The Cowboy and the Classroom: Steer Wrestling and Studying Business Management

We venture into the world of rodeo with our all-around cowboy guest, Steele Shumway. Hear about his life as a steer wrestler, team roper, and calf roper and how the influence of his father and family shaped his approach to the sport. Steele spills the beans about being a multi-sports athlete in high school and lets us know how he got it done. He shares his passion in the classroom and plans to continue to conquer the ring with his dad this winter and summer.


Steele Shumway

Instagram:

@steele_shumway

https://instagram.com/steele_shumway?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


Shoutout to:
 
Steele Shumway 

Dad Shumway

The Shumway Family 

Eric Johnson 

Tyler Waguespack

Jesse Brown

Dalton Massey

Wiley Karas

J.W. & J.C. Merriott

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:28

Still some way. How are you, man? I'm doing good. How about yourself? I'm doing all right. Man, you're probably what? 80, 90 degrees down there.

Speaker 2 0:39

Oh, we're getting closer to that. I think it was 102 today.

Speaker 1 0:44

Goodness, gracious it's like 50s and cloudy up here and rain Got better weather than we do, but I like this weather up here just because it's not as hot as down there.

Speaker 2 0:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 0:59

And you're on not because of your name, because you're an all around cowboy and very well known athlete in high school, yes, and I'm pretty sure. Well, we changed this time so you can play basketball, and I'm pretty sure you're still hooping it up crossovers and everything else in college, right?

Speaker 2 1:24

Yeah, I'm playing for the club basketball team here at GCU and figured it'd be a good way to keep me in shape for the row to use season. I love playing sports, I like watching sports and got the opportunity to join the club team so I took advantage and, yep, I would get here with at six o'clock.

Speaker 1 1:42

Yeah, is Dan Marley still the coach for?

Speaker 2 1:45

basketball. I think so. Yes, he is, yeah, yeah, that's awesome man.

Speaker 1 1:54

I grew up watching him. I mean, that's how old I am, so that's cool man. He's a legend.

Speaker 2 1:59

That's awesome yeah.

Speaker 1 2:01

Do they have a football team?

Speaker 2 2:03

We do not have a football team. I wish we did. There's nothing like Friday night lights or watching college football.

Speaker 1 2:10

Exactly, but hey, that basketball team has made a name for themselves as well. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure you're going to have season tickets.

Speaker 2 2:19

Yes, there's like an early pass and I'm all aboard. I'm ready to go watch our basketball team.

Speaker 1 2:26

Awesome, awesome, all around cowboy Outside of the basketball and football Right.

Speaker 2 2:36

Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 2:38

Steer wrestled, and then you're a team roper.

Speaker 2 2:41

Now I got to ask you a header or a healer.

Speaker 1 2:43

I had. Had. Yeah, why don't you heal?

Speaker 2 2:48

My dad makes it look easier, so I just let him go ahead and heal the feet and I'll just go ahead and turn around, turn around and form. So you guys are a team, yes, me and my dad are yes.

Speaker 1 2:58

Oh, that's awesome, and I haven't met a father's son team.

Speaker 2 3:02

So this is the first man.

Speaker 1 3:04

That's cool.

Speaker 2 3:04

Yeah.

Speaker 1 3:06

So your dad makes it easy. That's why he does the healing.

Speaker 2 3:09

Yes, yes, a lot easier than I make it look, so I just leave it to him.

Speaker 1 3:14

All right, so steer wrestling. Yes, what got you into steer wrestling?

Speaker 2 3:22

So I was actually first year high school rodeo. I didn't rodeo my freshman or sophomore year, I started junior year and I was watching the bulldog and I was like man, I could do that. I think I could do that, like let's do it. So I talked to some people and, sure enough, I met. I end up at Eric Johnson's house. You probably know him from Trevor Johnson.

Speaker 2 3:48

Let's just say I got hooked ever since, even though he put me through the ringer once or twice and I was like why am I doing this? But no, I love bulldogging and I've only done it for two years and I progressed super fast over the two years. So you're going to stick with it. I think, yes, I want to amp your bulldog this summer or this upcoming summer. I did for about five rodeos last year because I finally me and my friend finally agreed hey, I can ride this horse and bulldog does are like that. They are a community and all help each other out. So I did that and rodeo the last five rodeos for the NPRA, almost like the NPRA finals just off five rodeos.

Speaker 1 4:33

Well, the more I'm around this for and interviewing the bulldoggers, it's all about the Hazer, so, yes, yes, yes, it is.

Speaker 2 4:42

Yes. The good Hazer is key to your success.

