You may have noticed (or not) that I haven’t posted in quite some time. Two factors play into this. 1) This sports blog has now been blocked by websense at school, thus limiting my time that I normally blog; and 2) I have been running non-stop taking a pep band through the playoff season of our high school basketball team. It’s number 2 that I would like to expound on a bit here.

I want to describe the events of the past month here in generic terms…I don’t think that our situation is all that unique. So, let me give you general information about the program. I teach in a small rural school, and the pep band is made up of approximately 30 students grades 7-12. Some live close to school, others as much as an hour away.

The first full week of February began the odyssey. The students and I piled into a bus to head to the first playoff game of many, a girls game at the district tournament. The game was at a local community college, about 40 minutes from school. The girls team, with only 2 regular season losses, won, thus advancing to next week’s regional tournament. The band began their regular contribution…play for pregame, disappear into the lobby to hang out (they really don’t care much for basketball, they just like to play in the band), reappear for halftime, and retreat again. The scene was repeated again the next night, only to a different venue and for the boy’s team. The boys lost a close one in overtime, sending them to a loser out game later in the week. Wednesday was another girls game, which the girls won. Thursday, the boy’s survived their loser out game, thereby advancing to next week’s regionals. Friday was another boy’s game (crazy format…8 teams, with 6 advancing, making anything past the second game meaningless except for seeding), which they won. Saturday was TWO games…boys won, making them the 3rd seed to regionals, and the girls won the district championship. Luckily, the two games were back to back.

One of the constants throughout the first week was parent support. Parents of my main drummer were fantastic. They took a pickup truck to each game, carrying music stands, the humongously heavy drum platform needed during the first week, and some of the drum equipment. Another parents sent homemade goodies for the band and cheerleaders (we share the bus with them) each and every game. Other parents made sure that their kids had money for concession stand food or the rare fast food stop going to or from the game, which was no small expense. For the most part, parents were great about notifying me when their kids could not attend due to conflicts, illness, etc. The kids were great…a minimum of problems, all of which were fixed in a real hurry. There were relatively few bus behavior problems, considering they had spent 9 hours that week on a bus. Since the kids were gone literally every evening, I knew they wouldn’t have time for homework, so band class (at the end of the day) was devoted to study hall.

Next week brought a lull before the next onslaught. There were no games until Saturday, when the regional tournament began. There were two new venues, large high schools about an hour away. Saturday brought two games, with one game in between. Both teams won, and the band kids played a lot of cards during the game in between. They did make it a point to listen to other bands that were playing. As I mentioned, they really don’t pay much attention to basketball…a few would ask if we won or lost as they were getting off the bus after the game! Monday brought the next round of games. Keep in mind that there was no school on Monday, due to President’s Day. Our 3 day weekend was reduced to one day. In spite of that, there was a minimum of complaints from the kids. They showed up, enjoyed each other’s company, and took pride in how they sounded. The girls team won that day, sending them to the state tournament. The boys lost against an extremely tough opponent with only one loss.

Friday brought the next game. Again, an hour bus ride took us to the site. The boys lost a heartbreaker, ending their season. Saturday brought the girls regional championship. It was a very fun event, for me particularly. Our team played against a school I formerly taught at before coming to my present position. The band director there was a student of mine when I taught there, and the 2 seniors in his band were students I started as fifth graders my last year there. At halftime, we combined the two bands and played 3 songs together. The kids loved the big powerful sound, and I loved the sentimentality of it all. Our girls team won, sending them to the state tournament as the top seed.

The story ends with a brief trip to the state tournament. Although it would have been nice for the boys team to advance, I have to admit that it made my life simpler chasing just one team instead of two. The girls drew the 5:30 p.m. game on Wednesday. The venue was an honest to goodness sports facility (capable of hosting first round NCAA action). The kids were a bit in awe…a facility large enough to have two games going on simultaneously, separated by a large curtain. The staff at the facility was fantastic…friendly, helpful, and professional. Our sound was dwarfed a bit by the large surroundings, but the kids didn’t care…they played their hearts out and were glad to be there. The girls team, entering with only two losses during the season, battled, but were unable to get things rolling and lost the first round game. More of the band kids watched the game this time, when they weren’t exploring the upscale (and expensive) concession stands. The opposing team’s band would clap for us from across the court after we played, and we would do the same in return. As much as I enjoy competition, it’s nice to know that some things don’t need to be competitive to be good.

The loss Wednesday sent the girls team to the 12:30 game in the loser’s bracket. That meant missing school! It was the only time they would miss significant school time to attend the games. We left at 10:45, since the venue is actually the closest to the school, approximately 40 minutes away. The band kids did their thing, and were actually cheering their team on, but sadly the girls lost again and were eliminated. A nice surprise ensued following the game, however. At the conclusion of each game, there are two sportsmanship medals awarded, one for each team. Our girls point guard had won the award the previous night. As we were putting equipment away, they announced that the sportsmanship award was being presented to the band! I went to mid-court to accept the medal, and the officials told me they had heard from many community members how much they appreciated the efforts of the band throughout the season. The kids were a bit shocked, but I think it was a nice reward for them after all their hard work.

After 20 hours on the bus, 16 games in 12 days, and way too many hot dogs and nachos, it was all over. Why am I telling you all this? Just so that you know that some people put a lot of work and effort into sports that you may not realize. So, next time you see a band director at a game, tell them thank you. Actually, we get paid for it…the more important thank you’s should go to the members of the band. So, tell a band kid thank you!