UIL 5A State Marching Contest 2024 (Nov. 4-5)

[utee94]

Another thing to keep in mind is the distribution of the ages of those band members.

Cedar Park has grown tremendously over the past year due to rezoning in LISD, but the vast majority of that increase is in the freshman class.  CP's freshmen make up somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the band this year.  That's a LOT more new young marchers, with percentage-wise relatively fewer upperclassmen to manage/teach them.  It could potentially work against a band, compared to another band that's more evenly distributed with a larger percentage of experienced, veteran upperclassmen.

I don't think that's the way it has worked out for CP so far this year, in fact I've been incredibly impressed with all of the new freshmen, but it's not as easy as just saying "more = better."

 

[Samuel Culper]

  On 11/7/2024 at 6:17 PM, utee94 said:

Another thing to keep in mind is the distribution of the ages of those band members.

Cedar Park has grown tremendously over the past year due to rezoning in LISD, but the vast majority of that increase is in the freshman class.  CP's freshmen make up somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the band this year.  That's a LOT more new young marchers, with percentage-wise relatively fewer upperclassmen to manage/teach them.  It could potentially work against a band, compared to another band that's more evenly distributed with a larger percentage of experienced, veteran upperclassmen.

I don't think that's the way it has worked out for CP so far this year, in fact I've been incredibly impressed with all of the new freshmen, but it's not as easy as just saying "more = better."

 

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Cedar Park's snapshot number for 2022-2024 was 2005.

Their number for 2024-2026 was 1966.

[RhythmicTuba]

  On 11/7/2024 at 2:02 AM, rouseglazer1 said:

i think with this post the “larger = always better” truthers can put it to rest. awesome post and very informative

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This post obviously proves that bigger=better. other than a few outliers, the graph shows that as bands get smaller they place lower.

[rouseglazer1]

  On 11/7/2024 at 7:40 PM, RhythmicTuba said:

This post obviously proves that bigger=better. other than a few outliers, the graph shows that as bands get smaller they place lower.

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keyword in my original comment was always. lots of people tend to attribute their own program's losses to their larger competitors, when it shows that size is not everything. also while the graph is trending downwards, you can see there are plenty of bands outside of finals that are larger or around the same size as "small" bands that did make finals so your statement about the graph is untrue 

[lhbenlee]

  On 11/7/2024 at 6:37 PM, Samuel Culper said:

Cedar Park's snapshot number for 2022-2024 was 2005.

Their number for 2024-2026 was 1966.

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Yes, but since that snapshot, rezoning has gone into effect that changed the feeder pattern and CP got a big influx from that.

[archeryfan0267]

  On 11/7/2024 at 7:40 PM, RhythmicTuba said:

This post obviously proves that bigger=better. other than a few outliers, the graph shows that as bands get smaller they place lower.

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Yes, this is technically true looking at the graph, but I'd say the factors of band size and placement correlate with each other, band size doesn't cause higher placement. Not directly.

As the bands tick up in size, they have more possible talent in their program. More good players to put on the field, with the ability to put the lower skilled and inexperienced members on JV marching bands or alternate spots on the field. Bigger programs most likely have superior teaching to make their students better, and directors that can retain kids coming out of feeder middle schools (get them to stay in band). In an easy example of Cedar Park, I imagine it's pretty easy to convince incoming 9th graders to be in the band that's a six-peating state champion. 

Larger bands generally do better, yes! But not because they're scored higher by judges because they're large, but because larger bands tend to have a deeper pool of talent.

[northtexasshawty]

  On 11/8/2024 at 1:05 AM, lhbenlee said:

Yes, but since that snapshot, rezoning has gone into effect that changed the feeder pattern and CP got a big influx from that.

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This is probably unrelated but I seriously wonder why districts like Leander ISD , *Frisco and Lewisville have some of the best marching bands in texas. Is it district funding for fine arts? I doubt it, this is texas lol

[WanderingTraveler]

  On 11/7/2024 at 1:19 AM, archeryfan0267 said:

I thought it'd be cool to make a graph showing the 5A State bands' placement relative to their band sizes. Got the member numbers from the UIL program

Some points of interest and outliers:

-Of the Top 10 largest bands, only 6 made finals.

