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This event has been confirmed to be on October 19th!! This is the weekend before area starts up, so it’s looking we will have both 5A and 6A programs much like 2019! I’m super excited for this event (no particular reason 😂) and can’t wait to see a ton of amazing programs! also, Baylors football schedule couldn’t have been more perfect for me in terms of games on days with comps, so here’s what my tentative schedule is for next season: Boa dfw: in person, all day Boa prosper: in person, all day Boa waco: in person, first half of prelims and finals Boa San Antonio: in person, both days, all day Boa Grand Nationals(Box5) If I end up going to SA, it will be my first time at this event and 2nd time in the dome, so knowing’s it even a possibility makes me so happy. Can’t wait for the fall of 2024!!!

For me, it was Marcus High School's 2021 State UIL Finals entitled The Missing Piece. I was lucky enough to be working that day shooting close video. I knew they were 8th after preliminaries and did not expect much. Since I was doing close video, I was able to see their faces pretty well, and you could tell they had just decided to go all in that evening. It was going to be a train wreck or something special, and they delivered. The faces of those 2 Mellophone soloists at the end have always stuck in my mind of what all band members at every school at every level put into the programs every year. The best Bronze Medal performance I have ever witnessed. Fixed the Link 2021 Marcus Band UIL Finals Performance

Just came here to say that! ☺️

Okay, I messed. I think the MEPA Franklin is a different Franklin from the A finalist last year. Like an Ohio versus Tennessee guard or something. The one from last year should be Open class now. If anybody has access to the drive, can you resend the link to me? Thanks! Still haven't seen much of anything! ❤️

I dont plan on going to any comps, but its good to see Waco be a big meetup before 5A/6A gladiator arenas lol, Im really hoping to see McKinney Boyd/High go but in all honesty with region most likely on the day Im not holding my breath, if region is moved to another day than Id expect those 2, and North is near guaranteed

So definitely not going to be something like Cypress Mountain cause....well...Texas #nomountainsjusthills 🤣

Do we really need to be assigning penalties these harsh at what is literally the first contest?

I'm going through some of the recaps from around the country. What's up with all the penalties at TCGC Turner? 20(!) guards got penalties, some of them costing a guard first place. That seems unusually high to me, at least looking at Dripping Springs (only 4 penalties) and last year's results. Just something that caught my eye, especially moving into regional A and beyond. Probably the most interesting direct comparison with a mostly WGI panel from this weekend: West Broward edges out Stoneman Douglas, who edges out Flanagan. All within a point of each other, centered around a 68. Very strong scores. I'm especially happy to see Flanagan so close to the others after not doing so great post-pandemic. Meanwhile, last year's Open class champion (and 2022's A class champion), Somerset Academy, was in 4th, 3 points back with a 64.4. That's a very respectable score for a first outing in world class. Tarpon "in the lead" with a 73.5 at FFCC with a 100% WGI panel. TWHS behind them with a 72.4. (Both of these are pre-penalty scores, by the way. 😅) Surprised to see TWHS doing slightly worse than they did last year, but obviously it's hard to compare with different panels. The one WGI judge did give them a 76 in movement, which is a giant number. Really, we won't know anything until WGI starts up. Looking forward to finally seeing both of these guards. MEPA had an interesting SW result, with Miamisburg at a 66.6 and Bellbrook right behind them with a 65.8. They're strong scores, but it does seem a little lower than usual for Miamisburg, who got 6th last year at Worlds and 4th the year before. Again, it's hard to know, especially at this very early stage with incomplete shows. Also at MEPA, Franklin gets a 73 in A class. Giant number. Loved their show last year, so this is exciting!

This is going to be more personal but when Lumberton made 5A State back in 2017 was a huge comeback. Last time Lumberton advanced was all the way back in 1980 where they placed 7th/25 at 4A State (Top 5 Advanced to Finals). Between 1980 and 2017, Lumberton was very consistent at region but always failed to advance from Area to State, though placed State Alternate or the next spot out quite a bit. It really wasn't until the horrible tragedy of 2016 & 2017 that occurred, when Lumberton started getting that traction to advance. In 2016, we had a band parent steal and use over $70,000 from us. It was a complete slap to our face however being the Mighty Raider Band from Lumberton, we did not stop. We used that setback to fuel us for the remainder of the year plus the years to come. We all know what happened in August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey. Like many cities and towns in SETX, over half of the town lost everything (I believe at least 1/4th, maybe even 1/2 of the band had lost everything) however that again, did not stop us. We continued all season long til Area where we placed 3rd/38 in Prelims, then 5th/10 in Finals, (Top 7 went to State that year in Area E). I cannot tell yall how ecstatic we were on our advancement to State. Even though we would eventually place 30th/35, it was still an incredible achievement to have finally been a state ranked band. Fast forward 7 years, and Lumberton has advanced to State every eligible year yet. I will forever always remember those moments in the program that truly made us the Mighty Raider Band from tiny SETX Town, Lumberton.