Participation at a USTRC event requires being a member of the USTRC, WSTR, or a Key Card holder in order to collect winnings, and a current-year membership must be in place before a USTRC Finals entry is accepted, regardless of when it's paid. Memberships run from purchase through December 31, with sales for the next season opening October 1 for the Key Card and November 1 for standard memberships. The lineup spans several tiers: the standard Gold Spur membership; the Key Card Advantage ($300), the premier card accepted at both USTRC and WSTR events; and the Key Card Max ($500), which bundles those benefits with free video streaming of the CINCH USTRC NFTR and the Ariat WSTR Finale, double WSTR Finale accumulated earnings, and annual USRoper roadside memberships. There's also a free Lifetime Membership for renewing or past members 70 and older, a discounted Junior Membership ($60) for ropers 15 and under, and a free Junior Looper Membership for youth 12 and under (usable only for Junior Looper dummy-roping competitions, not team roping entries). A Global Handicap Card ($60) rounds out the options and covers classification services, which are managed independently by Global Handicaps for USTRC and other associations.
USTRC
USTRC is the largest team roping membership organization in the world, with 30,000+ members. Its #1-#9 handicap system lets ropers of different abilities combine into fair team totals, with qualifiers feeding the Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping (NFTR) each spring in Fort Worth.
United States Team Roping Championships