-Of the Top 5 largest bands, 4 were in the top half of finals, with the other one (Lake Belton, 4th largest band) missing finals at 13th, making them the largest band outside of finals with 223 members

-Cedar Park (5A Champ) was significantly larger than any other band here, ranking as the biggest group with 267, far ahead of Lonestar's 2nd rank with 225 members.

-Roma was the smallest band in finals, tying for the 26th largest band (154 members) and placing 12th in the competition.

-BC was the second smallest band in finals, ranking as the 25th largest band, squeaking ahead of Roma with 155 members. They placed 9th in the competition.

-Argyle was not too much larger, ranking as the 21st largest band with 168 members and placed 7th in the competition.

-Glenn placed impressively high (16th in the competition) considering they were the 3rd smallest (36th largest) band here.

-The largest size difference between two bands that placed next to each other in competition was a 98 member difference between Lakeview Centennial, who placed 34th in competition and had 198 members, and Lopez ECHS, who placed 35th in competition and had only 100 members. Lopez ECHS was also notably the smallest band at the competition by 20 members (Liberty Hill was 2nd smallest), while LC was the 11th largest band.

-Close behind this difference is Glenn and Pieper. Glenn placed 16th in competition, just ahead of Pieper in 17th. Glenn (36th largest), with only 1 member more than Liberty Hill, had only 121 performers. Pieper (Tied 7th largest) had 215, making it a 94-member difference for the two bands.

-Other neighboring bands with gaps in member size that are worth noting are Argyle and Lonestar's difference of 57, College Station and Liberty Hill's difference of 70, and Lake Belton and Colleyville Heritage's difference of 63.

NUMBERS ARE COOL!

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I love this, definitely have had some thoughts about this!!! Thanks for this info.

[RoyKentsGhost]

  On 11/8/2024 at 5:40 AM, northtexasshawty said:

This is probably unrelated but I seriously wonder why districts like Leander ISD , *Frisco and Lewisville have some of the best marching bands in texas. Is it district funding for fine arts? I doubt it, this is texas lol

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history of excellence

culture of success

it continues to feed itself in the most positive way

for those same reasons those districts attract exceptional teachers who in turn continue their success

like a snowball rolling down a hill

[NotGodsHornline]

  On 11/7/2024 at 1:19 AM, archeryfan0267 said:

I thought it'd be cool to make a graph showing the 5A State bands' placement relative to their band sizes. Got the member numbers from the UIL program

Some points of interest and outliers:

-Of the Top 10 largest bands, only 6 made finals.

-Of the Top 5 largest bands, 4 were in the top half of finals, with the other one (Lake Belton, 4th largest band) missing finals at 13th, making them the largest band outside of finals with 223 members

-Cedar Park (5A Champ) was significantly larger than any other band here, ranking as the biggest group with 267, far ahead of Lonestar's 2nd rank with 225 members.

-Roma was the smallest band in finals, tying for the 26th largest band (154 members) and placing 12th in the competition.

-BC was the second smallest band in finals, ranking as the 25th largest band, squeaking ahead of Roma with 155 members. They placed 9th in the competition.

-Argyle was not too much larger, ranking as the 21st largest band with 168 members and placed 7th in the competition.

-Glenn placed impressively high (16th in the competition) considering they were the 3rd smallest (36th largest) band here.

-The largest size difference between two bands that placed next to each other in competition was a 98 member difference between Lakeview Centennial, who placed 34th in competition and had 198 members, and Lopez ECHS, who placed 35th in competition and had only 100 members. Lopez ECHS was also notably the smallest band at the competition by 20 members (Liberty Hill was 2nd smallest), while LC was the 11th largest band.

-Close behind this difference is Glenn and Pieper. Glenn placed 16th in competition, just ahead of Pieper in 17th. Glenn (36th largest), with only 1 member more than Liberty Hill, had only 121 performers. Pieper (Tied 7th largest) had 215, making it a 94-member difference for the two bands.

