Each month, Rodeo Insider with Steve Kenyon brings the rodeo stories and successes of a different Justin cowboy and cowgirl right to you. Follow Steve, owner and live broadcaster of Pro Rodeo Live, as he offers unique interviews with the best professional rodeo competitors nationwide. For more live broadcasts, rodeo results, and additional insight from ProRodeo's biggest names, visit ProRodeoLive.com.

Our ProRodeoLive.com website has broadcast several great rodeos over the last couple of months.  As a PRCA member announcer myself I always try to keep an ear to what's going on in the arena, and while I always enjoy and learn from my colleagues at every event, one of the guys I really enjoy listening to is Wayne Brooks from Texas. 

Wayne's fast making an indelible mark on the PRCA...with two Announcer of the Year Gold Buckles and the opportunity to appear at some of the biggest rodeos in the country, Red Bluff, Pendleton, Salinas, the Canadian Finals and the last two Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeos among them.  

Brooks, a Justin endorsee, offers an approach is one of the most fan friendly in all of ProRodeo.  He's a former contestant who comes from a broadcasting background, giving him the unique opportunity to mix his skills behind a microphone with the knowledge that only someone competing in the arena can offer. 

"Being involved in rodeo has provided me the opportunity to do what I enjoy.  It's the people who make the difference - and rodeo has the very best."

Wayne told the Billings Gazette Newspaper in an interview that ran while he was announcing the NILE Pro Rodeo a couple of years ago about the start of his announcing career.  He rode bulls in high school rodeo when he was going to school in Montana and Wyoming before his family moved to Arizona.  "It didn't take long that I had to figure out something else to do if I wanted to stay in rodeo," Brooks told Joe Kusek of the Billings Gazette.  

That's when a new opportunity presented itself.  "I went to a jackpot and the announcer didn't show," Brooks said.  "The wife of the stock contractor was walking around listening to voices.  She tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'You're the new announcer."  Brooks told the Billings Gazette his pay was two practice horses to ride.  

Brooks now lives with his family in Lampasas, TX.  In addition to his Announcer of the Year awards in 2005 and 2010 he's been nominated for that same award every year since 2003.  I really believe aspiring young rodeo announcers and veterans alike can learn a lot from listening to Wayne's smooth informative presentation and family friendly approach.   

You'll have a chance to hear Wayne at some impressive events coming up on his schedule, including the Redding Rodeo in California, the Coulee City Last Stand Rodeo in Washington, the Sisters Rodeo in Oregon, and the Reno Rodeo in Nevada.  Wayne's website is www.waynebrooks.net.