Chapter 11
When Excellence Became a National Movement

By the 1960s and 1970s, marching bands across America had entered a new era.

The question was no longer...

"Should marching bands compete?"

That question had already been answered.

Now directors were asking a different question.

"How good can we become?"

Across the country, state bandmasters associations established marching band championships.

Regional contests began appearing in cities both large and small.

Communities embraced them.

Parents volunteered.

Booster clubs organized concessions.

Judges traveled from contest to contest.

School buses rolled across state highways every Saturday morning carrying students in uniforms and instrument cases.

What had once been a handful of isolated competitions became a national movement.

Today, during the heart of marching season, something remarkable happens.

For nearly eight consecutive Saturdays every fall, hundreds of marching contests take place across America.

On any given Saturday, there may be more than 400 marching competitions happening from coast to coast.

Some are small local invitationals.

Others are regional championships.

Still others determine state champions.

Collectively, they involve hundreds of thousands of student musicians, color guard performers, drum majors, percussionists, directors, judges, volunteers, parents, and spectators.

No other performing art in America operates on this scale every single weekend.

Think about that.

While one band is stepping onto a football field in South Carolina...

Another is performing in Texas.

Another in California.

Another in Indiana.

Another in Ohio.

Another in Florida.

Thousands upon thousands of students are performing at almost exactly the same moment.

Each one hoping to perform just a little better than they did the week before.

That is the true spirit of competition.

Not defeating another band.

Becoming a better band.

One rehearsal.

One performance.

One Saturday at a time.

The educational philosophy behind these contests is what makes them unique.

Unlike many athletic competitions, judges don't simply announce a winner.

They teach.

They evaluate.

They encourage.

They explain.

Recorded adjudication gives directors and students valuable feedback they can take home on Monday morning and immediately begin improving.

Every contest becomes another classroom.

Every performance becomes another lesson.

Every score becomes another opportunity to grow.

Organizations like the South Carolina Band Directors Association helped establish that educational philosophy decades ago, demonstrating that championships could inspire excellence while never losing sight of their greatest purpose—helping students become better musicians and better performers.

As more states adopted similar educational models, marching bands across America reached levels of excellence that earlier generations could scarcely have imagined.

Then another organization entered the story.

It didn't replace state championships.

It complemented them.

It offered outstanding bands an opportunity to perform on a truly national stage.

Its name was Bands of America.