tubapop

Totally brutal area

I hope to go to GN with Bridgeland and would love to see Tarpon Springs live... They're probably my favorite all around group. So incredibly creative

No doubt our CFISD brethren would've made boasa finals.

Underrated comment. It's fun, but kind of silly, to see all these predictions for next year on the forum when nobody has even stepped onto the practice field yet, or even announced shows for that matter.

I'd imagine at this point only directors, boosters, and some students know next year's themes, and they probably have been asked not to share. For instance I know Bridgeland's show next year but we'd theoretically be at a disadvantage to make that public (and they ask us not to share). Probably why I couldn't get my hands on any YouTube videos of Monomyth last season lol

I had a similar thought when I heard the news. But thinking about it some more, I'm glad we are going. It's not like the grand nationals are something you have to qualify for, or even be good to attend. You just sign up. Lots of bands that are good, but not great, attend every year. The only question is whether the program/boosters are willing to fund the trip for what might be an underwhelming outcome. And that's up to the individual program, if they want to take that kind of calculated risk. In Bridgeland's case, the performance the past couple of years has been solid. In my view, if you can make the finals at BOASA, you have a good shot of making them at GN.

they publicly shared it on social media tonight. so, for sure now.

My kid is a student there, and the directors told them. I also have other hard evidence confirming it. They haven't shared it with the boosters yet, but I imagine that will happen at the next meeting. I don't know if this changes anything about BOASA, BOA Webster, state, etc.

Bridgeland confirmed going to 2024 Grand Nationals!

I do wonder whether some like ctj will be willing to drive the extra distance

Was this formerly the Katy regional?

I've re-read it 5 times now and can't find an attack on you, but I do apologize if there is one. Let's all move on.

You're reading quite a bit into what have been pretty objective, thoughtful replies. I (and as far as I can tell, the others who agree with me) haven't once criticized your parenting methods or your views. I mentioned I didn't like the idea of loosening the 8 hour rule in my first post, and in my second post, I gave more details as to why. At no point have I expressed an inability to appreciate other points of view, nor have I accused anyone of being a bad parent, nor have I said or implied I disrespected you. But you have been heaping scorn upon the rest of us, for some unknown reason.

It's not puzzling at all. My children are high achievers. They are in as many AP and honors classes as their schedules will allow. They go to bed at midnight and wake at 5am every single day, and sometimes my son goes to bed at 2am, wakes at 5am, and sneaks in a nap during the day. At the end of the semester, during finals, they are so stressed they eventually break down sobbing. I encourage them to take fewer honors classes but they refuse. My daughter spends countless hours practicing in band, attending football games, going to contests. The week of 6a state/boasa was rough on her because she was gone for nearly an entire school week, then fell sick and missed more school, and had to make it all up without missing the NEW material that was being taught. I don't know if Lost and Hardcorebandfan have children, but if you're a parent, part of your job is teaching your children healthy ways to cope with stress and maintain good mental health. And that often means saying no to things to simplify your life. So yeah, I agree that teaching them to juggle a lot of balls at once is a valuable life skill, but another valuable life skill is understanding when you are at your limit and slashing things from your life that are diminishing your mental health.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I would pull my kid from band if the hourly restrictions were loosened any more than they presently are (and I know many other parents would, too). My primary aim in sending my kid to school is to get an education in math, science, language, etc. - not to win band competitions. Band contests are a heck of a lot more fun in the moment, but they're not the priority. My kids struggle enough with challenging course loads and demanding practice schedules - I can't imagine putting more practice hours in than they already do. And I say all this as a former band student who, like my child, also competed at the highest levels in the state and nationally. Knowing many parents feel this way, band enrollment at our school was undoubtedly decrease, and I imagine the same would occur across the state, at least in schools with like minded parents. My point is there can be unintended and far reaching consequences to changing the hourly limits so we should be careful what we wish for.

It's on the radar for us (Bridgeland) at some point within the next few years, but a lot of stars need to align. And the scheduling for 6a state/boasa/gn next yr is...suboptimal.

I know this is a texas bands forum, but I just discovered Tarpon Springs and feel as though I've had an awakening. I never thought a hs band could entertain me more than penstriped, but then I watched Tarpon springs' 2022 show. The most incredible drill and fun, creative arrangement I've ever seen. 2023 is awesome, too. Just wow. Music is consistently rough but the GE is so high that I don't even care about the music being rough. Anyone else seen these shows?

We (Bridgeland) have a booster meeting Tuesday night. Curious to see if that's announced. I haven't heard anything yet.

I really don't understand how that Avon show outdoes hebron or Carmel, but whatever.

To be fair, this forum tends to swing in the opposite direction, with everyone thinking all bands deserve to be in the top half.