Speaker 1 4:46

Yes, yes. So before Steer Wrestling you were just team roping with your dad.

Speaker 2 4:52

Yes, I team roped and then also my junior year. I wish I would have gone into calf rope a little bit sooner. I did calf rope my junior and senior year. It was good. I mean, I wasn't as good as Steer Wrestling or team roping, but had some success in it.

Speaker 1 5:09

Okay, what keeps you going into the rodeo world? Yes, you're in college right now. You're enjoying the college life, but you said prior to us recording, you said you're going to enter some jackpots in the winter and rodeo in the summer. Yes, what keeps you going and into the rodeo scene?

Speaker 2 5:33

As far as staying in college and not college rodeo in or just in general, just in general, just in general I've always been. I've always been around it my whole life. My Parents would take me to junior rodeos and I was little they would enter me up in every event shoot. I did barrel racing in full but in go time when I was a junior higher so I did all of that and my whole family is always ropes. So it's always kind of been there and I. That's what keeps me driven. And then Watching these professional guys are like man, I want to get better, to be like them, and so it's just kind of always driven me to get better and be better.

Speaker 1 6:11

Yeah, did you have an option at first? Or or did your parents say, hey, you're gonna do rodeo I?

Speaker 2 6:18

Would say I had an option, like my brother he does. He doesn't really he'll come ride with this, but he always had an option if you want to do sports and go, do sports and go, do that. So yeah, he plays baseball year around and doesn't really ride, he'll come right with us. But I would say I was like, oh hey, you got to do rodeo. I just Once I was riding a horse or swinging a rope. I was like, man, I love this. So that's what I ended up doing.

Speaker 1 6:43

All right. What keeps you going into the rodeo scene? Is it the? The family is the. You know family orientation. Besides, your family is at the camaraderie of the brotherhood. You know steer, wrestling, roping, I mean, dad is your. You know the healer, he's your teammate. So what is it about rodeo that you know you're just gonna hit jackpots in the winter and You're gonna spend majority of your time in the summer rodeo on the road man.

Speaker 2 7:15

I would say the friends. I've made so many friends through rodeo, like Some of my best friends. They rodeo and I still talk to them. They're back home right now, so we're high school rodeo and and so I talked to them. I talked to them every weekend like, hey, how'd you do this weekend? We talk all the time and so it's just kind of the family and the. The family environment in rodeo is so huge to me as it feels like a family and all the friends you make Like family to you.

Speaker 1 7:42

Yeah, okay, and you said you're gonna In in PR a.

Speaker 2 7:47

NPR rodeo the summer. I'm trying to get maybe get the data of retirement and go pro this summer and hit some of the pro rodeos.

Speaker 1 7:56

Like.

Speaker 2 7:56

Culey City and those in the this ring time and just kind of see what up where we're at, how we do, and then kind of judge our summer off there. I'll face off that.

Speaker 1 8:07

Okay, and how does it look so far right now? I know it's we're in the fall, it's early. How does it look, man? Yeah?

Speaker 2 8:14

right now it looks good, it looks promising. I think we're she's kind of warming up to the idea of going out and trying it and see. But this past year was kind of us Getting used to the full-time rodeo all summer because we went to rodeos every weekend and so kind of getting used to that environment and how to prepare yourself.

Speaker 1 8:39

How do you, how did you do what you did when you were in high school? Because, I mean, I don't know how you guys do what you do, right? So I asked each and every one of you guys because if you're, if you're athletes of another sport and then rodeo, that's a lot of time. You don't have that much time to sleep how did you manage a full-time schedule in school, full-time schedule at practice, football or basketball, you know and then how do you have time to have be part of the rodeo scene?

Speaker 2 9:11

It was pretty tough. But I told my parents I want the high school idea because we always jackpot on the week. We'd always before junior senior year. We just jackpot it and it was pretty easy to keep doing that. But when we added high school rodeo to it was You'd go to practice from three to five and my dad would have the horse of salad ready to go and we'd go rope and steer Essel or capro for whatever event. We're practicing that they, it was right. After practice, and then Going to the rodeo is on the weekend. It'd be alright, you're gonna go play your Friday night football game and we're leaving at five o'clock the next morning for a rodeo four hours away which takes a beating on a guy, I'll tell you what. But get gassed man. Yes, yes, luckily in the, luckily in the summer, or not summer spring, I didn't play any spring sports, so I had a chance to kind of take a breather. So that's when the season starts, though.

Speaker 2 10:05

Uh rodeo for high school rodeo. It was in the fall and spring, and then you had the high school finals in July.

