'Golden Feather' spirit game gets upgrade

After 10 years of Spirit Game competition, it was time for an upgrade.

The event began in 2007 as the "Scramble Egg" between birds of a feather, Medical Lake and West Valley while both schools were part of the 2A Great Northern League.

It evolved after four years -West Valley winning the first two and Medical Lake the next pair - with the launch of the "Golden Feather," and the establishment of a more regional rivalry with Cheney.

The Golden Feather has been a fixture in January ever since with 2018 being a time of change in how the competition was conducted.

In the past, competing schools put days and weeks of planning into the event, producing skits for in between games that were judges by a panel of 12 who scored them. Coupled with the results of the games that featured both boys and girls teams from the schools, a scoring system determined the winner.

It was a pretty grandiose production, but it did come at a cost. "It was literally three months, a third of our school year almost, went towards just one activity," Medical Lake athletics director Justin Blayne said.

In the past, each school had its own theme, "Toy Story," "Wizard of Oz" and others. "This year our theme was to do more of a unity thing between the two schools," Blayne said. "With the Olympics on the horizon, our theme was Winter Olympics," he added.

The new format featured a variety of student groups who did performances and activities of all kinds at halftime and in the between-game breaks.

"Our schools decided to try and still basically provide an atmosphere and environment that still has a lot of energy and excitement, but reduced the amount of preparation," Blayne said. In the past the programs for the Spirit Game all involved the leadership classes in the two schools. "That limited the involvement," Blayne said. This year there was a more broad involvement in the planning and production.

Cheney's cheerleaders did a performance during one halftime as did their drumline. Other breaks featured Medical Lake cheerleaders along with a basketball shooting contest.

But still the night needed to determine a winner of the coveted "Golden Feather" trophy. That was simplified a great deal with each school earning points for wins by their respective basketball teams. Medical Lake won the girls game 47-44 while the Cheney boys collected a 69-47 win.

Later in the break, the schools faced off in relay races featuring bobsled boxes. A timed basketball shooting event where participants had to wear oven mitts took up another break. And another had a competition featuring a hoola-hoop toss and other events.

"So it's the best-three-out-of-five. It's a more objective outcome," Blayne said.

Despite changes, some things remained very much the same. Each school still purchases spirit packs that contain shirts and other goodies. "There will still be a lot of yelling and a lot of screaming," Blayne said.

Medical Lake won each of the between-game activities and thus, the Cardinals collected the trophy for the 10th consecutive year last Friday night in Cheney.

Weather cancelled one portion, a torch run between the schools where the two school principals were to meet near Granite Lake road. Principal Chris Spring was to have been the last leg for Medical Lake. He would hand off to Cheney principal Troy Hewitt to begin the Blackhawks' portion.

For new Cheney AD Jeff Chandler, the event was a brand new experience. "I have never been involved in a Spirit Game before," he wrote in an email. "I enjoyed the experience and look forward to future spirit contests with Medical Lake."

Like other observers, Chandler was impressed. "I loved seeing the gym full and the positive energy it gives our teams on the floor."

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.