Marching+Band

=Marching band stomps the field = By Lauren Benish Feature Editor

People who don’t think that marching band is a real sport obviously haven’t attempted an “8-by-5” step. While most of the audience is watching the action on the football field on Friday nights, the band is giving their own performance to the side.

No one should make the mistake that they will be forgotten. Freshman Haley Vanwagenen laughed, “We’re very loud. Louder than the cheerleaders.” Not only do their stands reverberate with fight songs and ABBA hits such as “Dancing Queen”, “Mamma Mia!”, “Waterloo”, and “I Have A Dream”, but inside jokes and laughs also seem to follow the marching band wherever they go.

Sophomore Laura Rendos added, “We’re all so close. It’s like a big family.”

The ringleaders of this “family” are director Mrs. Becker, Senior Drum Major Joe Sharick, and Junior Drum Major Jessie Oddis. Throughout parades, pep rallies, and every other performance, they make sure that the band always plays its best. To begin each performance, Sharick and Oddis start the ABBA show with a bang by performing a split in unison.

For two long weeks, all of the marching band members persevere through the grueling weeks of band camp. Simply mentioning this camp makes the band collectively sigh at the thought of the toil in the hot summer sun. But without this work, the half-time show would not be as perfect and entertaining.

Sophomore Lexus Oliver stated, “The best thing about band camp is that it’s crazy fun with the joking and socializing. But the worst thing is that it’s physically painful.” Regardless of all the hard work the band puts into their routine, some of the band feels that they are unappreciated by their peers. Vanwagenen ranted, “Most sports get uniforms every two years, and we get new ones every 12.” Many will notice the new uniforms the band has worn this year with capes and metallic plumes. While they all share the same insanity and spunk, the band debates on whether or not they should be considered a sport. Rendos disagrees, “We’re not a sport, we’re music. But I’d like to see some of the football players go through band camp.”

Unlike Sophomore Laura Rendos, the voice of the marching band, Freshman Karen Eberle, explains, “I think we already are a team; we compete, have practices, all the aspects of a team. But the environment is really more of a club.”

Whether or not the marching band is a team or not is disputable, but no one can deny the charisma and charm that they bring to the field with them.