Marching band receives superior rating at state competition
The Hayes Marching Band earned a superior rating at the state marching band competition on Nov. 6.
November 11, 2021
Last week, the Hayes marching band was given an overall superior ranking at the state marching band competition for their show Villains.
Coming back from a two-year break can be hard for any program. Due to Covid-19, the Hayes marching band didn’t participate in any competitions last year.
“You never know how it’s going to go,” band director Andy Doherty said. “We didn’t know what to expect because over half the band had never marched before, or they’ve never done a competition show.”
Doherty explained how training for competitions is already hard as it is. On top of that, trying to teach two different groups how to march was an even bigger challenge.
Most years the marching band only has to worry about teaching first year members how to march. This year was a little different because the only people who knew how to march were the upperclassmen.
“I came in with a lot of doubts because you know, coming off Covid, and coming off of such a great [sophomore] year…” senior Elijah Shireman said. “I was worried to lose some momentum that we had from Oddly Enough coming into Villains, but honestly, it’s like we haven’t even lost a year.”
After returning to band competitions, the upperclassmen were still worried about how this year would go because freshmen and sophomores had never marched.
“The underclassmen truly are the future of this band and they have made this season fantastic,” Shireman said. “They made a season that had no reason to be this good.”
Even with all the challenges the band had to face, they worked hard to succeed and make the most out of this season.
“I’m actually really proud of this year’s band and what we’ve accomplished, considering all that’s happened with Covid,” senior Zach Ward said. “We took a huge hit last year and this year when we had to teach two groups how to march, but we’ve really come back strong.”
Competitions have an overall rating from one to five, with one being the highest. Beyond that, bands are graded on different subcategories, with scoring going up to 100.
“Typically, you know a really good score, really solid band would be 80,” Doherty said. “That’s kind of like an A, and then anything above that is really good. So our highest score was an 85, which is pretty solid.”
Even with the year-long gap in marching season, the band got the fourth superior rating in school history, and for the third time in a row.
“Everybody’s caught on really quick, worked really hard, and the season kind of came together,” Doherty said.
Doherty said that the hard work paid off qualified for states and achieved a superior rating.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming into the season,” Doherty said. “The things we’ve been able to achieve this year are extremely impressive and I’m just really proud of everyone for all the hard work that they put in to make it possible.”
