Story by Carrie Hollingsworth
Anna and Tyler Williams are 17-year-old twins from Colfax, Louisiana. Their parents, Brad and Jamie Williams, have hauled the twins and their older sister, Emily, up and down the rodeo road for years. Their dad, Brad, was a calf roper back in high school and he introduced Anna and Tyler to rodeo. They started competing when they were about five years old.
Anna is a breakaway roper and goat tier. Stacy Martin grew up with her Dad, and Anna has practiced at Next Level Goat Tying since she started rodeoing. Tyler competes in team roping. He says his idol is his Dad because, “He has taught me everything I know about roping.” The Williams’ twins have been members of the Louisiana High School Rodeo Association since junior high, they say they have, “Met friends from all over the world” because of this association.
These twins may be fraternal, but they have more in common than you think. 2017 was a record-breaking year for Anna and Tyler. Anna was crowned the Louisiana Junior High School Rodeo Association champion goat tier. Later that summer she went to Tennessee to compete at the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals where she earned herself the title of NJHSRA Reserve Champion girl’s goat tier. Tyler ropes on the head side, so his main job is to turn steers for his heeler. Turning steers is just what he did for his partner, Matt Glover, when they took the National Little Britches team roping championship back home to Louisiana.
Every champion has something they tell themselves, or something they do before they run down the alley way or back into the box. Usually they do this to focus, distract themselves, or to keep them from cracking under pressure. Pressure means nothing to these twins. Anna actually thinks of every single thing that could happen before she makes a goat run, “I try to picture every possible move the goat could make in my head, that way I can be prepared for it.” Tyler, on the other hand, has a simpler strategy, but it is still just as effective. He tells himself to, “Score smart” every time he backs in the box because, no one likes a speeding ticket, especially when your partner is relying on you.
One thing Louisiana is known for is hurricanes, but the Williams’ live farther north, so it’s not as common to get hit as hard as Southwest Louisiana. Hurricane Laura made land fall on Thursday, August 27th. Anna, Tyler, their parents, and Ava Richard stayed at the Williams’ house, thinking the storm wouldn’t be as strong. By the time it got to them. Anna said, “My mom stayed up all night. The first tree hit the house and woke everyone else up. It landed in the living room where my mom was.” They immediately started picking stuff up and trying to salvage what they could. Not long after the first tree fell, another one fell, and landed on the back of the house causing the roof to start caving in. The Williams family gathered up all of their inside pets and ran to the car, but the storm was too bad to drive in. They said, “We thought the car was going to flip with us in it, that’s how strong the wind was.” Their house is a total loss and they are staying in their horse trailer and renting a house until they build a new one. The Williams family is extremely thankful for everyone who went and helped them clean up. Times are tough in Louisiana, but Anna and Tyler are grateful no one was hurt. “Every one of us made it out the house without a single scratch on our bodies.”
