BandDad4Life

The competition side of things and rivalries are fun. It’s great to see how competitive the DFW area is with bands. So many great programs out there.

Well said. It’s a combination of several things to make a program successful. Having a supportive Fine Arts Dept. Hiring the best band directors. Giving them the budget to hire the best show designers and music arrangers. Trust me, you don’t want me doing any of that. I know nothing about music. Putting kids in uniforms that make them feel proud. Getting good equipment so they’re not using broken down used items. Starting to get the kids interested and playing well EARLY in middle school to help build up the program. But the most important thing is execution, no matter how big or small a band is. If you’re not playing or marching well, you won’t go far.

It’s awesome to see kids like that come into a program.

Agree and not saying a school doesn’t make it just because they have a larger band. The percentages is greater but all of these bands got there because they’re good. There are many more schools who could have been at state. I’m still shocked Aledo wasn’t in finals. The school districts supporting fine arts is definitely key. But as I said before, it doesn’t matter how big or small a school is, it’s all about execution and precision.

Another factor is money. Most of these schools have huge budgets and are able to buy everything. The smaller schools have a way smaller budget and piecing things together to have a show. Half a million dollar budgets and higher just blows my mind.

I don’t see the 6A program on the UIL app that had the numbers. It would be interesting to compare.

While driving back from San Antonio last night I started thinking about numbers. How many bands with 200+ kids vs those with less than 200. I found the results interesting. Number of 5A schools in Texas - 251. The smallest band to compete - Liberty Hill HS with 120. The largest bands to compete - Aledo HS and Lebanon Trail HS with 238 each. The 5A State Champion Cedar Park HS with 237. Out of 35 schools to compete in prelims, 12 had 200+ while 23 had less than 200. The 12 schools to compete in finals, 8 had 200+ while 4 had less than 200. The top 5 schools had 200+. Burleson Centennial HS finished 6th as the highest ranked school with less than 200. Richland HS was the second one at 9th. this means 8 of the top 10 had 200+ students in the band. What does this all mean? Nothing most likely but it definitely appears that having a larger band helps. No matter what size, it’s all about who performs their show the best. This year, it was Cedar Parks HS. Congratulations to Cedar Park and everyone else who got to perform at the SMBC!

Wow Forney, great performance!!!

The best of luck to all the bands today! 12 out of 251 schools get the opportunity to compete in the finals. Too bad there can’t be more than 12. There are definitely a bunch of bands who deserve to be here, Pflugerville and Aledo just to name two. There are so many great bands and others getting better every year. It is going to get more and more difficult to make state, let alone finals. BAND KIDS ARE THE BEST!

I didn’t get to see NMs show but Birdville surprised me where they finished. I didn’t expect that.

I’m surprised they didn’t make finals. I thought their show was excellent.

UIL Conference 5A Finals Schedule Block 1: 12th - 7th Place (Random Order) Block 2: 6th - 1st Place (Random Order) 2:15 PM - Lebanon Trail H.S. 2:30 PM - Friendswood H.S. 2:45 PM - Roma H.S. 3:00 PM - Richland H.S. 3:15 PM - Lone Star H.S. 3:30 PM - Hendrickson H.S. ----- 4:00 PM - Burleson Centennial H.S. 4:15 PM - Rouse H.S. 4:30 PM - Cedar Park H.S. 4:45 PM - Forney H.S. 5:00 PM - Leander H.S. 5:15 PM - Wakeland H.S.

The bands are ranked 1- the number of bands in different areas by the judges. Those numbers are added up so the lower number wins.

Great job Poteet! Excellent show!

That was a fun show to watch!