Rodeo secretaries keep the show running smoothly.
Though the spotlights may shine on the athletes in the arena, there’s an essential player in rodeo who works tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure everything flows smoothly: the rodeo secretary.
Sandy Gwatney has been a rodeo secretary for nearly 20 years. A lifelong horsewoman, she grew up showing Quarter Horses and picked up team roping in her late teens. Subsequently, she met her husband, John, at a local PRCA rodeo and hazed for him for several years when he competed in steer wrestling. Gwatney soon decided to get more involved in the production side of rodeo.
“I bought my timer’s card for the PRCA in 1996,” she says, “then went to the PRCA secretary school in 1999. It was a week-long clinic at the PRCA office.”
This story is from the June/July 2017 edition of American Cowboy.
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This story is from the June/July 2017 edition of American Cowboy.
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