The Marchin’ Cats are used to victory. Since the arrival of their director, Michael Thomas, four years ago…the band has made significant improvements.
So it was a huge disappointment when we attended our first competition three weeks ago and placed second. And then two weeks ago we attended another competition…marching in the wind and rain, and placed 5th. That was the longest bus ride home ever!
The kids were so solomn as they thought about what they could have done better. And for the seniors in the group…they were wondering how they could have enjoyed three years of success, only to watch it all fall apart their senior year.
The kids were on fall break Monday and Tuesday…but they still met at the band field Tuesday afternoon and practiced for three hours.
There was one more competition and they were going to give it their best shot.
That’s when Karlee dislocated her knee cap. We were just sick! Not only worried about her knee injury…but worried about how she would feel not participating in the very last competition of her high school career.
Friday night was a football game at Douglas high school. We weren’t expecting much to happen, so when the wildcats pulled ahead and won the game…we were all ecstatic. Maybe this was a sign of good things to come for the weekend.
Then on Saturday morning, the band met out on the field for a two hour practice before leaving for the compeition. At the end of pratice, hanging in a bright sunny sky, hanging between two beautiful white fluffy clouds, was a rainbow. another sign maybe?
The Marchin’ Cats took the field at 3:45 for the preliminary competition. And something magical happened……the show and marching was near perfection. Karlee stepped onto the field with the band and i was so thrilled to watch her march!
After all 11 bands performed, the awards began. 2a, 3a, and 4a bands are grouped and awards given accordingly. There were three 4a bands and we came out the winner in our division. 8 of the 11 bands were invited to stay for the competition round. We were scheduled to perform at 8:30.
The band kids ate some dinner and just hung out for a while. But soon it was time to suit up again and head out to the warm up area and do it all again. This time we add some special elements to the show…the props.
It included 6 life-size cowboy tents, bales of hay, an outhouse, a huge cow, a good cowboy, a bad cowboy and Paige as the “outhouse girl”!
The show started and i just had chills as i watched it. It was amazing.
And when it was time for the awards…we held our breath and waited. Again, we took top honors in our class.
Then they annouce the Grand Champion….that’s the band that overall, scored the highest scores.
And when the announcer said Valdosta High Marchin’ Cats….we went wild!
The kids persevered….never gave up….overcame obstacles and achieved what’s never been done before….FOUR YEARS IN A ROW OF GRAND CHAMPIONSHIPS!
