Lone Star Preview 10/15: "Big Band"
Now that we’ve covered the Small Bands, we can take some time to go over the Big Bands who are going to Region on Saturday and a couple of local contests happening. As a reminder, or if you’re seeing this article first, this is the second of three articles covering UIL Region contests over the coming week. Earlier today, the Small Band 10/15 Preview was released, and on Sunday, there will be a preview for all the Region contests happening from 10/17-19. Let’s start by taking a quick look at our two local competitions: the Birdville ISD Marching Festival in North Richland Hills and the Battle at the Berry in Cypress.
The Birdville Marching Festival only has 11 bands in attendance. Therefore, all bands will qualify for finals. Rockwall (TX) and Richardson (TX) are going for a three-performance day as they are also going to BOA Prosper; if they qualify for finals at Prosper, you can expect them to skip out on finals at this event. Some other exciting bands to look out for are Trinity (TX) and Brewer (TX), bands that may or may not make Area Finals. Down in Cypress at the Battle of the Berry, a large collection of Houston-area bands (including most of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD programs) compete in a prelims-only event. Bridgeland (TX) is headlining the event, but bands such as Tomball (TX) and Churchill Fulshear (TX) will get a chance to go head-to-head with Area rivals a week or two before they meet again.
Let's hop straight into the Region contests with the local contests out of the way. Staying in the Houston area on Saturday, we have three Region contests featuring Big Bands: Region 17 (Alvin ISD Freedom Field, Rosharon), Region 19 (Ray Maddry Stadium, Channelview), and Region 33 (Planet Ford Stadium, Spring) Marching Contests. At Region 17, BOA Finalists Clear Brook (TX) and Friendswood (TX) perform alongside 13th place at Katy Brazoswood (TX) and a resurging Dickinson (TX). Region 19 hosts BOA Finalists Pearland (TX) and Dawson (TX) with percussion powerhouse Pasadena Memorial (TX), up-and-coming Deer Park (TX), and Barbers Hill (TX) under a new prestigious direction. There are no BOA Finalists at Region 33, but 2016 UIL 6A State Finalist North Shore (TX), historical powerhouses Spring (TX) and Westfield (TX), 2021 5A/6A UIL State Military Contest silver medalist Kingwood (TX), and 2021 UIL 5A Area I Champion Porter (TX).
Going into East Texas are a couple more region contests this Saturday: Region 10 (Port Neches-Groves ISD Stadium, Port Neches) and Region 21 (Lobo Stadium, Longview). At Region 10 are gulf coast bands Dayton (TX) and Port Neches-Groves (TX), two 5A bands that are always relatively competitive at the Area level. Up at Region 21, East Texas’s sole 6A corps-style band Tyler Legacy (TX), is performing along with the defending UIL 5A/6A State Military Contest Champion Lufkin (TX), and Longview (TX), who holds one of the longest streaks of achieving consecutive 1 Ratings at UIL Region Marching in Texas.
Moving west into the DFW area, we have three Region Contests on Saturday: Region 2 (C.H. Collins Stadium, Denton), Region 24 (Little Elm Football Stadium, Little Elm), and Region 25 5A-6A (Kimbrough Stadium, Murphy). At Region 2, BOA Midland Finalist Braswell (TX), and the three BOA Bedford Medalists #11 Marcus (TX), #6 Flower Mound (TX), and #1 Hebron (TX), perform with fellow LISD schools Lewisville (TX) and The Colony (TX). Additionally, V.R. Eaton (TX) having a historically successful season. Down the street from BOA Prosper, Region 24 is taking place which includes BOA competitors Prosper (TX), Rock Hill (TX), and Wakeland (TX), who will all be gunning for a triple performance day between the two contests. In addition, BOA Bedford Finalist Lone Star (TX), as well as McKinney Boyd (TX), Lebanon Trail (TX), and Independence (TX), who are all having solid seasons, are also at this Region contest. Finally, Region 25 has BOA Conroe Finalist Wylie East (TX) perform alongside a strong Wylie (TX) and Plano East (TX), as well as newly reclassified 5A bands Argyle (TX) and Melissa (TX) (the latter of whom is also performing at BOA Prosper).
