Jump to content

2012 5A State Marching Contest


Recommended Posts

The reason Area G tends to struggle at the SMC or even BOA, if they attend, goes to the old saying "Money buys you Championships."

Had to reply to this because although I don't think "Money buys you Championships". money it is obviously a factor. I felt a little self conscious at a smaller band competition I watched earlier in the season that my son's band was competing. I recall a school where not all the members (alternates) had uniforms, others had ill fitting uniforms and it was obvious that they did not have the resources some of the other bands had. Money pays for private lessons, instruments, props, staff and many other things. I graduated many years ago from a San Antonio ISD school that didn't have many resources. I wasn't in the band but my sister was in the dance/drill team and we recently talked and she recalled how when she went with her dance team to a competition, many of the teams had lots of staff and people to help them with their choreography and in her dance team, the student officers were the choreographers. Parents that are able to actively be in the Band Boosters and volunteer and raise funds and put in man power and watch their kids perform and cheer them on are vital. At schools where parents are working 2 or more jobs or the kids themselves have to work to pay the bills, band is not a priority. Any band that has made it to a state level competition has the resources that helped get them that far. So while money alone can't get someone to a champion level, it is definitely one piece of the puzzle that needs to be there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 207
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Well, someone posted videos, so I'll put links to the finalist bands' performances on here. I saw plenty of others on the video list, so I think all of the bands that participated in the prelims are on Youtube as well. I also found other additional videos of Reagan and Hebron as well:

 

-Marcus Hi-Cam:

 

-Hebron: Hi-Cam No Preshow:

Multi-Cam W/ Preshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_MnjEkYl24

 

-LD Bell Hi-Cam:

 

-Bowie Hi-Cam:

 

-Coppell Hi-Cam:

 

-The Woodlands Hi-Cam:

 

-Westlake Hi-Cam:

 

-Reagan Hi-Cam:

BOA Field Level:

 

-Berkner Hi-Cam:

 

-CTJ (Johnson) Hi-Cam:

 

I'll add more videos (Different angles, Multi-Cam, etc.) of each of these bands performing at San Antonio as I find them if any more show up.And thanks to clarineticorn for letting me know that these are the finals runs.

 

Thanks so much for posting this. I hadn't had a chance to see Bowie. Loved it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a band parent and co-chair of our band boosters fund raising - MONEY HELPS A LOT.

 

Our band is 3 years old - this is the first year that we could afford a full time color guard instructor - and no - the school district does not pay for that.

 

We are from an fairly well off district and school - but the cost of starting from nothing has been mind blowing.

 

Its all the little things that add up - transportation (4K to take charter buses).

A band meal is $600 (170 kids) and we have 2-4 meals a week with contests and football games.

We spent 18K on a trailer this year (thanks to generous donation of 12K from a well off band parent)

 

Props are way down on our list of expenses.

 

Believe me - at BOA and SMC - you can see the money on the field.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First year band parent here and when I went to my first band booster meeting and saw the budget I really was shocked at the yearly budget! Then my son mentioned he knew bands where the budget was multiple times the amount of his school's band!

 

As a band parent and co-chair of our band boosters fund raising - MONEY HELPS A LOT.

 

Our band is 3 years old - this is the first year that we could afford a full time color guard instructor - and no - the school district does not pay for that.

 

We are from an fairly well off district and school - but the cost of starting from nothing has been mind blowing.

 

Its all the little things that add up - transportation (4K to take charter buses).

A band meal is $600 (170 kids) and we have 2-4 meals a week with contests and football games.

We spent 18K on a trailer this year (thanks to generous donation of 12K from a well off band parent)

 

Props are way down on our list of expenses.

 

Believe me - at BOA and SMC - you can see the money on the field.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know most of the people on here know a lot more about the music than I do - but I do know about the $$$ it takes to move and feed and house 200 band kids to a contest or football game.

 

Everything from ice to snacks to truck rental.

 

We would love to have a custom written show - that will have to wait.

We would love to hire an art director - that will have to wait.

We would love to have multiple color guard outfits

We would love to have tons of flags for the guard - that was a money issue we faced last year

 

As for as travel goes - our school district completely surrounds the Johnson Space Center. Because of all the layoffs last year and this year - our district did not let any school groups take any out of state trips. One exception - Clear Brook went to BOA Atlanta because they had already paid for the trip when the policy was announced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Money is definitely a factor for bands in the RGV. However, I'd like to point out Lopez's incredible concert band program. They are former 4A Honor Band winners and made the top seven at the 5A Honor Band contest the last two times. I've been to a ton of TMEA concerts, and theirs from 2004 still stands out to me as one of the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After stepping away for a bit to gain clear thoughts, I have come to conclude that you could make the case for 4 bands to have finished 3rd and I wouldn't argue with any of them. But Marcus and Hebron were without a doubt the top 2 on that night. As for Rowlett, I don't know what it is but if state was held out in the open air again I would not only have them in finals every state year I would have them in place for a medal every time. With that being said, I'm sure the will figure it out between now and next state cycle, it could be something as a drill fix as in where the horns are on the field at this point in the music, to a complete change of the arrangements of music. All I know is I enjoyed every single program that took the field Monday/Tuesday and stepping away from teaching for a year because I moved has been a great thing for me as a young director to see and hear things without the influence of being involved with a program... Curious to know how many times a single area swept all the medals? Area D maybe the deepest, but Area B owns all the medals.....Just saying... As for Dville, those kids are gracious in victory as well as in defeat, class act from a classy program

Edited by TxRaider13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...