-Other neighboring bands with gaps in member size that are worth noting are Argyle and Lonestar's difference of 57, College Station and Liberty Hill's difference of 70, and Lake Belton and Colleyville Heritage's difference of 63.

NUMBERS ARE COOL!

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I thought Aledo was the 2nd largest band there.

[archeryfan0267]

  On 11/8/2024 at 6:17 PM, NotGodsHornline said:

I thought Aledo was the 2nd largest band there.

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They've been historically huge, and they're still up there this year! Here's the list of bands by performance size, according to the UIL SMBC program, with any ties listed in alphabetical order.

1st Cedar Park: 267

2nd Lone Star: 225

3rd Rouse: 224

4th Lake Belton: 223

5th Leander: 222

6th Barbers Hill: 220

T-7th Aledo: 215

T-7th Pieper: 215

9th Midlothian: 210

10th Wakeland: 200

11th Lakeview Centennial: 198

12th Hendrickson: 194

13th College Station: 190

14th North Mesquite: 186

15th Hays: 185

16th Mckinney North: 180

T-17th Friendswood: 175

T-17th Mount Pleasant: 175

T-17th Richland: 175

20th El Dorado: 170

21st Argyle: 168

22th Smithson Valley: 164

T-23rd Colleyville Heritage: 160

T-23rd Mequite Poteet: 160

25th Burleson Centennial: 155

T-26th Angleton: 154

T-26th Roma: 154

T-28th Lubbock: 153

T-28th Sharyland: 153

30th Hanks: 150

31st Sharyland Pioneer: 147

T-32nd A&M Consolidated: 140

T-32nd Kempner: 140

T-32nd Rio Grande City: 140

35th Lubbock Cooper: 136

36th Glenn: 121

37th Liberty Hill: 120

38th Lopez ECHS: 100

[DrumLine]

  On 11/8/2024 at 9:59 PM, archeryfan0267 said:

They've been historically huge, and they're still up there this year! Here's the list of bands by performance size, according to the UIL SMBC program, with any ties listed in alphabetical order.

1st Cedar Park: 267

2nd Lone Star: 225

3rd Rouse: 224

4th Lake Belton: 223

5th Leander: 222

6th Barbers Hill: 220

T-7th Aledo: 215

T-7th Pieper: 215

9th Midlothian: 210

10th Wakeland: 200

11th Lakeview Centennial: 198

12th Hendrickson: 194

13th College Station: 190

14th North Mesquite: 186

15th Hays: 185

16th Mckinney North: 180

T-17th Friendswood: 175

T-17th Mount Pleasant: 175

T-17th Richland: 175

20th El Dorado: 170

21st Argyle: 168

22th Smithson Valley: 164

T-23rd Colleyville Heritage: 160

T-23rd Mequite Poteet: 160

25th Burleson Centennial: 155

T-26th Angleton: 154

T-26th Roma: 154

T-28th Lubbock: 153

T-28th Sharyland: 153

30th Hanks: 150

31st Sharyland Pioneer: 147

T-32nd A&M Consolidated: 140

T-32nd Kempner: 140

T-32nd Rio Grande City: 140

35th Lubbock Cooper: 136

36th Glenn: 121

37th Liberty Hill: 120

38th Lopez ECHS: 100

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This also includes color guard, where some of these bands have HUGE participation numbers. I believe I counted 41 guard members for Lake Belton, and they weren't the only band with more than 40 dedicated guard members on the field during their state performance.

[rouseglazer1]

  On 11/9/2024 at 12:48 AM, DrumLine said:

This also includes color guard, where some of these bands have HUGE participation numbers. I believe I counted 41 guard members for Lake Belton, and they weren't the only band with more than 40 dedicated guard members on the field during their state performance.

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i was about to comment on this, because visually i thought lake belton would be 10-20 people over rouse just for rouse to have 1 more

[lowbrass]

does anyone have a finals rewards video