With eight consecutive world-champion team-roping titles under his belt, Speed Williams focuses on preparing future champions-in roping and in life.
It’s a different world than the one Ken Williams grew up in. A horse trader and rope-horse trainer in Jacksonville, Florida, Williams earned his living the cowboy way, breaking horses and men to the rigors of ranch life. With a passion for roping, he was a student of the sport and the discipline and preparation it took to be successful. Holding his son, Speed, to the same principles, Ken’s hardened ways prepared Speed for success in team roping and life.
Today, five years after Ken’s passing, Speed honors his father and mother, Bobbi, with eight consecutive world championships in heading, more than $1.5 million in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) earnings and the determination to pass that knowledge on to the next generation of champions. Building from those early foundations, Speed continues to study and teach the sport, breaking it down into a science of mechanics and maneuvers, perfecting the art of team roping with what seems a mere flick of his wrist.
For the resat of this story, pick up the January 2007 issue of Western Horseman.
