story by Anthea Larsen
It only takes a few moments of conversing with Scooter Vaughan to know you’ve got a true rodeo cowboy on your hands. The 52-year-old roper grew up on the rodeo trail, just ten miles from where he currently resides in Ottowa Lake, MI.
It was about a week following High School graduation that his folks turned him loose on the rodeo world with a truck, a trailer, a horse, and a warning. “You screw up one time, and you’re done.” It was something he didn’t take lightly, and credits rodeo with being an excellent teacher of responsibility and determination.
Vaughan has enjoyed a successful rodeo career over the years as a calf roper with multiple wins in the International Pro Rodeo Association Finals (IPRA), PRCA Great Lakes Circuit Finals, and most recently making the Mid-States Rodeo Association (MSRA) Finals with his son. “It’s fun because usually by the time your kids make it, you’re too old to do it.”
It seems that the rodeo tradition and a tenacious drive to compete is genetic. Vaughan’s eldest daughter Cassie, 28, a breakaway roper, currently lives in Oklahoma where she took a position teaching after graduating from Southwestern Oklahoma State on a rodeo scholarship. Daughter Meghan, 27, runs barrels in addition to break away roping and still lives at home in Michigan. Son Clay, 21, is currently attending Northeastern Oklahoma State on a rodeo scholarship and actively competes in both tie-down and team roping.
In the past couple of years, Vaughan has reluctantly stepped out of the competitor’s arena, “It just killed me to stand there and watch. I can’t tell you how much I hate it. I want to rope so bad, I can’t stand it.” However, having undergone shoulder surgery and dealing with a bad hip, it came to a point that, while he was still placing, the subsequent pain was taking the joy out of it.
Last fall he ‘accidentally’ found himself voted onto the board of the Mid-States Rodeo Association as the new Tie-Down Director. A friend jokingly announced he was going to nominate Vaughan for the position. However, once his name was in the hat, nominations closed immediately and he was quickly voted into the position. Perhaps not as much of an accident as he had originally assumed!
Though Vaughan is no stranger to the role of a board member, having served on the board of the National High School Rodeo Association for six years as the National Director for the State of Indiana while his two daughters were competing.
The opportunity to serve on the board of the MSRA is fitting. Having carried a card since he was about sixteen, he’s extremely proud of how far the association has come, and to be a part of its continued success. “It’s my way of still being a part of the rodeo.”
Since being appointed to the board, accident or not, he has been working to improve the quality of calves at rodeos and to bring breakaway roping to more of the association’s rodeos. He noted that breakaway roping is an opportunity for growth for rodeos as it has become an extremely popular event, drawing large numbers of contestants.
Working closely with local stock contractors, including the Broken Horn Rodeo Company, Vaughan has helped to bring breakaway roping to 37 of the MSRA’s rodeos this coming year. A substantial increase over the handful of rodeos offering the event in previous years. Additionally, those members will now have the opportunity to compete in breakaway roping at the MSRA Finals this fall for the first time.
It’s no surprise that Vaughan won’t be transitioning quietly from role of competitor to mere spectator, and the sport of rodeo is better for it. “Rodeo has been such a big part of my life. I just want to help it keep growing.”
