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Post by cybrunette on Jan 13, 2023 12:20:26 GMT -6
I know most kids start playing their instruments in 6th grade. With Covid being in 2020 that would mean this coming years freshman would have been affected by it the most being unable to start a music class until 7th or not exposed to it at all. Does anyone think this will have any impact on any marching bands?
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 14, 2023 10:54:33 GMT -6
Looking at the past couple seasons, my impression (keep in mind I am not an educator or instructor) is that there are some schools that have not been affected and others that have. Different states and even different school districts within the same states had different levels of Covid restrictions. My point is that the pandemic did not affect every school district the same. So I think the bands that have been at the top of the competitive circuits the last couple years will continue to perform at a top level and those programs that took a bit of a hit will continue to have struggles. In fact, with some more top level Texas bands likely attending Grand Nationals this year, I predict in 2023 that we will see one of if not the strongest Grand National finals shows ever.
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Post by brassy on Feb 10, 2023 7:26:36 GMT -6
I'm a sophomore in Fishers. From what I've seen out of our freshmen is that they've actually been pretty good and motivated for marching. It's my theory that covid might have weeded out the unmotivated, and only those who really wanted to do band stayed.
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Post by paddy on Feb 10, 2023 10:34:47 GMT -6
I find the most affected classes are the grads of 2024 and 2025 or current juniors and sophomores.
They were 8th grade and freshman kids in Fall of 2020. This group just has a different approach to the dedication and responsibilities of being in competitive marching band and that was influenced by the funky Fall of 2020 when there were minimal competitions.
I would say our freshman are very talented and don't seem to showing the affects musically.
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Post by aiden on Jul 30, 2023 4:14:19 GMT -6
Looking at the past couple seasons, my impression (keep in mind I am not an educator or instructor) is that there are some schools that have not been affected and others that have. Different states and even different school districts within the same states had different levels of Covid restrictions. My point is that the pandemic did not affect every school district the same. So I think the bands that have been at the top of the competitive circuits the last couple years will continue to perform at a top level and those programs that took a bit of a hit will continue to have struggles. In fact, with some more top level Texas bands likely attending Grand Nationals this year, I predict in 2023 that we will see one of if not the strongest Grand National finals shows ever. It's also a year ending with a 3 so I think that a Texas band will win
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Post by paddy on Jul 30, 2023 5:25:49 GMT -6
I find the most affected classes are the grads of 2024 and 2025 or current juniors and sophomores. They were 8th grade and freshman kids in Fall of 2020. This group just has a different approach to the dedication and responsibilities of being in competitive marching band and that was influenced by the funky Fall of 2020 when there were minimal competitions. I would say our freshman are very talented and don't seem to showing the affects musically. Since someone commented and popped this back to the top, I will reiterate this sentiment. After 3 weeks of band camp the senior class in particular is lazy, immature and lacks leadership. We have done nothing different in our approach (and maybe that is an issue) so one must look at external factors. The number of seniors who quit because they weren’t given roles they wanted is also surprising. Interestingly enough, their parents are also the least committed to volunteering and supporting the booster organization.
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Post by altomomma2023 on Jul 30, 2023 6:18:41 GMT -6
I am in Southern Indiana. I know this is mostly BOA based. We done BOA for the first time last year but won't be this year bc of ISSMA Semi State. Here, our Director extends an invite to a choice few of going into 7th and 8th graders to join our Marching band. My oldest was a Senior last year, who joined her 8th grade year. My 2nd was extended the invite for her 7th grade year for the 2023 season. Onto year number 6! Most of our now freshmen have done this for a year or two. It won't directly effect our band but I am curious to see if it does others who do not bring middle school students in.
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Post by bandmom2 on Jul 30, 2023 18:44:25 GMT -6
My marcher has commented the freshman class are extremely strong players, so it did not appear to have a negative impact.
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Post by mjans5 on Oct 22, 2023 16:45:34 GMT -6
I know most kids start playing their instruments in 6th grade. With Covid being in 2020 that would mean this coming years freshman would have been affected by it the most being unable to start a music class until 7th or not exposed to it at all. Does anyone think this will have any impact on any marching bands? Looking back on the season, my band's freshman class was overall very strong. However (at least in my school district), kids start band in the 5th grade, so next year's class was most affected. It doesn't look good, but we're only losing about 1/10th of our band to graduation.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Oct 22, 2023 19:28:51 GMT -6
Looking at the past couple seasons, my impression (keep in mind I am not an educator or instructor) is that there are some schools that have not been affected and others that have. Different states and even different school districts within the same states had different levels of Covid restrictions. My point is that the pandemic did not affect every school district the same. So I think the bands that have been at the top of the competitive circuits the last couple years will continue to perform at a top level and those programs that took a bit of a hit will continue to have struggles. In fact, with some more top level Texas bands likely attending Grand Nationals this year, I predict in 2023 that we will see one of if not the strongest Grand National finals shows ever. It's also a year ending with a 3 so I think that a Texas band will win Yes the first GN ending in a 3, 1983 was won by a North Carolina band; Rocky Mount. 10 years later Spring won and since then every year ending in a 3 has been won by a Texas band; granted there have only been two since Spring won. We will see in just a few weeks if Spring really did but a curse on non Texas bands attending in a year ending in 3.
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Post by oldbandguy on Oct 24, 2023 8:03:54 GMT -6
It's interesting that this thread popped back to the top, because my wife and I were discussing this very subject over the weekend in Orlando. Just speaking from a James F. Byrnes perspective, I believe this freshman class is one of the stronger groups of winds and marchers I've seen in several years. They had more 8th grade region and all state members than any previous District 5 class. This year's sophomores might have actually been the most affected by the Covid year (although it seems to be minimal to be honest).
I believe District 5 starts their music program in the 5th/6th grade - basic, rudimentary stuff but it's at least a foundational beginning. So, many of these kids had a decent head start prior to Covid. We'll see if that becomes apparent on the field over the next three years. Byrnes lost a very good class with last year's seniors, so the 2023 freshman class will be the heart of the band program. This is overall the youngest group of talent that Byrnes has fielded in a while so it will take a little time. Thankfully, they seem to have escaped the negative impacts Covid had.
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Post by MelloMom on Oct 25, 2023 8:12:13 GMT -6
Our incoming freshman group is also quite strong with lots of parent involvement
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Post by MarchingBand4Life on Oct 25, 2023 13:57:21 GMT -6
Our schools start in 5th grade. So next year's freshmen will be the COVID kids.
My kid is a senior and section leader in a large band. She is literally the only 4th year marcher. Her freshman year, there was 1 other freshman and they dropped after the first year. They have 3 seniors in a section of 19. So I believe there are 6 sophomores and 5 juniors.
It'll be interesting to see if numbers drop overall next year.
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Post by strangemelloplayer on Oct 29, 2023 11:19:14 GMT -6
I find the most affected classes are the grads of 2024 and 2025 or current juniors and sophomores. They were 8th grade and freshman kids in Fall of 2020. This group just has a different approach to the dedication and responsibilities of being in competitive marching band and that was influenced by the funky Fall of 2020 when there were minimal competitions. I would say our freshman are very talented and don't seem to showing the affects musically. I am a class of 2025 and while I can agree that it was difficult. My class was blessed with going to California our freshman year because the RoseParade was cancelled the year before due to COVID reasons (which we were supposed to go to). So, at least for me, some good came out of it
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