Heather Cato begins her second season as the head women's soccer coach at Rogers State after taking over the program in January 2014.
In her first season with the Hillcats, Cato guided the team to a 3-14 record and a 3-5 mark in Heartland Conference action placing sixth in the 10-team league. RSU closed the season with back-to-back conference wins over Oklahoma Christian and Newman winning three of the final four games of the 2014 campaign. Cato coached her first All-Heartland Conference selection as leading scorer Blair Thomas garnered third-team honors while also landing on the NSCAA Scholar All-South Region Honorable Mention Team.
Cato, who has her NSCAA National Diploma, NSCAA Level 3 Goalkeeping Diploma, and USSF ‘C’ license, previously served as the head women's soccer coach at Whitman College (Wash.) from August 2010 until becoming the second head coach for the Hillcats' women's soccer program. She replaced Derek Larkin who led both the men's and women's soccer programs on the Hill since the team's inception in 2007.
While at Whitman, Cato tallied 30 wins in her four-year stint as the head coach, earning an 11-9 record during the 2013 season, her final year with the Missionaries. She coached 17 All-Northwest Conference players and 37 Academic All-Northwest Conference recipients. During her stint, the program averaged a 3.45 team grade point average.
Cato kicked off her coaching career as an assistant at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock from 2001 to 2003. During her two seasons as an assistant coach, she managed the team budget and scholarship fund, organized team practices and scouting reports, developed and implemented year-around strength and conditioning programs, and assisted with recruiting that helped boost the team's win total by eight victories from one season to the next.
Cato is a 2001 graduate of the University of Arkansas with a degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology. She was a four-year starter for the Razorbacks, playing both forward and outside midfielder. Cato led the Razorbacks in scoring as a senior and finished with 24 career goals. She was second on the school's all-time scoring list at the time of her graduation, and she still ranks sixth on the all-time Razorback scoring ladder. Arkansas won the Southeastern Conference's western division title in her first season and then lost the SEC championship game in the final seven seconds of double-overtime. The Razorbacks shared a second divisional title during her senior season. Cato booted 13 of her career goals against SEC opponents and was her school's all-time leading scorer in conference games at the time of her graduation. She still ranks third in conference scoring at Arkansas. Cato obtained a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock in 2003.
The Arkansas alum was a member of the Washington state and regional Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 1992 through 1996. She was a captain of the state squad for three years and she captained the Region IV team in 1996, when she was named to the under-20 US Women's National team touring Europe with the team for a month. As a Women’s National team pool player, Cato traveled to Florida for two training camps where she teamed up with legendary players, Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and Julie Foudy.
Cato, who was born in Missouri and moved to Vancouver, Washington when she was 10, is the daughter of Jim and Tina Trickey and David and Debbie Cato, all of whom live in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Siblings Jason Trickey and Christie Snyder also live Missouri.
