Hours. Days. Weeks. Months are spent working up to this point, to perfecting a show for crowds of people to see. Marching band competition season has begun, and it’s only an uphill climb from here.
On Oct. 11, the Wildkat band performed at the US Bands competition at Planet Ford Stadium and placed 4th out of 23 bands. This success fuels expectations for their UIL contest on Oct. 12.
“I feel like competitions are a really good way of seeing how we measure up to other bands,” sophomore Renata Colin said. “And they give us great feedback on what we can improve on. Personally, competitions do make me a bit nervous, but overall I enjoy the thrill of it and the experience.”
Competition season can be exhausting, but it can also be a new learning experience for students. Those who are new to the process and those who are seasoned veterans feel the pressure.
“I’ve learned to just keep pushing and moving forward no matter what,” senior Fabio Baldivinos said. “Even when we have bad or off days, we can still move forward and make something greater.”
Everyone wants to place at marching competitions. Expectations varied amongst the students, with some more worried than others.
“I honestly expected way worse,” sophomore Madison Garcia said. “I spent my freshman year with people who told me that our band wasn’t good, and that made me doubt myself. After we won, I was really happy, I don’t think I’ve screamed that loud in awhile.”
For some upperclassmen, they finally got to see their four years of dedication come to fruition.
“My expectations were high, seeing how hard we had worked,” senior Hunter Fisher said. “I knew we were going to do good, but even I wasn’t expecting 4th place. I was really happy afterwards.”
This is not the band’s last competition, though, and they will need to be ready for anything that comes next.
“Moving forward our primary focus is to bring a greater level of musical and visual clarity to the production,” director Joseph Dittfurth said. “UIL on Oct. 21 is all about maturity and clarity in performance, and if we can deliver that to the judges we will have an opportunity to advance to the UIL Area Competition on Oct. 25. Willis has a lot of success stories. We want our students to continue to be one of them and represent WHS at the highest level possible.”
