At the first day of band camp in July, Dr. Rod Schueller, West Ranch High School’s Director of Instrumental Music, told his team their main goal should be to strive to get better each day. Based on their performance during the 2025 season, Schueller’s team listened to his message.

Each time the Wildcat Marching Band and Colorguard performed during the 2025 competition season, the team produced a higher score than it had in its previous competition, culminating with the performance on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association 5A Division Championships.

West Ranch turned in its best show of the season, posting a score of 92.30 to win the 5A title and gold medal. It is the second time in three years West Ranch has won an SCSBOA title under Schueller.

“Through all the hours and hours of practice, and sectionals and rehearsals, everything we asked this group to do they have done and they just gotten better and better every week,” Schueller said. “When we moved into 5A (this year) I had some trepidation. It was a new, higher classification, competing against bands in some case substantially larger than us, and I wondered how we would fare. But I quickly came back to something I learned a long time ago, put your faith in your students so I did and they delivered a gold medal season.”

West Ranch’s 2025 Field Show, titled “Red” was loosely based on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, was the brainchild of Jay Kamp, West Ranch’s Visual Caption Head. From there, the rest of the design team including Kamp’s wife Esther Kamp, who directs the Colorguard, Julio Diaz who leads the percussion units and Aria Frierson, Drum Major Coach and Visual Technician. The various aspects of the team were integrated into a show that resonated with fans and judges alike.

The show featured challenging music and choreography which took some time for the Wildcat team to master, but at the group’s first 2025 competition at Moorpark, things seemed to click, according to Schueller.

“It took several weeks for concepts to come together and see them executed by the students,” Schueller said. ‘At Moorpark we had a great score and the reception for the show was incredible and everything really started coming together after that. We are fortunate to have very smart, responsible students. The process wasn’t always what I wanted it to be, but in the end, the results were there.”

In Schueller’s first year at West Ranch, the Wildcat Band won the 4A Division title. Asked how the two titles compare, Schueller said each are unique.

“The first one came with many seasoned veterans who held on through a lot of transition,” Schueller said. “This one came with a relatively young band that was eager. This season was very challenging, so I suppose that makes Saturday night a bit more gratifying.”