How Henderson overcame autism to become a nationally ranked junior bass fisherman
Robbie Henderson was destined to be a fisherman.
Predestined, really. His parents, Jeff and Lisa, got him his first rod before he was born, Zebco’s “My First Fishing Pole.” Robbie used the rod as soon as he could hold it.
A junior at Wauconda High School, Robbie Henderson — nicknamed “Goose” by an uncle who tagged him with that as a kid — has since become an expert angler.
Ranked the No. 4 junior nationally by the National Bass Fishing Trail program, Henderson in 2022 was the youngest speaker ever to address the Northern Illinois Sports Show. His fishing résumé (yes, he has a fishing résumé) lists 29 sponsors.
Headed on Thursday with his Wauconda teammates and coaches, including his father, to the Fox Chain O’ Lakes for the Northern Lake County Conference bass fishing championships, in 2024 Henderson and his Bulldogs fishing partner Logan Anderson won the Unified division at the Illinois High School Association Bass Fishing State Finals.
Henderson has high-functioning autism. Initially diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), later testing revealed the autism.
Fishing demands patience, even by the impatient.
“It just calms me down, makes me refocus,” said Henderson, whose coping mechanisms include walks outdoors and building Lego sets. He also plays Unified basketball at Wauconda.
He can’t tell you how many fish he’s caught in one outing. One tends to lose count after 30, he said.
“I can go out all day, I’ve done it before, especially when you catch a lot of fish. You lose track of time — that’s another thing I like about fishing,” he said.
Jeff Henderson, a former equipment manager for the Chicago Rush Arena Football League team and for the past 11 years a bus driver for Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95, said when “Goose” gets frustrated with things he’ll go to nearby Island Lake to fish.
“He’ll come back a completely different kid,” Jeff Henderson said.
Robbie Henderson said it took him three, four years to become adept at fishing. After that he won the first three tournaments he entered.
He’s finished in ninth place, in fourth place, and fourth again at the last three junior National Bass Trail National Championships. He’ll try to improve on that at the 2025 championships in Spring City, Tennessee, the week after the IHSA finals June 6-7.
The Hendersons are working with the state to start a nonprofit, Goose’s Special Fishing Family, so Robbie can extend his secrets to children with special needs.
“There usually is no secret,” he corrected. “You’ve just got to have fun.”
Winning moves
Mark Sohn said he was floored by the honor.
A true gymnast.
Sohn, though, specialized on pommel horse at Rolling Meadows High School, Class of 1987. He tied for the state title in 1986 and went on to be a four-time national champion at Penn State University from 1988-91.
Sohn is the only man to win four straight NCAA pommel horse titles, according to the College Gymnastics Association. He’s one of two to win four titles in any event, joining former New Mexico vaulter Chad Fox.
Like Fox, on April 19 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Sohn was inducted into the CGA Hall of Fame. It was established only last year.
“It’s a huge honor. Being in the second class ever, I’m almost speechless,” said Sohn, of Inverness.
“The people I was inducted with, a lot of them were my heroes,” he said, pointing to UCLA’s Peter Vidmar, an Olympic gold medalist on pommel horse.
Sohn won the event at the U.S. Championships in 1992, 1995, and 1996. He competed in the World Championships in 1992, 1994, and 1996, placing seventh in 1992 in Paris.
He entered gymnastics by accident. As a Rolling Meadows freshman he signed up for PWR.GYM. Sohn thought it was a weightlifting class.
When varsity gymnastics coach Vic Avigliano instead greeted students with a “Welcome to Power Gymnastics” and directed a “ticked off” Sohn to the pommel horse, he tried to transfer to another class. The attempt was denied.
Under Avigliano, Al Galatte and Tom Walthouse, all members of the Illinois High School Gymnastics Coaches Hall of Fame, he went on to success. Sohn joined his coaches in the Illinois hall in 2006.
He’s even got a skill named after him in the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points — the Sohn, a 360-degree turn on one pommel.
“That’s one of the best things I got out of the sport, is there’s kids posting videos on YouTube saying, ‘I got my first Sohn,’ trying to master the skill I created,” he said.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com