Marching Band

MARCHING BAND

Congratulations to the Marching Band and Colorguard for an incredible 2002 season. You worked very hard and finished the season with 4 sweepstakes awards and a 3rd place at the WBA championships in San Diego. Congratulations to the colorguard for the AA caption award and to the drumline for the A/AA caption award. We have come a long way since band camp, and we can look at these accomplishments with great pride.

When I look back on marching seasons, I don't remember the scores and placings (well, actually I can recall all of them, but they're not my basis of judging the worth of the season). When I walk into band camp, I have one goal in mind - to maximize the potential of everyone involved in the program. Remember how freaked out many of you were when we lost a great number of quality seniors last year. Many feared that we would go downhill. We had a ton of new people on drumline (especially pit!), and the low brass was filled with woodwind transfers. However, even though we dropped one place at championships, we had the closest spread to first than any other Aliso group. I would say that's pretty good! But the pride goes much further than that. My main source of pride in you is that you improved every week. You had a goal in mind and you kept working towards that goal no matter how tired you were. The last week was excruciating, but you fought through it and had your best rehearsals of the year. The end result was a peak at finals - the ultimate goal! You put on an entertaining show that was fun to play, enjoyable to watch, interesting to teach, and exciting to the crowd. This is what you need to take away from the year. This is the memory that you should carry with you. You have a tape of an awesome show that took a lot of time, sweat, blood, and tears. No placing or number compares with that.

Parents - what can I say? You continue to impress. I almost killed myself laughing when I saw the tailgate decorated with Christmas lights as you summoned the people with "Be My Guest." You have always been supportive of myself and the program, but we hit a new level this year. Our entourage was the largest we have ever had, and the enthusiasm for the program was an all time high. Every thing from the food to the teal shirts to the decorated tailgate to the signs on the equipment crew shows that you have a great deal of pride in what you do. This sense of pride carries over to the kids (even though they won't admit it) and they feel more pride in what they are doing. I know you do many things to help the program, but your involvement and excitement into something that's important to your kids helps the program more than anything else you do. I am excited that most of the parents actively participate. In the future, it would be great for me to substitute "all" for "most." Those parents who show up have had a closer interaction with their kids, and I hope that all parents experience this excitement next year.

In band camp, I said that we can judge the year at the end by asking ourselves if we have any regrets. I have none. This year worked out perfectly. The kids, coaches, parents, and myself worked together in perfect harmony to produce a show that we are all proud of. Mark this year down as another successful year at Aliso. You have conducted yourselves with class and pride throughout the whole year, and I am proud to be the leader of this incredible group. Great Job!

Mac

2002 Scores

2002 WBA Championships Finals mp3