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BOA has posted the initial participant lists for the fall contests. In several cases, it states that there are more bands listed than there are slots and some will go on the waitlist. San Antonio has 70+ listed right now. Grand Nats is loaded – wow.

 

McAllen (Sept. 17)

http://www.musicforall.org/11-regionals/mcallen-tx-regional

 

Austin (Sept. 24)

http://www.musicforall.org/item/847-austin-tx-regional

 

Conroe (Oct. 1)

http://www.musicforall.org/11-regionals/conroe-tx-regional

 

DFW (Oct. 8) – No location yet

http://www.musicforall.org/11-regionals/dallas-fort-worth-tx-regional

 

San Antonio Super (Nov. 4-5)

http://www.musicforall.org/11-regionals/san-antonio-super-regional

 

Grand Nats (Nov. 10-12)

http://www.musicforall.org/what-we-do/boa-marching-championships/grand-nationals/2015-grand-nationals-bands



 

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Conroe should be a good one to see for an early competition. A lot of great bands. Interested to see the Dallas regional as well. Always a battle. Lately there is no sure thing in that one. LISD is a battle in itself, then add a bunch of incredible other bands who could make a run for first and who knows? Every regional is getting so competitive with not just a couple of bands competing for first. San Antonio gets crazier and crazier every year.

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Wow, if there was a year Texas was gonna take back the eagle, it's this one...assuming this group of Texas bands holds true through the summer, Texas is gonna be VERY well represented in Indianapolis. Excited to see what these bands have cooked up for a big year! Is it marching season yet?

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Thoughts on some of the groups attending:

 

Texas:

 

Ronald Reagan - I think this will EASILY be the strongest band they've sent to nationals since 2005 if 2015 was any indication.  If that was Dan Morrison's first year as a head director, I can only imagine what will continue to happen.  They seemed lost between 2008 and 2014, some great shows, but it seemed like they couldn't decide to move onto a new identity or try and channel the old.  But last year was just a refreshing take on the old Reagan, and I hope to see that continue.  Easily in the top tier for some captions and a run at the eagle.  

 

Claudia Taylor Johnson - They're definitely in the top tier.  I think their show in 2015 just couldn't decide what it wanted to be, I still got that Johnson magic, just seemed like it wasn't fully fleshed out.  Think if they have another hit like 2014 or even 2013 (that show is mesmerizing) with their increasing talent, they'll definitely be in contention for some captions and maybe even a championship.  

 

Cedar Park - Big weakness last go around was visual and visual design.  Was especially exposed on the national stage.  I think they've made huge strides here though.  Jamey Thompson writes some beautiful drill, and even if the guard is a tad small, he knows how to stage them a lot bigger than they are.  They're growing too.  If they sound just as good on the field as they do from up top they could pop some huge music and music GE numbers.  I think they're a dark horse overall, but with some potential to score pretty close to the top in music.  

 

Leander - They're hot right now.  It really sucks how the end of last year turned out for them with San Antonio and stuff going on, because they were on a huge roll up until that last week or so.  I think their simple conceptual shows based on artwork translate incredibly well to something that is extremely entertaining.  They're just high octane fun, and with an extra push going to nationals, I could see them topping 2014s masterpiece.  I'd say they're going to surprise some people who aren't from Texas wondering who the heck this AAA band is.  Don't see why they couldn't be in the conversation for some awards.

 

James Bowie - Not sure what to think here.  Shuttlesworth is going to Glenn over in Leander, don't know who the replacement is.  Jeremy Hunt left after 2014 if I'm not mistaken.  Not saying that they'll drop, but there is some uncertainty here.  Really enjoyed the show in 2015, if they can rebound off the director change with no hiccups I think they'll be just fine.  Definitely in contention as a finalist, LOTS of good bands on the brink though  A lot.   

 

Whitesboro - Go little band!  Would be really cool for them to medal in A and even advance to semis on class representation.  Some REALLY good bands in that class at nationals though, but regardless, that's going to be one heck of an experience for kids from a small but great program like that.  

 

Others:

 

Tarpon and Broken Arrow - These are going to be the two in the way of Texas bringing home the Eagle.  Avon possibly as well and Carmel if they have a good year.  But, these two are just consistently phenomenal.  They have the HUGE fantastic guards that just soak up the Visual and Visual GE points, and they don't play to shabby either.  The stuff Tarpon attempts is insane, and if it's clean like 2014 it's game over.  Broken Arrow just sells the crap out of whatever they bring.  2015 was probably my least favorite show from them in awhile, but they sold it like it was my favorite if that makes sense.  They're going to be hard to beat.

 

Ayala, Castle, Lafayette, Owasso, Plymouth Canton, Union, and Wando - WOW, these are some spoilers right here.  If I was Marian Catholic or Homestead I'd be watching the rear view mirror pretty hard.  Owasso came down to San Antonio and finished VERY comfortably in the top 10 with an incredibly entertaining show that scored some huge GE points.  Union presented a gorgeous and incredibly well performed show that competed with Broken Arrow in music at OBA.  While Wando did finish a pretty shocking 10th (or was it a little lower?) in Atlanta last year, you could argue that was because of HUGE amounts of time lost of rehersal due to some incredibly nasty weather.  They were fantastic in 2014, I don't see them letting up.  Castle placed incredibly well at Indianapolis last year, putting them on the bubble.  Ayala made finals in an INCREDIBLY competitive 2013, and had an incredibly well performed show in 2015.  Lafayette and Plymouth Canton historically also have had great success at nationals.  

