A recap about the Fall season

This has been a crazy summer and fall. I wanted to write more about the progression of the Odessa group but things became very hectic very quickly. But it was good! I’ll go through a little bit of what happened this summer and fall and then we can start thinking about the upcoming winter season!

The summer started a little slow. It took some time for the guard staff to really lock into their rolls and get use to each other on an instruction level and not just friends. The girls also had a LOT of adjusting to do. A completely new staff with a director with a very different style and approach than they were use to. Practices were quiet and somewhat tense at first. I wanted to focus a TON on movement, which was something they were not use to and a part they didn't seem to like very much. By the end of June we had probably around 16 different across the floors for the girls to do every day. More than 1/3 of our time was focused on movement and there were some practices that we never even picked up equipment.

The weapon lines had a good start and I made sure to start slow to allow for girls who ever spun weapon to get the basics and try out. Doing that added a couple girls to the line who never would have made it if we had jumped right into triples and quads. The girls who had been on weapon for a year or two had to learn some patience, but I think they saw the benefits. We also had to really look at the technique of the rifle and saber line. Most of the sabers were spinning their sabers just like rifle. So, we broke down the difference between the 2 pieces of equipment which has been very beneficial to both lines. Our “A” lines didn't do anything higher than a triple for the first 2 months and the “B” line focused on doubles. Once we pushed it up a notch the girls were amazed how much easier it was then they originally thought it would be to do the “bigger tosses”. Now, our “B” line is doing pretty well on quads and they never thought they would be able to say that.

Near the end of the summer our band director got an offer at a different school and decided to take the job. The staff all knew it was the best choice for him and his family and we wished him the best of luck! The former assistant at Odessa applied for the new opening and ended up getting the job so there wasn’t much adjustment for that. We just had to push band camp back a week to allow for interviews and all that. But, the transition went really smooth and we headed on into the school year.

Once school started everything started flying by. The guard had Monday and Wednesday sectionals and the full band and guard had Tuesday and Thursday evening rehearsals. We were a little behind on music memorization and drill and we have been playing catch up the entire season. So practices had to move quickly…but luckily the guard was always right on top of things.

Our last competitive performance we were at UCM for the Festival of Champions. I was really looking forward to seeing how the girls would perform after months of practice and training. It was an exciting day and a little bit of a sad one as well. Fortunately I think the girls were very pumped up about the winter season so they weren't real sad to see the fall end. 

Now we are on our way with the Winter Season! The Middle School group has 22 girls on the team and the High School has 15 girls and 1 boy! Tomorrow will be our first camp so I will post more about the shows after that!