A very Busy 12 Days

[JLGORMAN]

With the final Band from Region 4 completing their Marching Program at Mt. Pleasant HS, the UIL completed the 2013 Region Marching Band Contest Program for Texas High Schools. This fall from the 12th of Oct to the 24th of Oct, over 1100 Texas High School Bands performed their UIL Contest shows for Ratings and for those Bands in Classes 1A, 2A and 4A for a chance to advance to Saturdays Area Contests with winners leading the way to the State Marching Championships.
This year the UIL conducted 44 Regional Marching Contests to allow for less travel on the part of many Bands. However even with this increase in areas, some Regions such as Region 21 had 41 Bands participating at Longview. Given that each Band had 5 minutes of warmup prior to starting their 8 minute show and then two minutes to leave the field. This lead to 4 Bands per hour performing. Thus making for long days both at Region 21 but also Region 10 with 34 Bands. The 68 School Region 7 Divided their Bands into an East Zone, West Zone and Large Schools Zone with 26, 22 and 20 Bands respective at each event venue.

For those in states that do not have Contests such as this, it may seem a great deal of effort to get a Rating. However it should be noted that 98 % of Texas HS Bands compete in Field Marching and the Region Marching Contest encourages all schools to enter other events to prepare for this contest.

Bands receiving a 1st Divison Rating in Marching and also receiving 1st Division Ratings in Spring Concert and Sightreading competition receive at the end of the school year a UIL Sweepstakes Plaque and recognition from the UIL for their overall excellence in performance both on the field and in the Concert Hall.

[Jim Bunselmeier]

What happened to 3A?

[Hostrauser]

Texas State Championships are so big they have to alternate years. 1A/2A/4A in odd-numbered years, 3A/5A in even-numbered years.

[JLGORMAN]

An interesting side bar is that during the odd numbered years when class 1A & 2A Bands can compete for State Marching Contest, the number of schools in these classes, Class 1A is up to 199 Students, Class 2A is from 200 to 399 students, more than double their participation in invitational contests as compared to non-state years. The Average 1A and 2A Band competed in 2 or three contests prior to UJL this year. Last year, they averaged 1 invitational performance besides UIL Regional. This every other year schedule allows most of our small schools to have center stage during this fall and notbe pushed to the sides by the Big Schools and major contests, IE BOA, USSBA. A benefit to the small schools.

[Jim Bunselmeier]

School size up to 199 or band size? I have heard that band is big in Texas but it can't be that big can it?

[Hostrauser]

School size up to 199 or band size? I have heard that band is big in Texas but it can't be that big can it?

It is. UIL Class 1A is SCHOOL ENROLLMENT up to 199 kids in 9-12.

Former 1A Champion Sundown H.S. from Sundown, TX (way up in the panhandle, about 25 miles SW of Lubbock towards the New Mexico border) has only 160 kids in the entire school. Their marching band involves 103 of them. Yes, I'm serious.

Sundown H.S. enrollment statistics

Sundown H.S., 2009 Championship Show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1qG7T3GSQk

[JLGORMAN]

One of the MAJOR Differences between Texas, OK, AR, IN, MO, FL and numerous other states and CA and some of the western folks is that we classify all Bands by School Size. For example for the 2012-2014 school years This period that classes are divided as such.
Class 1A Schools under 199 students. 225
Class 2A Schools between 200-399 students 210 Schools
Class 3A Schools between 400 and 1035 Students. 188 Schools
Class 4A Schools between 1036 and 2035 Students. 241 Schools
Class 5A Schools of enrollment of 2036 Students Above 250 Schools.

For competition Purposes, the size of the Band is not important. In fact having competitions by Band size is Called " Band Socialism".
This is also the way BOA classifies Bands, by School Size. We think that a school of 1500 students with a Band of 70 people should take o other schools of 1500 students rather than taking on a school that has 70 people in the Band from a school of 175 students.

In Texas, Los Angeles HS with its large enrollment would have to face off against the Woodlands, or LD Bell, Or Marcus, and not schools with enrollments of 350 students.

I have looked at the Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Wisconsin, NY, Iowa, SD, Nebraska IL, In, NM, South Carolina and Maine and New Hampshire Band organizations. Bandmasters Associations and Competition Judges Associations and they follow the same pattern as TX.

By the way, last Friday all TX HS had to submit their current enrollment to the UIL. In Feb 2014, the UIL will redraw our school numbers and assign schools by enrollment to sports leagues and Band Regions. This will take effect from Jun 2014 to Jun 2016. This allows a School which has a change in enrollment the chance to compete in State Marching Contest at least once in the two years this enrollment is in force.