Parents, here are a few words on marching contests.

University Interscholastic League

Texas is fortunate to have a countless number of strong extracurricular programs throughout the state. The governing body of many of these programs is the University Interscholastic League, or UIL.  It was formed in 1910 by the University of Texas at Austin to provide leadership and guidance to public school athletic and debate teachers.  Over the last century, it has grown into the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world and now includes music, academic, and theater competitions.  Classification in UIL events is based on school enrollment.

Region Marching

Region Marching Contest takes place in mid-October every year. Three judges give the band a rating of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 with 1 being the best.  A consensus of two judges determines the overall rating.  Therefore, if two judges give the band a 1 and the other gives the band a 4, the overall rating is a 1.  In the rare instance where no two judges agree, the middle rating is what prevails.  For example, a 1-2-3 is a 2.

Area Marching

In even numbered years, if we make an overall 1 at Region Marching Contest, we advance to the Area Marching Contest. This is a prelims/finals competition that typically starts at 8:00 AM and ends at 11:00 PM.  The top ten bands from the prelims competition advance to that evening’s finals.  One for every five bands from prelims advances to the State Marching contest.  For example, if there are 30 bands in prelims, the top six bands in finals advance to State.

Judging for this contest is different from Region. There are three music judges and two marching judges.  Each judge gives the band a score.  At the conclusion of each phase of the contest, the judges’ scores are then ranked 1, 2, 3, etc.  All five rank scores are then added together.  The bands are ranked again by the rank score total with the lowest total being ranked first and so on.

What to DO and what NOT to DO

Do

… attend every band competition and cheer loudly for your Charger Band.

Don’t

… stay at home on contest days and assume the students don’t need 100% of your support.

Do

… wear your black, blue, silver and white in support of Charger Nation.

Don’t

… wear red, blue, maroon, green, or orange.

Do

… support our friends from other schools and understand that band competitions are about recognizing high achievement.

Don’t

… boo our friends from other schools and think band competitions are where second place is the first loser.