John and his son Sterlin were the 2015 USTRC Team Roping #11 Shoot Out Champions – Brenda Allen
John English was born in Deming, New Mexico, in the southern part of the state. He had a rope is his hand as soon as he could hold one and grew up helping his dad produce ropings, shoe, and trade horses. “He taught me how to shoe horses and that’s how I made my living while I was going to college,” said the 6+ header. He made the High School Finals one year, traveling to Douglas, Wyo., and then went to Cochise College in Douglas Arizona, making the college finals three years in a row. “I couldn’t figure out what I was going to major in and figured I was wasting my mom and dad’s money, so I came home.”
He picked up where he left off, helping his dad. He worked for my brother inlaw selling furniture. “I met Connie (Coffey) and moved to Belen, New Mexico, where I started out selling cars. I lasted a month, that is the only job I had that I can honestly say I hated,” he said. “Connie’s dad and I started putting on ropings and I went back to the same life I had, roping, shoeing, and trading horses.” His life changed forever when he met Denny Gentry and went to work for him in 1992. “I was the liaison from his office to the classification office in California. I learned about production, from set up to tear down, and in general, I learned how to get along and solve problems.” He got married in 1994 and in 1996 the couple moved to California to take care of a ranch for Kiefer Sutherland. “I got to be good friends with after doubling for him in the movie The Cowboy Way. While in California, I got to rope and rodeo with 19 X NFR Qualifier Denny Watkins, what a great experience that was. Not ony did I get to head for Denny but I got to listen to all of the great stories of Denny’s career.”
They came back in 1999 and went back to work for Denny at the USTRC. “That was right about the time of the the sell to EquiBrand, which moved the company to Texas. I didn’t want to move, so I stuck around here for six months, and ended up at Super Looper Magazine,” he explained. “Connie was selling ads for the radio and I went to meet with Robin Davis to see about getting a job for her there and Connie and I decided that I would be a better fit, so I got that job and went to work for Super Looper. I was good at it – I knew all the producers and it came natural to me – I’m pretty social and get along with people pretty well.”
John and Connie have two sons, Sterlin is 13 and loves to rope and hopes to make it to the NFR someday; Stran is 8 and prefers baseballs to ropes. “The only think he likes to rope is goats, he’s got big dreams of being a professional baseball player.”
Connie suffered a stroke after the birth of Stran, which left her paralyzed on her right side. “We thought we were going to lose her, but she made it through and we spent six months in rehab. We got her home and we spent two years in out-patient rehab. She’s riding and trying to rope again – something she has to learn all over again.” Raising a brand new baby and a five-year-old, plus running the house and keeping his job gave John an added appreciation for his wife.
“In the fall of 2014, I got a call from Denny asking if I’d come to work for him. I was happy where I was, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity, I loved working for Denny and Connie before.” As the Event Coordinator, he schedules the events and takes care of the contractors. “All of the things I learned from my time at USTRC with Denny and Super Looper Magazine had me well prepared for my job at World Series.” He travels to the local ones and every once in a while he pops in on the producers to see how the events are going. Working for Denny and Connie has allowed John to attend his son’s functions and allows him the flexibility to rope as well as produce a few ropings. “Gabe Trujillo and I are producing a few this spring and hopefully they will be successful.” John has no plans of changing what’s going on with his life. He is able to rope with his oldest boy (who he won the #11 Shoot Out with at the USTRC National Finals last fall) and attend baseball games with his youngest and still have date night on Tuesday with his wife Connie.
