Hey! Fossil Ridge mama here (and former Berkner guard member myself). I love marching band, and I think all the shows this year have amazing things to offer. I'm constantly impressed by all these kids and their efforts! My faves so far have been Keller and LD Bell, but I haven't gotten to see too many.
I know Ridge is not usually in the convo about area finals, but I wanted to give you guys some little-known behind the scenes insight into what they face.
They are Keller ISD, but they are technically in Ft. Worth. Over half the student body is low income. The entire feeder pattern is Title 1. This is why, even with band fees that are 1/3 of the other bands in the area, they are so small... it's hard to get enough kids that can afford to participate. And they certainly don't have the luxury of choosing which kids to put on the field.
The boosters fundraise the best they can, but as an outlier to Keller, they don't get much community support. Their fundraising is to help scholarship kids so they can participate and feed them at games and comps and help pay limited support staff. They don't have a bunch of money to spend on new uniforms or extravagant props, and their equipment is ancient and sketchy. They don't even take props to games because the money that would be used for a prop truck is needed to help the kids. To top it all off, they have to compete against some of the top (and wealthiest and biggest) bands in the state, including 3 others in their own district. They don't ever travel to BOA San Antonio or anywhere else the rest of the Keller ISD bands go because they don't have the money. They are always the underdog. But here are the good things:
They have one of the most diverse programs in the state, and they are a united family. So cool! They work so dang hard despite the odds and always cheer on other schools... especially in their district... even though they are the black sheep. Ha! They keep improving and clawing forward even when it looks impossible. Their snare line has three girls... including their center snare... which is so unusual and cool to all of us ladies.
Every success... big or small (like making finals at BOA Midland last year and at HEB a few weeks ago - despite some nearly catastrophic complications in prelims - and placing 3rd overall at USBands Burleson last week - woohoo!) is an against-all-odds Cinderella story. So if you happen to be there when they play, please please please give them some love... they need every bit of it! Thanks guys!! Love reading all your predictions and input! Go band!