On Saturday in West Texas, four different contests are happening: Region 1 (Bivins Stadium, Amarillo), Region 6 South (San Angelo ISD Stadium, San Angelo), Region 6 West (Ratliff Stadium, Odessa), and Region 16 (Lowrey Field, Lubbock). There are only a few 5A-6A schools at these contests, so we’ll be able to go through these fast. At Region 1, the four Amarillo ISD schools are the only Big Bands performing, with the main band to keep an eye on this year being Amarillo (TX). Further south in the panhandle is Region 16, where all the Lubbock area bands perform, most notably Frenship (TX) and Lubbock-Cooper (TX). Finally, at the Region 6 West Contest, BOA Midland Finalists Permian (TX) and Midland (TX) are the most prominent names, while the only Big Band at Region 6 South is San Angelo Central (TX).
There is only one Region contest with Big Bands this weekend in Central Texas: Region 8 4A-6A (Midway ISD Panther Stadium, Hewitt). The leading bands to keep an eye on at Region 8 are Midway (TX), College Station (TX), Belton (TX), and Lake Belton (TX). Then, going south on I-35 into San Antonio, there are three contests: Region 11 (D.W. Rutledge Stadium, Converse), Region 12 (Heroes Stadium, San Antonio), and Region 29 (Farris Stadium, San Antonio). Region 11 features BOA finalist Del Rio (TX) along with Karen Wagner (TX), who just dropped from 6A to 5A, Southwest (TX) from within San Antonio, C.C. Winn (TX) from Eagle Pass, and Byron P. Steele II (TX) from Cibolo. At Region 12 are the North East ISD powerhouses and BOA Katy Medalists #8 Ronald Reagan (TX) and #10 Claudia Taylor Johnson (TX), along with fellow NEISD band Winston Churchill (TX), as well as bands from just outside of San Antonio such as New Braunfels (TX), Comal Canyon (TX), and Seguin (TX). Finally, Region 29 consists almost entirely of Northside ISD bands, which include BOA McAllen finalists Louis D. Brandeis (TX) and Sandra Day O’Connor (TX), but also Tom C. Clark (TX), William J. Brennan (TX), and John Paul Stevens (TX).
We finish our road trip on the border where all of the 5A and 6A Area G Regions are holding their Region contests: Region 14 5A-6A West (Bill Johnson Student Activity Center, Laredo), Region 14 5A East (Ray Akins Stadium, Portland), Region 15 West (La Joya ISD Stadium, La Joya), Region 15 East (Veterans Memorial Stadium, McAllen), Region 28 West (Tiger Stadium, Mercedes) and Region 28 East (Bobby Morrow Stadium, San Benito). Region 14 West consists of BOA McAllen Finalists John B. Alexander (TX) and United (TX), but keep an eye on Raymond & Tirza Martin (TX) because they’ve been gradually improving in recent years. Region 14 East holds Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial (TX), Gregory-Portland (TX), and Victoria West (TX), who were all just in or barely out of 5A UIL Area G Finals in 2021. Over in Region 15, the West contest most predominantly features BOA McAllen Finalist PSJA (TX), as well as other schools in the district like PSJA North (TX) and PSJA Southwest (TX), but also bands like Edinburg (TX). Region 15 East consists of mostly 5A bands, including BOA McAllen Finalists Roma (TX), Pioneer (TX), Sharyland (TX), and Rio Grande City (TX), but also 6A band Mission (TX). The Region 28 West contest’s only Big Band is the host, Mercedes (TX). Finally, the Region 28 East contest features concert band powerhouse Lopez (TX) along with new-to-5A Harlingen South (TX), as well as long-time 6A powerhouse Homer Hanna (TX) and newcomer to the top ranks Los Fresnos (TX).
That wraps up the second of our three UIL Region previews; stay tuned for the All Band 10/17-19 Preview on Sunday!