Martin
grad honored after death for efforts to get cheer officially recognized

Monday,
October 06, 2008

BY CHUCK PARKER

MARTIN
-- Martin High School graduate and former
Bloomingdale teacher and coach Randy Orr worked hard to get competitive
cheerleaders recognized as athletes, said his mother, Barbara Orr, of Martin.

Randy
Orr died May 26, 2007, from Hodgkin's disease at the age of 40. Later that
year, he was posthumously named the 2007 Coach of the Year by the Competitive
Cheer Coaches Association of Michigan.

This
year, Randy Orr's dream for recognition of competitive cheer is being
realized by his family, friends and every competitive cheer team in the
state. Orr, along with two other competitive-cheer coaches, will be inducted
Oct. 12 into the association's Hall of Fame and will have his picture hung in
the Michigan High School Athletic Association building alongside coaches from
other high school sports.

That
honor ``solidifies for him that cheerleaders are athletes,'' Barbara Orr
said.

Randy
Orr, who also attended St. Margaret
School in Otsego, graduated from Martin in 1985,
going on to attend -- and cheer at -- Grand
Valley State
University and the University of Missouri
Kansas City. He even cheered briefly for the
Kansas City Chiefs.

Orr
coached the cheer teams at Martin and Lake Michigan Catholic High School,
whose team he took to seven competitive cheer and MHSAA state championships
before moving on to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and then East Kentwood
High School.

Some
of those state championships were accomplished before competitive cheer was
sanctioned by the MHSAA, said Leslie Landis, a friend and colleague who
coaches at Forest Hills Northern.

Orr
``was a huge supporter of starting MHSAA competitive cheer, as it would turn
`cheer' into an MHSAA-sanctioned sport in the state of Michigan and would
mean more recognition for our athletes,'' Landis said.

Landis
said she and Orr first met at a regional meet when Orr was coaching at
Martin.

``We
became best friends instantly,'' Landis said. ``I have never met a person
with such optimism, courage, love for life and passion for working with
kids,'' Landis said.

``Coaching
was definitely his calling. This was evident to all who came in contact with
him. His love for coaching reached beyond the world of cheer into other
sports.''

Landis
was Orr's assistant coach at East Kentwood
while Orr was doing his student teaching. He returned to GVSU to earn a
teaching degree and coach that team at the Universal Cheerleaders Association
national championships. Orr then began teaching geography in middle school
and then high school at Bloomingdale, where he also coached until his death.

Orr's
dream of Bloomingdale's competitive-cheer team qualifying for state finals
was realizedin March. The team dedicated its
accomplishment to Orr's memory.