Wildcats set goal to reclaim state championship

What could be better than having a head coach who has written several books about cheerleading techniques and an assistant coach who was voted Washington’s 2008 assistant coach of the year?

More than 40 enthusiastic student athletes showing up for tryouts, that’s what.

Like most high school sports, cheerleading has become nearly a year-round activity and head coach Pam Headridge and her assistant, Robin Gohn, are already making preparations for the team to don the purple and gold and hit the sidelines for the fall season.

Learning to do stunts or become a high flyer takes a lot of dedication and practice, two things Headridge stresses from the first day.

Until last season, Oak Harbor had won five straight state championships. The ’Cats were on track to win a sixth with the highest point total in the Washington Interscholastic Activity Association finals March 22 in Bellevue, but a 10-point deduction gave the championship to Redmond High School.

Despite a fourth-place finish at the USA Nationals in Anaheim, Calif., earlier in the month, not being state champion was a difficult time for many of the veterans on the team and goals for the 2009 season have already been set.

“What I want to do is inspire the new girls and like teach them a lot about cheers,” Meghan Rikard, one of the team co-captains said. “I want to teach them how to be good role models and definitely I want us to go back and win the state championship this year.”

Learning to work together as a team is most important and that work begins prior to any cheers being performed.

First of all, practice mats have to be pushed around and set up before any workouts begin and it is the responsibility of everybody to help out.

“Everybody gets put to work rolling out the mats, we all have to show our strength,” junior Ashley Bass said. “We’re a team.”

Even before the start of the season, Oak Harbor has earned yet another award when Headridge was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by Pac West, a company that oversees competition in the northwest and also in Alaska and Hawaii, for her work.

“I was a speaker at one of their conferences and they gave me the award. I don’t know, a lifetime achievement award, maybe they are trying to move me out and I’m getting too old to do this anymore,” she said with a laugh.

Not hardly. Go Wildcats!