Speaker 1 10:14

So yeah, you don't get that much of a break though.

Speaker 2 10:17

No, no, you don't. I'll tell you a funny story. So I actually show pigs and we sold, we sold my pig. It was very first time for rodeo I'd ever been to sold my pig at 12 o'clock. We had to be the rodeo at five with a four and a half hour drive. We made it there right before my calf broke, but then they were just about to turn me out and I got a calf horse and did my calf rope and run. See, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 10:41

See, that's why I ask what I ask man. I it's just like I don't know how you guys do what you do, yeah.

Speaker 2 10:47

It's all A lot of these drinks. I guess yeah, what's your go to energy drink? I'm a monster type of guy. I've been kind of the white monsters have been my go to drink so far.

Speaker 1 10:59

Yeah, I do, I get the orange ones.

Speaker 2 11:02

Orange ones yes, they're pretty good too.

Speaker 1 11:05

When do you think you're going to go all in steer wrestling?

Speaker 2 11:09

Or all in steer wrestling. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, probably when I'm out of college. That way I can kind of hone in on it and focus on it more. I mean, during the summer I practice a lot because I have a guy that lives, eric Johnson. He lives 30 minutes away from me so I go to his house at least once or twice a week and go practice. But I say that after college, when I have more time and maybe could get my own horse and really hone in on steer wrestling.

Speaker 1 11:36

What brought you to steer wrestling man? Seriously, you're throwing, throwing a steer over like it's a pillow, I mean they are a pillow. I mean, they are a few hundred pounds.

Speaker 2 11:54

Yes, yeah, no, Um, I definitely would say, just because everybody is like man, you look like a bulldog, you should be a bulldogger. And I was kind of after no people saying that I was kind of like man, I could do this. So let's go try it. And, yes, you have your balls and definitely your hard times with steer wrestling or some bad racks or whatnot, but definitely turn it into a sport that I love to do.

Speaker 1 12:21

Your favorite steer wrestler right now.

Speaker 2 12:23

Right now I'm a huge Tyler Wagesback fan.

Speaker 1 12:29

Love him.

Speaker 2 12:31

He's a step I mean I guess you can't really say he's on the smaller end but his technique. I watch him a lot. I watch him and, uh, real story watch, I watch. I watch Jesse Brown a lot too, just because he's kind of a local guy around here.

Speaker 1 12:46

Louisiana. They got, they got some. They got some fighters down there man, some restaurants down there man. They definitely it's either Pacific Northwest lately and Louisiana boys and Wagesback man that he's he's bad, he's bad, they're all bad. He is a beast.

Speaker 2 13:03

I mean he's top five in the world right now. We can never count him out.

Speaker 1 13:08

He's he's always going to be there. Yep, yep, yep. That's awesome man.

Speaker 2 13:13

Yeah, all right?

Speaker 1 13:14

No, you're in college. So your ultimate goal man in life. Ultimate goal I visually want to start my own business.

Speaker 2 13:25

I'm not sure in what I think in this rodeo side of things, rodeo sports side of things, here in the next five, 10 years, kind of find, save up some money and start my own business and watch that grow. It'd be pretty cool to do that, obviously, besides rodeo. I mean, I want a rodeo, it'd be cool to do that, but you've got to also have money to rodeo too.

Speaker 1 13:43

So yeah, well, I saw that you were friends with a J Dubb Merritt. Yes, I am yes.

Speaker 2 13:51

Yep, his, his brother has his own business.

Speaker 1 13:55

JC and he's only 16. He a lot, of a lot of kids these days. Man, they're smarter than I am, obviously, yes, but they. You agreed. No, I'm good, but uh, no, they. He has his own contracting business man, yeah, this is the first time.

Speaker 2 14:14

I've heard about this, I didn't know about that. Yeah, I'm not happy to reach out to him.

Speaker 1 14:19

Have you thought about?

Speaker 2 14:19

doing that? Oh, the own contracting business? Yeah, I have not at all. I'd have to reach out and kind of see what's about I've never heard of, I'd never, I'd first time I heard of them doing it. All right, We'll talk to JC man, but J Dubb you know what I mean, that guy he's a workhorse, literally man, he, just he gets out of it. He gets at it man. Yes, all right, so college rodeo.

Speaker 1 14:43

Gcu does not have a college rodeo. They.

