stillInAustin

In region 18, five 6A schools got a 1 (Bowie, Austin High, Anderson, Dripping Springs and Hays Johnson). Del Valle and Akins got a 2.

I would say the best policy is "make band the most insanely fun thing you can do in high school". My kids were in a "good" band program, considering their resources, but not a "state contending" program. Always 1's at UIL, top kids going to area and state, but not everyone. They attended a "small" 6A school with music kids divided between orchestra, band, choir, and guitar. However, the directors made the band program so much fun that if they weren't at home they were either at class or at the band hall. The directors also told them that at some point in life you have to be responsible, now was the time to start, so they expected everyone to be there. We had some kids that split time between band and football/cheer/drill team and other activities. Our middle linebacker was also a clarinet and he would run right from the field to his spot for halftime, where one of his buddies had his clarinet ready to go. But they all pretty much lived at the band hall from mid-July through November. The kids worked hard, but the directors didn't burn them out to the point where the fun stopped. Attendance was never a problem.

Well, for UIL, here's the list of what they are supposed to be looking for at UIL Region: https://www.uiltexas.org/files/music/Region_Marching_Adjudication_Sheets.pdf UIL says props are not scored: https://www.uiltexas.org/files/music/Marching_Band_Props.pdf. I don't know BOA rules, they may be different. As I was pushing props around one evening, I asked a director why we have props. The answer was that they help create a focus on the marching area, they help to emphasize the theme, they can be used to feature soloists, and they are a good place to stash stuff you use during the show. At UIL Region, the goal is to get a 1 and move on to Area. At that level I don't think size matters. I looked at some results from 6A area and I think there size does matter. If you look at the schools that advanced to state, they were mostly from the top half of the schools if you rank them by size. Other classifications may be different, but I think that there is an advantage at area and state to being at the top of your classification in size. Obviously, bigger bands have other advantages. Your boosters have more band parents to raise money. You are more likely to find a parent with special skills, like website or merchandise design, or accounting skills, or lots of other skills that benefit the band. Some band programs, especially pre-COVID, had groups of primary marchers and groups of alternates that would fill in as needed. Bands with larger "spare" sections can stash weaker marchers or players in the alternative group and have more folks to fill in if someone fails academically. Post-COVID I have seen bands shrink, especially bands with larger economically disadvantaged populations. Smaller groups need everyone out there just to get some size. So it helps to be big and honestly it helps to be in a wealthier area, to get donations for the stuff that the district will not cover. You don't want it to be so wealthy that the kids are spending August in the south of France, but you want it to be wealthy enough to fund the program and still have the kids there for summer band. Bigger high schools in moderately well-off suburbs have an advantage, in my opinion. Everyone's a critic. 🙂 I'm not sure how its done everywhere, but I think directors usually come up with show ideas. Maybe they design a hit, or maybe not. They are trying to do something that hasn't been done before, or at least hasn't been done to death. They are trying to show the judges something new. The same thing happens at drum corps shows. Sometimes the theme is entertaining and sometimes you wonder what you just saw. Hey man, Austin High may yet have props, the year is not over. 🙂 Props are what the director wants and what they can convince the parents to finance, buy, build, load, unload, load, unload, load, unload ... and move. Sometimes they get added early, sometimes later in the year. If you are new to band, join your band parents' prop crew. It's a lot of fun, you'll meet some people, and whoever is in charge of your props will be grateful to have a regular. This year is a little weird because bands are having trouble transporting equipment to events. Some districts own and some rent the box trucks and tractors (the cabs that pull the band trailers). Austin ISD is a "rent it" district. I think Hays ISD owns their stuff -- I have seen their tractors with logos. Because of the pandemic, there is a shortage of tractors and box trucks available to rent, and some schools are scrambling to find transportation. So bands may be traveling a little light this year because trucks and tractors are just not available. All schools do not do this. If a band can raise the money to have custom drill and music design, they have it. If they can't, they usually don't. The school district generally does not fund it. There is a whole ecosystem of drill designers, music composers, prop builders, color guard uniform makers, band trailer manufacturers, and so on behind the band programs you see on the field. I would guess that most of the competative corps-style bands farm out their drill and music design. During the time that the show is being designed, directors are deep into their concert UIL season and they don't have time to write a marching show. There is a group of military-style high school bands in East Texas that perform classic cross-field shows while playing ... marches. Crazy for a marching band to play marches but hey. It's possible that the directors at those schools are doing their own drill design. I don't know for certain.