Roping isn’t just a sport to Mexico native Jhett Maxwell. It’s a lifestyle.

The soon-to-be high school freshman competed June 19-25 at the 17th annual National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Perry, Georgia, qualifying for the team roping competition along with partner Blaine Gray, of Holt. Maxwell traveled to nationals with his family: his parents, Randy and Tiffani Maxwell, and his grandparents, Jerry and Janie Maxwell.

He and Gray didn’t win anything at nationals but finished a solid year that included them becoming the team roping champions at the Missouri state rodeo in May in Carthage and with each duo member being named the Missouri Junior High Rodeo Association header and heeler — their positions in the roping of steer or cattle. On top of those accomplishments, Maxwell and Gray set a record for the most team points during a team roping season.

Just because the season is over, doesn’t mean Maxwell’s time roping is over as he didn’t wait long to get back on his 12-year-old American quarter horse, Squirrel.

“I am becoming more confident and I definitely practice more than I used to,” Maxwell said. “Since getting back from Georgia, I’ve been practicing daily. I know the high school rodeo division will have tougher competition. It’s a whole new world, but I think Blaine and I will be able to hold our own. We’ve been pretty consistent so far.”

Maxwell’s emphasis on practicing was present during the season that began in August in Milan as he said he and his father found other opportunities to hone his craft. On the weekends, Maxwell said he and his father competed in open team roping competitions in places such as the American Royal in Kansas City, the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and the Dynamite Arena in Cave Creek, Arizona.
About four days a week at home, Jhett practiced roping cattle, Randy said, which is simple to do on a farm.

“This is something he will be able to do the rest of his life, if he wants to,” Randy said. “It’s kind of like golfing. I’m 61 years old and I still do it every week. It’s a lifetime deal if he wants it to be.”

Randy said his son roped about 150 cattle in a span of seven days prior to the national rodeo competition, which could increase to 50-100 per day when his son gets older. Repetition and building muscle memory in the act of roping is important for success.

Randy said he remembers Jhett starting to rope at age 11, initially practicing on dummies before moving up to alive steer about a year and a half to two years ago.
Jhett said his desire to rope competitively was corralled in February 2021 when he stayed in Arizona with his father.

“When I was younger, I’d play around with the rope — rope the dummy at home and sometimes ride horses,” Jhett said. “I got to stay with my dad in Arizona for 10 days and that created a spark. I got to ride horses and rope every day. I loved it. So, when we got home, I joined the Missouri Junior High/High School Rodeo Association.”

Jhett said he experienced some success early on but didn’t make nationals that season due to the late start of his debut season and lack of a regular partner. However, this fueled him in his quest to get better and make strides in the high school circuit next season.

There are so many variables and factors when it comes to a successful team roping run, Randy said. It is a timed event that begins when the steer is released from a box and ends when the header (the rider who ropes the head at the horns) and the heeler (the rider who ropes the back feet) secure the animal.

While Maxwell and Gray have to rope the steer as quickly as possible, they can’t leave the box too early so they avoid a 10-second penalty. They could also be penalized five seconds if only one of the back feet is secured by the heeler. Of course, it is the header’s, or Jhett’s, responsibility to rope the head the correct way and turn the steer so the heeler has a good shot at the feet, Jhett said.

“I know I have a ‘job’ to do – and that’s to catch the steer on the head side,” Jhett said. “Then, if my heeler does his ‘job,’ then it’s a win-win. My mom says ‘There is no ‘I’ in team.’ It takes both of us doing our jobs to be successful.”

Difficulty also arises from the fact that the steers are alive and could behave in an unpredictable way. Along with avoiding the costly penalties, Randy said his son and his partner don’t make “nervous mistakes” and have roped countless cattle so they could anticipate how they would react. This didn’t prevent a wrinkle making it into Jhett’s time at nationals.

On the first steer, Jhett said his rope knocked off his hat, which almost threw off his timing to where he didn’t catch the head. He did, but his partner wasn’t as fortunate, missing the legs. The duo just wanted to post a time on the second steer, but the animal decided to stop as Jhett was about to rope it.

“I wish it would have gone better for me and my partner,” Jhett said. “But when your run is over, you let it go. There is no use blaming yourself, the cattle or your partner. Move on.”

The young Maxwell did remember to have fun in the gathering of children from all across the country, Mexico and Canada. The Missouri team had 72 participants total as the top four qualifiers in each event for each state made it to nationals. Outside of the events, there was parent/contestant ribbon roping, teen dances, a volleyball tournament and a fishing tournament.

Jhett remembers having the most fun with the Canadian national team, whose camp was located across from the Missouri camp, as water gun fights broke out several times during the week.

That camaraderie isn’t on the level of Jhett’s relationship with his family and especially his father, he said. Besides attending all of his competitions, Jhett said he appreciates his father practicing with him and providing him all the resources to practice and giving him advice and encouragement. The young Maxwell even made it to a piece of his father was with him on every run as he wore one of his father’s belt buckles.

Randy earned that belt buckle from his competitive days, and now his son has not one, but two — one from winning team roping state finals and the other from being named the year end header champion. He said Jhett and Gray know, if they are eventually going to shave their average run time of 7-9 seconds to around four seconds to hold their own in the high school circuit, they have put in the amount of effort they’ve shown to this point.

Winning at least one buckle was a goal for Jhett this year and now he has his sights on a new prize and new competition next season, which begins Aug. 27-28 at the Sullivan County Expo in Milan.

“I’m going to start calf roping,” Jhett said. “I haven’t practiced much so we’ll see how that goes. In team roping, I’m working on getting the steer caught faster out the chute. I hope Blaine and I earn enough points to make it to nationals next year. I want to win a saddle, and I’d like to get a couple sponsors.”