A ROCK-SOLID OFFICE

Secretaries aren’t just the unsung heroes of our sport, they’re usually unseen, too. Behind a wall in a stuffy, small structure, sometimes just a single person is feverishly making the team roping event seem seamless. We talked to some who do it week in and week out about the gig itself and the latest software that’s making their job easier.

Sixteen-time NFR steer wrestler Rod Lyman and his wife, Stefani, produce ropings all winter in Arizona and, last summer, hosted a little Friday night series in Dillon, Montana. Stefani learned on the fly to announce and, in the past few years, became a secretary, too.

“It’s not a hard job until something goes wrong,” Stefani said. “Until you’re announcing and your computer freezes for 30 seconds, you haven’t really become experienced.”

The closeness that announcers, timers and secretaries develop is barely explainable—they’re like veterans of a war zone. The lone announcer usually times, too. He or she rattles off three teams at a time, over and over, while timing each run, writing down each time and entering each time into the computer, while constantly watching the flagger, obeying radio