WHEW...I think I am finally on the upswing from the sinus junk! I spent most of yesterday asleep! Slept 10 hours Saturday night/Sunday morning, 4 hours Sunday afternoon and then went to bed at 11 pm last night. I was still under the weather this morning and had developed a cough and felt kind of lousy...BUT, by afternoon I had some spunk back! I just find it difficult to miss work during marching season when I really need to be there tot each my kids!
Anyways, I am still coughing and sneezing and talking funny, but I do feel a bit better!
The band had 2 contests this past Saturday....VERY tough competition! I was not sure what to expect as they had just completed getting all the drill on the field Friday. I knew they would be shaky on the closer, I knew it would affect their overall performance. The morning contest was simply for ratings, not to hand out places and such. Last year, my group got all 2's and some 3's. My only goal for that contest this year was to get some 1's (1's are the highest and 4 or 5's are the "worst". I am PLEASED to say that my kids got a mix of 1's and 2's! My goal was more than met! It was a shaky run, and they played a bit timid at the end because of the new drill. It was also 90 degrees and sunny, and their uniforms are completely black! I felt for them, but knew they really did the best they could under the circumstances of lots of new stuff and the heat. We all spent the afternoon resting and crawled back into those uniforms around 5:30 pm. Only then it was much cooler and the kids felt better knowing they had done the new stuff ok. The evening competition was for placements, trophies, the whole nine yards. They did put on a MUCH better show. However they were up against some tough bands. The got 4th place in their class (out of 8 bands) and 5th place overall out of 19 bands. The guard got 3rd place overall and we again had some high marks in certain categories. The music category was the weakest, and percussion. We were missing both of our tenor drum players from the drumline...one out sick and the other at a funeral. That really makes the whole line sound weaker, though it was an instance there was absolutely nothing that could be done.
It was a little bit of a letdown because this is the contest we were grand champions at last year. BUT, the main difference is that we won last year doing a standstill of playing only inside as it was pouring rain outside. Several of the good bands opted to not go because of the rain and having to cram themselves on the somewhat small auditorium stage. Yes, this year was sunny, bright and very dry!
These judges are not the same types of judges who loved us last week. Don;t get me wrong, these judges did like the band and the show concept, but these judges also look at what the bands do ...if it is simple but clean, they get rewarded over a band like mine that does challenging stuff and it is not so clean just yet. It's just the way it goes. Tennessee does not have a standard of judging for band competitions, so each one is different. It can make things a little difficult or unfair, but we have to just deal with it.
Now, from here.....I have sent the day making a few minor changes in the show to make it better. Our contest this coming weekend is in town and I know the kids will do a much better job! If the rain that is forecast can just stay away so we can get our work in outside!
It is hard to believe that the contest season now is half over! At least the next contests are spread out over the next month, plenty of time to tweak and improve!
8 of my color guard girls made the Capella Wintergaurd. Capella used to be the wintergaurd that i was in charge of at the HS., though it was called Cordova Independent then. It was my girls PLUS some college and other HS girls. It was so many hours and so much of my time. Not to mention using the school gym was difficult to work out. This year, they made the leap out onto their own as a group. It is completely disassociated with my school and program now, though half the group is my students. They made it through the TOUGH audition and 4 others of mine did not make it. This group made world semi-finals last year and was the TN state champion and SCGC Silver medalists! Not too shabby. It is still a little sad for me though because I loved it! I will go to a contest or two with them and I will also be happy to have my life back instead of spending every waking moment every weekend at the HS.
Tonight I took the girls to their soccer game. Libbi did a much better job of actually playing! She almost scored a goal! I was proud of her for trying, I can tell she just doesn't really want to play much and it is not for her. One more game this Friday. Who wants to place bets on that she will miss it once it is over?
Well, I need to get myself on to bed and get that rest that will continue making me feel better. It will be a busy week digging in and getting the band show cleaner and teaching a few little special things to enhance the show.
Love to all....
No comments:
Post a Comment