 

Bellvue West - They're a dark horse, maybe not for finals, but potentially a very solid top 20 finish.  They have progressively improved year after year, and last year they finished a very impressive 4th in St. Louis, finishing above Union and right behind Blue Springs in prelims.  Really great guard and incredible performance energy give them the tools to do really well.  Can echo similar things about O'Fallon Township and Vista Murietta.  

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This could be the most competitive Grand Nationals ever, not to mention all of the TX (Super)Regionals are incredibly deeply stacked.

 

I have 22 bands in my list of those that could potentially compete for GN Finals just based on their history. And that doesn't even count up-and-comers that could turn on the heat and give us some awesome new blood.

 

The 2015 UIL 3A State Champion Whitesboro definitely has a great shot at making GN Semis, especially as one of the Class Representation advancers in the very competitive BOA Class A.

 

I also wouldn't be surprised at all if all 5 of the other TX bands make GN Finals, although it is going to be *extremely* tight.

What's the waitlist? Are they the bands that will only get to perform if one of the other bands with a slot can't go to the competition later on?

There are only so many available slots. If at any point a band with a slot decides they can't attend, the next band on the waitlist gets an opportunity to take that spot. Often, this would be because of scheduling conflicts of some sort, like a weekend football game, SAT, Homecoming, etc. Normally, this is all worked out before the start of the season.
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  • 1 month later...

A couple of recent observations:


- Maui H.S. from Hawaii is now listed on the San Antonio and Grand Nationals wait lists. If they received a performance slot for each of these contests, then they would be only the second Hawaiian band to attend Grand Nationals and the first Hawaiian band to attend San Antonio (or anywhere else besides Grand Nationals, for that matter).

 

- There are a good amount of bands that are new to the BOA circuit (ex: Canyon Randall at Austin; Magnolia at Conroe; Fort Worth Southwest, Poteet, Wylie, and Wylie East at DFW), and a couple old faces that are reentering the BOA field after years of being absent (ex: Lake Travis, Akins, McNeil).

 

- BOA's reach in Texas continues to grow. There are currently more bands signed up than there are performance slots at the DFW and Conroe regionals and the San Antonio super regional, and the McAllen and Austin regionals are pretty close to capacity so far this year. This makes me wonder when there will be enough demand for another regional in Texas.

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A couple of recent observations:

- Maui H.S. from Hawaii is now listed on the San Antonio and Grand Nationals wait lists. If they received a performance slot for each of these contests, then they would be only the second Hawaiian band to attend Grand Nationals and the first Hawaiian band to attend San Antonio (or anywhere else besides Grand Nationals, for that matter).

- There are a good amount of bands that are new to the BOA circuit (ex: Canyon Randall at Austin; Magnolia at Conroe; Fort Worth Southwest, Poteet, Wylie, and Wylie East at DFW), and a couple old faces that are reentering the BOA field after years of being absent (ex: Lake Travis, Akins, McNeil).

- BOA's reach in Texas continues to grow. There are currently more bands signed up than there are performance slots at the DFW and Conroe regionals and the San Antonio super regional, and the McAllen and Austin regionals are pretty close to capacity so far this year. This makes me wonder when will there will be enough demand for another regional in Texas.

Perhaps a San Antonio regular regional earlier in the season?
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A lot of the new bands are being placed on the waiting list due to no prior attendance at a BOA event.  Its really sad that some schools are really trying to get involved in the scene but are being waitlisted by bands that registered after they did due to BOA's point system.

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- Birdville, Haltom, Fossil Ridge (Keller) and Richland at the St. Louis (MO) Regional

- Sherman HS at the Atlanta (GA) Regional.  Poor Sherman...usually there's a few TX bands that head out to Atlanta, but this year they're by themselves.

- Bel Aire HS (El Paso) at the Utah Regional.

- Del Valle HS (El Paso) & Ysleta HS (El Paso area) at the Long Beach (CA) Regional - No Montwood, Americas or Coronado this year....probably because it's a state year (travel costs in that neck of the woods etc.).

- Cedar Park, Johnson, Bowie, Leander, Reagan, Whitesboro @ GN - Aside from the usual hype, Whitesboro's journey in Class 1A should be interesting as they were UIL 3A state champs this past season, and have been class champs at BOA San Antonio in the past. It'd be cool to see Whitesboro make it into the 'Class Circle' and advance to Semis with everyone else.  There are some very strong groups in 1A from other states at Nats though....the spread from 4A to 1A isn't as large as it is in Texas.  Adair County HS (the 1A class champion) still beat 5 2A & 3A bands last year in semis....all bands that advanced without the class rule, taking 27th overall.



 

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