2011 WBA Fall Schedule of Competitions

[Music Education]

I happen to know very well, and respect the director of bands at Rancho Bernardo a lot. He is a talented young director, who has accomplished quite a bit in his career so far. He's also on the executive board of WBA serving as the President, so I doubt them not hosting a show had anything to do with him trying to take something away from his own program!

So perhaps this DOES have more to do with conflicting dates of other events.

[HereIam]

I happen to know very well, and respect the director of bands at Rancho Bernardo a lot. He is a talented young director, who has accomplished quite a bit in his career so far. He's also on the executive board of WBA serving as the President, so I doubt them not hosting a show had anything to do with him trying to take something away from his own program!

So perhaps this DOES have more to do with conflicting dates of other events.

Perhaps the world will end tomorrow but it too is unlikely.

If he is in fact the WBA board president then that raises the question more of why they are not hosting a show. Should he not have some "pull" to keep the show. I would agree with previous posts that there seems to be more involved then what is known.

Just my opinion, remember we are all entitled to one.

[Hostrauser]

Well, the information I was operating on has been officially shot down as the cause, so we'll just have to wait and see what the reason is later this year.

[Music Education]

I wasn't shooting you down, I was just trying to throw in some more information as many may not have known he served that role.

I know hosting competitions is how a lot of band programs make a lot of their revenue for the year, so to not have a show would cause a lot of chaos among boosters alike.

I suppose if someone really wanted to know, they could always call Mr. Otani himself and ask about it.

[band-man]

Championships will be held in Santa Barbara, at Santa Barbara City College. Me thinks there's going to be a decent number of So. Cal bands dropping out. I think most were banking on it being at Home Depot Center in Carson... Especially since it's a two day event.

[Hostrauser]

Championships will be held in Santa Barbara, at Santa Barbara City College. Me thinks there's going to be a decent number of So. Cal bands dropping out.

Santa Barbara? I mean, pretty town, but pretty much way out of the way for just about everyone.

[Zenmarch]

Championships will be held in Santa Barbara, at Santa Barbara City College.

Santa Barbara CC??? Oh no, that stadium is an acoustic nightmare.

No back bleachers, back of the stadium open to the ocean, great view but......................

[Wildabeast]

Sigh...maybe Memorial Stadium at Bakersfield College will get rediscovered...either WBA or BOA would be ideal.

[enobmort1974]

Sigh...maybe Memorial Stadium at Bakersfield College will get rediscovered.

Hey Wildabeast-we checked here. I'm on the WBA board. The facility wasn't available at all on Saturday. Sunday only.

We sighed, too.

[Wildabeast]

Sigh...maybe Memorial Stadium at Bakersfield College will get rediscovered.

Hey Wildabeast-we checked here. I'm on the WBA board. The facility wasn't available at all on Saturday. Sunday only.

We sighed, too.

Yep. I remember FB'ing you about it. =)

C'mon, BC. Make it happen!

[Psalm 56]

It may be a nice thing to have the championship be ROTATED between the three regions at the same three sites. I am very very new to WBA. However, if we could rotate it three times ... that may help. FRESNO STATE;Bay Area School; and then a Southern California School. I would also love COMCAST to telecast this event like they do with STATE football championships!!!!!

[Music Education]

It may be a nice thing to have the championship be ROTATED between the three regions at the same three sites. I am very very new to WBA. However, if we could rotate it three times ... that may help. FRESNO STATE;Bay Area School; and then a Southern California School. I would also love COMCAST to telecast this event like they do with STATE football championships!!!!!

Championships already does rotate--it used to be that it rotated each year to a different region. Since Fresno/Clovis is a pretty good central location, they tried to secure having it in the Central region for 3 years, but that didn't work out. All I can remember is starting from Fall 1996.

WBA Championships have rotated:

1996: Central
1997: Northern
1998: Central
1999: Southern
2000: Northern
2001: Central
2002: Southern
2003: Central
2004: Northern
2005: Southern
2006: Central
2007: Southern
2008: Northern
2009: Central
2010: Central
2011: Southern

[Psalm 56]

It may be a nice thing to have the championship be ROTATED between the three regions at the same three sites. I am very very new to WBA. However, if we could rotate it three times ... that may help. FRESNO STATE;Bay Area School; and then a Southern California School. I would also love COMCAST to telecast this event like they do with STATE football championships!!!!!

Championships already does rotate--it used to be that it rotated each year to a different region. Since Fresno/Clovis is a pretty good central location, they tried to secure having it in the Central region for 3 years, but that didn't work out. All I can remember is starting from Fall 1996.

WBA Championships have rotated:

1996: Central
1997: Northern
1998: Central
1999: Southern
2000: Northern
2001: Central
2002: Southern
2003: Central
2004: Northern
2005: Southern
2006: Central
2007: Southern
2008: Northern
2009: Central
2010: Central
2011: Southern

Thanks for letting someone new know!! Just curious...is there an attempt to use the same sites each year? So, in 2004 the north it is at such and such school and then it returned to that site 2008?

