abtwitch

As a current resident of Abilene, I am offended... jokingly, of course

Richland is going to BOA Indianapolis Super Regional

Martin, Berkner, and Lehman

Glad someone else feels the same way about Multicam as me xD. I hate how it's the "norm".

I agree, I can't wait to see where their new director takes them in the next few years.

The best argument I've heard for marching band (as well as dance, cheerleading, etc.) NOT being a sport is how it is highly subjective, simply because it is art. I put it in it's own category, much like competitive cheerleading or dance (what did I write before lol?), but I like to call it competitive active arts.

I'm super stoked. I dropped marching band in college (my university lacks greatly in that department, but the concert band is fantastic) largely so I could attend more competitions (not to say that it was the only reason). Right now, I've got BOA Midland and Area D 6A Area on my calendar for sure (only about 2 hours from my campus), debating between BOA DFW and Vista Ridge MF on the 6th, looking at BOA Waco seriously, and really wanting to go to BOA San Antonio if I get a place to stay overnight. My school's football schedule kept me from most competitions this past season, so I'm looking forward to truly diving in this year!

I know that Westwood is losing a head band director (but an assistant director who is moving up to head was in charge of the most of marching band) and Belton is also getting a "new" (taught at Belton in the latter half of the 80s) head in Ed Stein who taught at Round Rock around the time of their rising to becoming a top level band.

Austin included, but was also hoping for the general surrounding areas. I looked for a thread and couldn't find it, must've missed it .

Seen topics for these for Houston, Dallas, etc. and was tbh feeling a little left out. What do you guys think?

Westwood did the same and also had their best season ever. Placing 1 out of finals at BOA Austin (debatably only missed because of fried electronics), placing 2nd at Vista Ridge Invitational pretty close on Cedar Park's tale, competing with previous BOA GN finalist Owasso at St. Louis, and then placing top 20 at (probably) the most competitive BOA SA just behind Round Rock (GN finalist) and ahead of Churchill (BOA Austin finalist). I know a few of my friends experienced staleness of the show by the end of the season, which could factor into motivational issues, so there's positives and negatives to both strategies. I'd like to see more schools do this to get a better idea of whether the positives outlay the negatives, but so far it looks like they do.

I just checked the Richland band calendar and they have "BOA Super Regional" on October 19th-20th. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this is the first time a Texas band has been to Indianapolis for the super regional?

As an Area D native (go Wood), this has been on my mind. It's gonna be one heck of a bloodbath (as usual) with (no particular order) CTJ, Bowie, Churchill, Hendrickson, Round Rock, Cedar Ridge, Westwood, and Reagan all as strong programs who have all qualified for state in the past and have since maintained their skill. Keep in mind that's 8 out of the 10 final spots already, so I'm more focused on who will take those last 2 spots. Pflugerville (previously a consistent area finalist) is gone, so it opens up the doors to other programs. There are a handful of bands that could take these slots, I've personally got my eyes on New Braunfels, Hays, Austin, and Belton. My 2 predictions at the current time are New Braunfels and Belton, Belton because of a director change that could work massively in their favor, but Hays and Austin are both strong programs that could surprise me. The part that hurts me the most is that only 5 (6 if we're lucky) bands will qualify for state, it's a headache to have to choose, but I think CTJ is a lock without a doubt.

I have been told by a current student that Westwood might be going to Waco. The directors haven't said much or confirmed commitments, but they've suggested at it according to my friend. Edit: Berkner has BOA Waco on the calendar, McNeil has "Marching Contest", Aledo has BOA Waco or Birdville Invitational, Duncanville has "Possible marching contest"

Here are the schools who have BOA SA on their calendars: Returning finalists: Johnson, San Antonio Vandegrift, Austin Reagan, San Antonio Cedar Park Keller Hendrickson, Pflugerville The Woodlands Cedar Ridge, Round Rock Leander Other returning: Vista Ridge, Cedar Park Round Rock Westwood, Austin (source: current student) Churchill, San Antonio Wylie Timber Creek, Fort Worth Coppell Oak Ridge, Conroe Clear Brook, Friendswood Friendswood (No specific contest listed, but makes regular appearances) Keller Central Aledo Martin, Arlington Lopez, Brownsville Katy Rouse, Leander Madison, San Antonio Lehman, Kyle Tom Glenn, Leander Other: Prosper McNeil, Austin United, Laredo Taft, San Antonio Haltom, Haltom City Alexander, Laredo The Colony Not confirmed, but still very likely: Finalists: Hebron, Carrollton Flower Mound Marcus, Flower Mound Bowie, Austin Other: L.D. Bell, Hurst Pearland Plano East Westlake, Austin Pflugerville College Park, The Woodlands O'Connor, Helotes Lake Travis, Austin Alvin Juarez-Lincoln, Mission Anderson, Austin Others that went for the first time/goes every other year that still might return: Klein Oak, Spring (first year, 2017) Cy-Fair (every other year odds) Cypress Falls (finalist, 2016) Dripping Springs (first year, 2016) Klein Forest, Houston (first year, 2016) New Braunfels (first year since 2011, 2017) Seven Lakes (every other year odds) Southwest (AA Champion, 2017) Weiss, Pflugerville (A Champion, 2017) This contest is already looking to be very competitive, super bummed I won't be able to go again this year. Edit 1: Confirmation for Hendrickson from insider Edit 2: Updates from the thread (The Woodlands, Madison, Haltom, Anderson) Edit 3: More calendar stalking

Another potential finalist is Aledo, but they have BOA Waco or Birdville Marching Festival on their calendar, so we don't know for sure if they will be attending.

Being a new contest, we don't have much of an idea on who will be there. I did some scavenging on band calendars and CTJ, Cedar Park, and Vandegrift are the only "elite" schools that have it confirmed and it's safe to assume they will all make finals, with CTJ and Vandy with that chance to take gold. I assume there will be more, but we can only speculate about other bands for now, but I wouldn't be surprised by some DFW appearances. Other than that, we can assume Waco area bands (obviously) such as Waco and Midway and maybe some bands that go down to BOA Austin such as Belton could also find their way up north some ways.