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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 18, 2023 10:52:47 GMT -6
This was a competition to test the waters to see if hosting a regional in Whitewater WI (the birthplace of Grand Nationals) would be viable in the future. Many of the participating bands were never expected to score like they were top level BOA powers. This was also a mid September competition, so scores were never going to be that high, I don't care who the bands are. I think some of these bands also wanted to test the waters so to speak with BOA to get some of the judges feedback to help their program grow for future success. That is one of the reasons BOA exists. While many of us on these forums can get pretty picky with many of the top level bands (I mean the whole purpose of Hornrank is for us to rank them as if we were judges), for many of the bands who are new to BOA and/or not from the schools that have a ton of resources to put into a marching band program, it is pretty understood by most of us to offer some level of encouragement. I think many of us do realize that there are kids as young as 14 in these programs who may read these posts. This is not DCI or professional sports teams after all. I would expect someone with teaching and good leadership qualities to say something to the effect of "that was a good first showing at BOA, yes there were some things that we need to do better and we will have to work hard the next several weeks to improve them". I would also expect, knowing that these are not your programs or your responsibility, a band director with any semblance of maturity to say/post nothing rather than post some derogatory comment. Whether it be band forums or social media there always seem to be some who like to see and post comments through a negative lens.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Sept 18, 2023 11:33:34 GMT -6
On another note, I hope MFA will try hosting a Whitewater regional again!
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Post by hewhowaits on Sept 18, 2023 11:38:59 GMT -6
On another note, I hope MFA will try hosting a Whitewater regional again! Ideally NOT on the same weekend as the Rosemount Marching Band Festival in neighboring Minnesota. That took up 21 potential bands including the hosts.
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Post by yayband914 on Sept 18, 2023 12:01:28 GMT -6
If they try this again next year -- and that is, sadly, a BIG "if," in my view -- I hope they try to host it within a weekend or two of the WSMA State Championships, which is always the third Saturday of October. I think they'd have a much bigger draw then, particularly locally. It gives most of the big local competitions in Wisconsin a chance to host and earn money for their programs in the early weeks, while providing really good feedback later in the season before the last big show.
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Post by bigtrombone on Sept 18, 2023 12:26:49 GMT -6
If they try this again next year -- and that is, sadly, a BIG "if," in my view -- I hope they try to host it within a weekend or two of the WSMA State Championships, which is always the third Saturday of October. I think they'd have a much bigger draw then, particularly locally. It gives most of the big local competitions in Wisconsin a chance to host and earn money for their programs in the early weeks, while providing really good feedback later in the season before the last big show. I think the first weekend in October would work the best. The 2nd weekend of October would conflict with Youth In Music, which usually draws some Wisconsin bands (namely River Falls & Baldwin-Woodsville, though the Waukesha schools and Greendale have attended in the past.)
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Post by crowncrawler on Sept 18, 2023 12:47:02 GMT -6
On another note, I hope MFA will try hosting a Whitewater regional again! I hope they do! Plenty of nearby bands like Lincoln-Way and Greendale could do very well here.
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Post by statechamp1239 on Sept 18, 2023 13:14:59 GMT -6
Has there ever been a WI school that made finals?
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Post by dbalash on Sept 18, 2023 13:23:48 GMT -6
Has there ever been a WI school that made finals? At Grand Nationals? Yes. Oregon, WI did so in 1978 and 1979, 6th place in Class A at 60.35 in '78, 6th place in Class A at 69.25 in 1979.
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Post by statechamp1239 on Sept 18, 2023 13:56:55 GMT -6
Has there ever been a WI school that made finals? At Grand Nationals? Yes. Oregon, WI did so in 1978 and 1979, 6th place in Class A at 60.35 in '78, 6th place in Class A at 69.25 in 1979. No, in a normal Regional.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 18, 2023 14:11:49 GMT -6
At Grand Nationals? Yes. Oregon, WI did so in 1978 and 1979, 6th place in Class A at 60.35 in '78, 6th place in Class A at 69.25 in 1979. No, in a normal Regional. There were several at the 1985 Whitewater Regional. Check the results section on the MFA website. The Summer Nationals of the 1980s had several in finals, also held in Whitewater. Distance to a regional has been an issue for Wisconsin, whose bands may not have as many resources as some of the suburban Minnesota bands, like Rosemount and Irondale.
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