,000 the first-year event has raised for scholarships to be given to area high school students in Sonora, Ozona and Eldorado. “He had this way of making you feel like you were the most important person to him. It didn’t matter who you are, if you were his grandson or someone he met for the first time,” West continued. “He was a very passionate man.”And he was a very well-known man, according to Edwards.“You can go anywhere from Cheyenne, Wyo. to Okeechobee, Fla., everyone knows Vernon West,” Edwards said.At least, anyone who has a tie to the sport of team roping knows and remembers Vernon.And then probably a few thousand others, as well.“When we put this together, we had two thoughts in mind. For it to be positive for the community, and positive for the people involved,” West said.Even though he didn’t say it directly, you can be sure West had his grandfather in mind in planning the event and enjoying it – as did everyone involved. “I know Vernon’s looking down here, saying ‘Wow! They named this thing after me?’” Edwards said.According to many who knew him, Vernon West was very a modest man.“Words alone cannot do justice to or describe the character of Vernon West,” wrote Judge Fagan. “His actions truly came from the heart and he embodied the true spirit of what it means to be a Cowboy.” It’s funny how an old cowboy with a big heart from the open ranges in Texas can have such an effect on a sport and so many people. At least now, after the First Annual Vernon West Memorial Team Roping, there will be a weekend every year in which everyone in his “family” can get together and celebrate that legacy.Questions or comments? E-mail Aaron Harris at aaron.harris@aaggregate.com.