Marching bands add so much to the atmosphere at high school football games, that it's hard to imagine what the game would be like without them. It's not Friday Night Lights without the band, and we've got three reasons why these dedicated students deserve a big high five this weekend.

When your team scores a touchdown, you know the band is going to put on the exclamation point.  The drums and saxophones kick everything up a notch, and it's become such a habit to hear it that it just blends right in with the cheers.  Bands know when to start playing and when to quit, and they pump energy into us even when we don't realize it.  I'm sure it gives the players an extra buzz too.

The video shows the Lufkin Panther Marching Band performing last fall at a UIL competition, and they're gearing up for one of those again this fall.  If you've got video of a high school marching band that you want us to showcase, send it to me!  (jen.austin@townsquaremedia.com).  I'd be happy to give your school some love.

Three Big Reasons Why Marching Band Members Are Winners

1.  Practice, practice, practice.  These students practice their butts off, and sometimes that means giving up part of the summer to start learning the routines before the fall semester gets going.   And when classes are on, the band members might be getting to school at 6:30 am to give the halftime routine a quick run-through.  The football players aren't the only ones who are dedicated.

2.  They endure hot uniforms.  Not every marching band still wears the thick, felt-ish feeling uniforms with tight collars and hats with chin straps, but it's usually safe to say that the uniforms they do wear could probably offer some decent protection if it happened to snow.  The band members usually have street clothes on underneath the uniforms too, so they've got to be hot in September.  And we never see a trainer squirting Gatorade into their mouths on a break.

3.  They have to haul a ton of equipment.  It's one thing to get all of the band members to the field.  It's another to get the instruments there too.  The biggest bands need an extra bus or a trailer to haul all of those huge bass drums, trombones, and cymbal sets, and the unloading process must take an hour.  And they've got to repeat the process after that game.  It's amazing that we don't see more marching bands made entirely of flutes.  It would be easier.

So, East Texas marching bands, you deserve a whole lot of love and respect this football season.  Thanks for making the stands so energetic, and for all that you do to make the football games rock.  You win!  And we hope your team does too.

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