If there was a competition for most bad performance times in a single season, CTJ would go first.

It was 4 of us, and we got seats on the 50

I really had to restrain myself from confronting the row of kids behind me during finals. Paid 300 bucks for tickets only to have a bunch of talkers behind me. I've asked people to shut it at other band contests before. But I'm working on being a kinder and gentler person 😄

I wasn't intending to insult any groups. I used to be in one of the ones that I mentioned. It didn't even occur to me until you mentioned it that someone might perceive it that way. Sorry to any kids from those groups I may have offended. I'm an alum from one of those schools...I still support you and in fact root against Bridgeland and my kid when we play head to head, lol.

This message is mostly aimed to students at Cy-Woods, Cy-Fair, and Bridgeland high schools. I'm a Bridgeland parent and I know many BL kids read this forum, and I imagine the CyWoods/CyFair kids do, too. I am beyond proud of what our district is starting to do right now. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Houston had some of the best marching bands in the nation. Westfield, Spring, Langham Creek, Clements... nobody knew of Hebron, Vandegrift or Vista Ridge back then. But the directors at those great Houston schools eventually retired or moved on, and their programs declined quickly, with Langham Creek being the last to do so. CFISD's music program has struggled for 17 years, since Langham Creek HS was the big dog and was doing great things on the field. It's been nothing but tumbleweeds since then. But to see what these three bands have put on the field the past couple of years, and especially this year, it just makes me incredibly proud of how we are representing Cypress, CFISD, and Houston in general. It is a renaissance for CFISD and for Houston. To the Cy-Fair HS kids: Your show this year was so outside-the-box. I've been following marching bands for a long time, and it's one of the most creative show designs I have ever seen. Everything was new, different, original. I have never heard so many kids from other bands "ooh" and "aah" over a show as I did at the area I contest a few weeks ago when you performed in the finals. I've never discussed the meaning of a show so often with parents from BL and other schools. That means you put ART on the field, and that's all in addition to the precision marching, the beautiful and tight woodwind runs, the beautiful brass sound, the amazing guard with its butterflies. It was just a complete package and, knowing we are friendly competition, I was sweating you guys all season and was a little relieved you weren't attending BOA SA - one less contender to worry about. I can't wait to see what you guys cook up next year. I know it's going to be absolutely incredible. To the Cy-Woods HS kids: You put on a fantastically clean and modern show. The black and yellow popped on the field visually, and it complemented the block formations and diagonals so well. The cleanliness of the front ensemble was noteworthy, and my favorite moment might have been the trumpet-led brass section in the first 1/3 of the show, where you're standing in a diagonal formation on the right side of the field and are building up to a tense moment with a constantly crescendoing double-tonguing master class that is so, so clean and in unison--that is really difficult to pull off, but you did. I'm sure you are aware from the prelims scores that you were incredibly close to making the BOA SA finals. Maybe you felt a little disrespected this season in the judging, and I'm stressed about what that's going to make you do next year. And to my Bridgeland kids: I can't say enough about you. The show was so beautiful this year. You achieved historic things. There's only one band in the history of Texas that has ascended so quickly from being a new school to being a state finalist - and that one band is Vandegrift. I remember when I was in marching band in HS, I didn't really understand the competing bands and what it meant to place at a certain level. But I hope that when you look at the list of state championship finalists and BOA SA finalists, that you understand what an elite level you are at right now. You were the new kid on the block and nobody knew who you were. And now, everyone knows who you are. In the countless times I walked back and forth from my hotel to the Alamodome this week, I spoke with parents from Hebron, Vandegrift, the Woodlands, students at the University of Houston, former Marcus students who are now in college... they were all so complimentary, and they all knew the name "Bridgeland." One of the UH kids used to play at Pearland and he was the most blunt about the 2022 show. He said, "Yeah, I saw Bridgeland was going on, and I was like, 'who's that?' But their show blew me away, I was like [expletive expletive! expletive!!!] That is AMAZING!" You are on the map now, kiddos. And I am willing to bet the directors are going to really kick it up a notch with next year's show. It is going to be incredible, and I hope you are setting your sights very high. If you're on Bridgeland neighborhood social media, you can see how proud the whole neighborhood is of you guys, with hundreds of likes and comments pouring in. Bravo on a job well done. I hope you never stop striving for greatness in life. In closing: I'm so pleased to see how the schools in some other districts in our state support each other. Leander ISD, for example -- you'll see fans of all the different HS programs in this district cheering their hearts out for each other. As CFISD starts to re-gain prominence, I hope we do the same for each other. If Bridgeland didn't make the finals, I sure as heck was rooting for Cy Fair or Cy Woods to make it. Stick together and let's go head to head against these other districts that have dominated for too long. 😉 Here's to 2024!