SWMHS Marching Band End of Season Thoughts ~ Part 2

The SWMHS marching band has a voice all its own, and it becomes hard to miss once you’ve seen its full force of over one-hundred members perform at their football games and competitions, even as the season draws to a close.

There were some major changes that were made from last year’s show (Caliente) to this year’s show (Fathoms), especially behind the scenes, which included the drills, music and staff. This year, one of the biggest changes came in the form of a change in the drill writer – a large shift in any band organization – which is very significant. A drill writer writes the show, in the sense that they think of where to put everyone at every part of the show, planning and directing each show down to the last detail to translate the talent from the performers and instruments to the shows we at Sayreville have come to expect.

“I really liked our drill writer Douglas Ballard,” says Jeremy Prasad, junior trumpet player. “He fixed a lot of mistakes. But because he’s from Pennsylvania he wasn’t able to visit us as often. But when he did, it was awesome.”

Devin “Chip” Platt , another long-term trumpet player alongside Jeremy, voiced a similar sentiment. “It was great seeing everyone improve, but I thought there was really a lack of communication at times.” He adds – reflecting a similar positivity, if slightly more critical.

When asked about he felt about how the year in general went, Platt simply reluctantly remarks: “Even though we improved, our scores didn’t reflect it.”

For anyone who makes the marching band their passion, this can be a crushing blow. Marching band can be one of the most time consuming extracurriculars any member of the student body can get involved in – and to find out that your hard work isn’t being acknowledged to it’s fullest extent can be a major blow.

“I thought last year things were a whole lot worse,” says Ryan Real, another member of the organization. “That was when we first were put into 4-Open. Us being placed into a new division I thought, was a big shock to everyone. In other words, the 4-Open division just didn’t suit our band.”

4-Open is the marching band division for the largest bands at a highly competitive level. Last year, the Sayreville Marching Band was under the 3-A division. In this division, the marching band was really able to receive the proper acknowledgement. There was some high anticipations from both the marching band director, Dr. Caruso, as well as the band itself, when the news of being placed in 4-Open was given. But it seems now that playing in the division may be doing more harm than good.

However, despite the results from this year, Robert Adams, section leader of the trumpets, has a very optimistic view. “There were so many new things that we incorporated this year,” Adams reminisced, “We evolved so much from last year. There were props, sound effects, and just in general, we grew as a band, and that includes both the newbies and the veterans.”

While it cannot be denied that being under the 4-Open category fared for the worse, Robbie confidently spoke the band’s praises: “It’s only because we’re new. The bands that we went up against during competitions were in the 4-Open division have been in there for years. I think all our band is lacking at this point is the experience, and that can only be done through time.”

Of course, the SWMHS marching band has everything else down: the hard work, dedication, and the various other “causalities” that come with being a member of something so impactful in daily life. But taking Robert’s word for it, success is just around the corner, and with time and effort, the Sayreville Marching Band is certain to see its talents on full display with the full acknowledgement they so richly deserve.