[Music Education]

When possible they've tried to use the same venues--however with sports schedules changing and fluxuating that can be difficult. In 2004 1-2-3A were in Modesto while 4A-5A were in a completely different city a few hours north.

It may be a nice thing to have the championship be ROTATED between the three regions at the same three sites. I am very very new to WBA. However, if we could rotate it three times ... that may help. FRESNO STATE;Bay Area School; and then a Southern California School. I would also love COMCAST to telecast this event like they do with STATE football championships!!!!!

Championships already does rotate--it used to be that it rotated each year to a different region. Since Fresno/Clovis is a pretty good central location, they tried to secure having it in the Central region for 3 years, but that didn't work out. All I can remember is starting from Fall 1996.

WBA Championships have rotated:

1996: Central
1997: Northern
1998: Central
1999: Southern
2000: Northern
2001: Central
2002: Southern
2003: Central
2004: Northern
2005: Southern
2006: Central
2007: Southern
2008: Northern
2009: Central
2010: Central
2011: Southern

Thanks for letting someone new know!! Just curious...is there an attempt to use the same sites each year? So, in 2004 the north it is at such and such school and then it returned to that site 2008?

[Mark Stone]

This is from the WBA Website

WBA Championship site selection

The executive board of WBA would like to take a moment to offer some insight into the site selection for the 2011 Championship event, in hopes that you will have a better understanding as to what our priorities were and the efforts we have expended to provide the bands and spectators with the best possible competitive experience.

After all that was experienced last year with the crisis of having Buchanan pulled from our use in September, as well as the impact the rain had on the event, we came away with some clear priorities;

1) WBA championships had to move their event for 2011 out of Fresno. WBA was told by the Clovis Unified School District, that Buchanan HS would not be available for our use until 2012.
2) Artificial turf would be preferable to ensure the event could proceed rain or shine.

From January of this year we began our efforts to procure the sites needed for this event. Due to the large scope of participating bands, this event has some unique needs. Priorities were as follows;

1) Good performance venue for both 1/2/3A & 4/5A (good field, adequate stands, good judging vantage point) Give the bands the best possible competitive experience.
2) Adequate parking and warm up to accommodate a large number of bands.
3) Keeping maximum band participation. No long breaks between classes to alleviate the parking and thus reduce the number of bands that can participate in a single day
4) Keep performance sites as close as possible to each other.
5) Do not raise the entry fees.

For the 2011 season we have modified the performance schedule for 1/2/3A, by having a retreat ceremony after each class. This will allow those bands to vacate the venue earlier which will alleviate some of the parking challenge, without a major disruption to the audience, or impact on participation.

A list of all Colleges and Universities were compiled covering the entire southern portion of the state. NO college was left off. From there we determined which schools had stadiums and which did not. From the revised list municipal stadiums were added and then we began contacting each and every one.

There is no question that there are some great facilities in Southern California, and they have all been explored. The three major issues that we have encountered are;

1) we do not want a band event on our facility
2) We have already scheduled a standing swap meet in the parking areas of the school with a long standing contract
3) We cannot confirm use, due to play off possibilities, until 2 weeks prior to your usage date.
4) No response at all to our repeated requests.

High Schools have also been looked at and pursued, but unless the school participates with WBA, there is no direct advantage to the school to allow us access. Rental fees go to the district not the school. Athletic directors are always consulted on availability and most say NO. We offer the concession as a money maker for various school activities to make it worth their while and more times than not, they do not want to put forth the effort.

NO venue is without compromise. We all wish that we could have everything on our wish list but reality must also be a factor, and compromises that are made due to the realities of what we have to work with will reflect the Boards priority to ultimately provide the best possible competitive situation for the bands. The performers are the priority, and everything else is a balancing act.

Santa Barbara College has a stadium that accommodates 9500 on one side. While parking is dispersed there will be adequate parking for both bands and spectators. There is a grass warm up area large enough to accommodate up to 4 bands at a time, while not being too far away. There is also a parking area close enough to the stadium to serve as a pit warm up area but not too close as to disrupt the performing band. They will confirm our usage for both Saturday and Sunday and there will be no cancelation regardless of playoff status. The field is artificial turf and we are assured that the event will go forth rain or shine.

We hope to have the 1/2/3A site confirmed shortly. Once this is done we will communicate that to the bands as well. Please realize that we understand the importance of having the performance sites close to one another. This is not viable for this location. We are working to make the venues as close as possible without compromising the quality of the competitive environment. Above all, this is a championship event for every student, regardless of band size. Every band deserves the best possible venue to give their best possible performance.

We have exhausted every possible venue from San Diego to Bakersfield in an effort to confirm a location so bands can begin making plans for both travel and housing. We have reached a point where schools will be letting out for the summer very soon, and we must have plans finalized now. There is no more time to hope or wait for something miraculous to occur.

In closing I would like to point out that it is not just WBA that has a difficult time procuring a site in Southern California. BOA, MBOS as well as SCSBOA are not gaining access to these amazing facilities either. SCSBOA is the only one that has a long standing event at Citrus College, and that is a single day with a controlled number of bands. All of these organizations are outstanding with great hard working people behind them. We are all doing our best for the bands, to give them great events.