AAA State Bound

So let me recap the week. No school on Monday due to a mistake in the district calendar. Great rehearsal on Tuesday. Good rehearsal on Thursday. Great rehearsal on Friday except for the one student who decided not to come to rehearsal or the game. It was also our middle school band night and that went pretty well. We had about 15 kids show up and even had a couple that asked to go with us to Lower State the next day. We also had a great run of the show on Friday night which is the first time that has happened for us. Skip forward to Saturday morning and the rain...we went into the stadium and rehearsed for an hour and a half in the rain and it was a great rehearsal. I did send that student home that missed rehearsal and the game the night before. We had a good run at the AAA Lower State Championships...it wasn't as good as the one that morning though. I had a good friend call me to wish us well and also to just give me a heads up about the stadium. It is kind of big and the sideline of the field is a good distance away from the stands. That type of stadium doesn't really favor a smaller group like us because it makes us look and sound even smaller. I told the kids about it beforehand and that they shouldn't let it affect their performance. We've also struggled visually all year in marching and with color guard. We've got a lot of new kids and some of them are just taking a little bit longer to get the hang of the whole marching band thing but I'm very proud of the progress they've made. We placed 6th in the AAA Lower State Championships and have qualified for the AAA State Championships this week. By the reaction of some of my kids though, you would have thought they were dead last. I've come into a program that has established a very strong tradition over the last 10 years, particularly in marching band. I've got some big shoes to fill and as much as I try not to let it show, the pressure/task is a little bit daunting. I do think that my younger kids were very excited but felt like they couldn't celebrate because the older kids were not very happy. I do not like that at all. For a program that is now on its 3rd band director in 3 years I would say that they did pretty damn good. I'm very proud of them and they have made it to the AAA State Championships. After this week, for one year they will be one of the top 12 bands in the state in class AAA. WAY TO GO SWANSEA TIGER BAND!!