Our first football game has arrived – LOTS of details in this post!!!
FRIDAY AUG 26 DURING SCHOOL:
- Our school is trying to establish a new tradition this year with special dress up days for each home game. OUR tradition for home games is to show your school spirit in the best BLUE & GOLD manner you can. Since the whole point is to show our spirit and pride – for school on Friday wear EITHER your best CAMOUFLAGE OR your best BLUE & GOLD…if you can find a way to combine the two, that would be incredibly awesome!
- ANOTHER new tradition they are trying to establish is to do a spirit parade 7th period. Marching band members should be released from class at 1:30 pm – come down to the band room, get your stuff together, and then we’ll go to the catwalk between buildings 1 & 2 to join the football players and cheerleaders. Don’t dawdle – the parade is scheduled to start at 1:40! We’ll march through the halls and finish up in the courtyard, after which the room will be open again for you to put your stuff away.
FRIDAY AUG 26 AFTER SCHOOL:
- The band room will be CLOSED from 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm. Go get some rest and relax!!
- The band room will OPEN again at 5:00 pm. You may come any time after that – you DON’T need to be here that early, but it will be open and available.
- WARM-UP will BEGIN at 6:00 pm. VETS need to HELP NEW MEMBERS with the location of this. You’ll want to arrive early enough to get everything ready and out to our warm-up area for us to be able to START PROMPTLY at 6:00! Winds & Percussion – wear your GOLD SHIRTS under your uniforms. For warm-up, you will NOT wear your jackets – VETS need to HELP NEW MEMBERS with how we handle jackets, shakos, plumes, etc. Percussion, be sure to bring the instrument stands for the battery! Guard will need BOTH their show equipment AND the colors.
- MARCH-IN will be at 6:45 – the band room will be LOCKED from then on. We will all go together into the stadium and up into our seating area; this is when we’ll work out where everyone sits. Once we get all settled, we’ll hang there until it’s time to go down for PRE-GAME
- ONLY ACTIVE MEMBERS are allowed in the band seating area – family, fans & friends are welcome to sit next to us, but not in the actual band block at any time; this includes during the break.
- KICK-OFF is at 7:30 pm; PRE-GAME is obviously just before that – all you need to do is follow directions. After pre-game, we go back into our seating area and watch the game from there – we will play at various times, so be alert and ready at all times! Sometime during the 2nd quarter, we’ll go down and start making preparations for half-time. Pinellas Park’s band is NOT coming to the game, so we are the only entertainment this week. Once the teams have cleared the field, we’ll go out and do the opener. After the opener, we’ll gather together (circle up) in the north end of the field; you’ll get some brief feedback, and then we stow all of our stuff back safely.
- Once everything has been stowed, you are on a break for a while. You may stay in our seating area or go along the back side of the stadium over to the band concession stands. You are NOT allowed to go up into the main stands, and you are NOT allowed to go over to the visitors side. You MAY buy food and drinks – bring money with you if you want to do this! If you are not already back in the band area when the game clock is down to 2:00 in the 3rd quarter – start heading back IMMEDIATELY. You must be back and ready for instructions when there is 1:00 left on the clock. We will start playing again during the break between the 3rd and 4th quarters.
- At the end of the game, we STAY in the stands for a bit, and play another song or two while the first bulk of the crowd exits. We ALWAYS clean up our area and make sure ALL trash is properly disposed of BEFORE we exit. Once we are done playing and have cleaned up, we will line up and march back to the band room together. Once there, we circle up and have our final dismissal. At that point your first responsibility is to PROPERLY STOW ALL INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT. Only after this has been done do you hang and turn in your uniform – be sure to hang it neatly so it will be ready for the next event! As soon as you have finished all that, you are free to go – there is no further dismissal protocol.
- Since the clock stops and starts for various reasons in football games, we do not know what time the game will actually end. If your parents are not able to come and are waiting for you to call and let them know to pick you up – call right when we release, before you put up your equipment and uniform; you can take care of those things while they are on the way, and you won’t have a long wait. Expect that the game will end maybe around 10:00ish…but it won’t always!
SATURDAY, AUG 26
We do have rehearsal this Saturday, with the big focus getting a start on the 2nd song. Rehearsal is from 10:00 – 6:00. LUNCH is from 12:30 – 1:45.