Speaker 2 14:49

So you can call a Gio at DCU, but they don't have a college radio team, so you'd have to like they'd be your assigned college, that you're a college really for, but they wouldn't pay, like they don't have scholarships for it. You just be on your own college. There's one person that does it right now. She's called a Gio for GCU or like affiliated with GCU as a college radio person. But you can call a Gio here and how's she doing? She's doing pretty good right now. I believe I haven't talked to her in a little bit, but I'm assuming she's doing pretty good, okay.

Speaker 1 15:24

So you're strictly going to get your education down there. You ain't going to go rodeo, yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 15:31

I've had a couple of people reach out to me wanting, wanting me to head for them at the college radio. But I told them, I said, hey, I at least for the first year. Probably the first couple, I don't know, but I definitely parents have always driven education first and you can, you can always rodeo. You can't get your education, so Gotcha what?

Speaker 1 15:51

what? What if you have you thought about being a walk on a basketball?

Speaker 2 15:56

Yes, but I'm also not six, five condom I got you yeah.

Speaker 1 16:07

Instead of I know we're doing in winter and summer. I know I keep bringing that up, Bringing that up five to 10 months from now. What? What's your plan, man?

Speaker 2 16:18

My plan in five to 10 months? Be out of call or be out of my fresh mirror college, hopefully, rodeo and and uh, working, working and rodeo is kind of my goal, I mean, and by the 10 months I've seen what I'd be doing. And then back back here at ECU and then hopefully I want it next year or this summer. I want to enter Kenwood and build them.

Speaker 1 16:44

All right.

Speaker 2 16:45

Yes.

Speaker 1 16:46

Well, when you do that, let me know, let me know.

Speaker 2 16:48

I will. I will. Yes, I told my dad that that's the ultimate goal would be son father, do entering and filming and be super cool to do so. Hopefully I can accomplish that.

Speaker 1 17:01

Yeah, that would be awesome. How was, uh? How are your grades right now?

Speaker 2 17:06

Always right now. So we're going to keep it up and keep working at it. Favorite subject? Favorite subject? Oh, right now. Right now I say math. I'm pretty good at math.

Speaker 1 17:20

Okay, math. Were you good in math in high school?

Speaker 2 17:25

I was so so, but I like my, I like my uh teacher here a lot. He really helps me, so it kind of makes it more fun. Listen, listen to history class and all that. It's kind of like, oh, some of the stuff they teach, I'm like I don't know what was your favorite subject in high school? Favorite subject in high school, I would say my psychology class. It was super fun.

Speaker 1 17:52

Okay, yeah All right, what do you think you're gonna major? Do you know what you're gonna major?

Speaker 2 17:59

Right now I'm gonna. My major is business management. I'm trying to think if I want to minor or something. I'm not sure yet, so just kind of exploring my options.

Speaker 1 18:08

All right, nice yeah, that could come later. All right, you just started your college career, but I know you don't have mom's cooking in front of you, so my question to you are you eating dorm food, cafeteria food? You're making yourself Even PBJ sandwiches. What is it man? All the above, what is it man?

Speaker 2 18:34

Okay. So at ECU there's actually a cool. That's why I kind of just chose GCU. There's actually like a Chick-fil-A, a Subway, a Panda Express. There's like these whole food options. You have a, you have meal plan, so you choose your meal plan and you can buy food, but that eventually runs out. So I've actually been no, you say Pee-Vee and day. I've been making Pee-Vee and days I bought bread and peanut butter and jelly and I've been eating all Pee-Vee and day for the last three days.

Speaker 1 19:03

So gets old, but man, it just. You can't eat it, it does there, it does the job. So my question to you is how do you build a PBJ sandwich and your ratio Go for it, my ratio.

Speaker 2 19:19

I've never been asked that before. I Would say Got your bread, obviously.

Speaker 1 19:26

Yeah.

Speaker 2 19:26

I do have jelly happen, but I never go. Just one of each, that's so you go 50, 50 split.

Speaker 1 19:33

You don't do a 60, 40 or 70 50, 50 split yeah okay, that's okay. Weak or white wheat.

Speaker 2 19:45

I'll take that back. I I Do more paint art, I do more jelly, just because a lot of peanut butter is kind of like it gets stuck in your mouth and you're kind of like, where jelly this? It just goes down and you'll have to worry about Sticking it to your mouth. So you got a sweet tooth as well.

Speaker 1 20:03

Yeah, all right, favorite Adam Sandler movie waterboy.

Speaker 2 20:08

Waterboy hard boy.

Speaker 1 20:12

When you were rodeoing and Free game football, basketball how did you get ready for the event? Did you? Do you hype yourself up or do you get in a full Zen and and just relax and just try to get these slides in your head? What?

Speaker 2 20:34

I I'll put on my AirPods, listen to music. I like to kind of be by myself before the rodeo starts and go, depending on the vent, team rope and cap rope, and I'll go rope the dummy for about an hour before Then go, get on my horse and loop around and put them in the box, kind of get mentally ready for that. So I'm kind of more of a An hour before and I don't have to pull the rodeo. You you probably won't see me. I'll be Preparing to go rope or steer a vessel and kind of get in the mindset and then I'll pray before.

Speaker 2 21:09

I go, and then I go and do my event.

Speaker 1 21:13

You know when, when you go alone, especially roping, do you tell dad I need my space, or does he already know you got game face going? You're, you know doing your thing, he's doing his thing, what.

Speaker 2 21:28

You kind of knows, usually when he hears the dummy start getting rope, that's when he knows, hey, he's in his, he's in his mindset, he's getting ready to rope and Usually you don't have, he doesn't have to tell me, hey, you need to go get ready and go get your mindset of, hey, we're gonna go when they're open today or rodeo, and so I usually he knows like we're kind of in our own worlds and then before you run will get kind of get a game plan of what we're gonna do. That for that steer.

Speaker 1 21:54

Now does dad do the same thing? Do you guys leave each other alone? You guys go in separate areas. He gets his game face on what.

Speaker 2 22:02

We, he does the same thing.

Speaker 1 22:04

Okay.

Speaker 2 22:05

Yeah, he kind of gets in his game face and we don't really talk much until about 15 minutes before they're up, before team opens gonna start, and we kind of see our steer and get a game plan of what we're gonna do for that run.

Speaker 1 22:20

Yep, what's next for you, man? Let's say, this weekend we got plans this weekend this weekend.

Speaker 2 22:28

My parents are actually coming in town this weekend and we're gonna. That GCU has some like it's called parent weekend and there's some family activities, so we'll probably Do that. They fly in Friday and then we will go to dinner, kind of hang out. I haven't seen them since I left college, so it's be the first time since I've seen them. So we'll kind of just hang out and show them around the campus and go to them.

Speaker 1 22:52

When did you leave for college?

Speaker 2 22:54

I left the 29th so I'd be the Monday after Kenley Wow.

Speaker 1 23:02

August okay.

Speaker 2 23:03

Yes, august, all right, so it's been a minute.

Speaker 1 23:05

So, hey, have fun, have fun, yes, enjoy your time. Man and dude, just continue on your education. It's great to hear the youth like yourself. Just be all about education, you know, and have fun. When it's time to have fun, there's a time and place and definitely you understand. Your parents raised you, right man. So my question to you is do you want to add anything? Did we forget anything? What?

Speaker 2 23:39

I don't think we forgot. They kind of covered everything I mean that's about it for me. I mean yeah.

Speaker 1 23:47

You played ball on a couple hours. How many hours do you play for man?

Speaker 2 23:53

I think we played it's between an hour and a half and two hours, just depending on how long the game is.

Speaker 1 23:59

All right, are you the shortest? Are you what?

Speaker 2 24:05

I play shooting guards to definitely one of the shortest I actually used to. I played post in high school, which is kind of crazy. I told my coach that here and he was like well, you're not yeah, you're not a post Our tallest guy's like six, eight, and I'm like, uh, yep, I'm not that tall, so I'll just go ahead and play she's garden, learn how to shoot.

Speaker 1 24:25

Yeah, yeah. So what is it to be high school right.

Speaker 2 24:29

Yes, to be, to be, to be.

Speaker 1 24:31

Yeah, yeah, yep. Okay, well, man, keep in touch. I'll let you know when this comes out, but I definitely want to shout your parents out, especially them agreeing to have you on, man.

Speaker 2 24:45

Yes, yes, shout out to your parents. Thanks for having me on. This was a fun opportunity to do and hopefully made with the do again soon here.

Speaker 1 24:54

Oh yeah, hey, when you come I don't know if you're going to stay in Arizona, but when you come back, hit me up you can meet in the studio and we'll have a good old time, because a the ones that come in the studio, they rock it, dude.

Speaker 2 25:12

Yeah, so hit me up yeah.

Speaker 1 25:17

So let me know when you do some NPR events. I went to the John Day one last year or this past summer. I go to the smaller ones, just because the crowds.

Speaker 2 25:28

But no man.

Speaker 1 25:29

I live in South Richland.

Speaker 2 25:31

Okay, okay, yeah.

Speaker 1 25:34

So I think my daughter knows you. But anyways, man, until next time, yes.

Speaker 2 25:41

Thank you, thanks so much. All right, bye mom.