Marching band is a sport that often goes unnoticed but this year The Big Fresno Fair held its 13th annual band review. Every year this competition gives middle and high school marching band students the chance to represent their school.
(Photo by: Alyssa Bustamante)
EECU, Valley Children’s Healthcare, I heart radio and Toyota USA are sponsors of this event and responsible for providing students the opportunity to win up to $12,000 in cash prizes, according to the Big Fresno Fair website.
Each band is judged on showmanship, how well they march together and their sound quality during their performance.
The competition took place on the derby track where the students were faced with the obstacle of the high heat but each school performed their heart out and left everything on the track.
The contest was split by middle school and high school divisions. Each band that took to the field was after the grand sweepstakes prize. The most sought after prizes were the junior high grand sweepstakes which awarded the winning school a check for $1250 along with a trophy. For the high school division, the most esteemed prize was the high school grand sweepstakes which awarded the winning school a check for $1500.
During each set, students displayed their pride for their school and some used it as the theme for their performance. Both Washington Intermediate middle school and Dinuba high school showed their pride by using props that spelled out Dinuba during their performances.
In a remarkable display of talent and teamwork, Dinuba High School won the high school sweepstakes title at this year’s competition.
John Domingcil, marching band director of Dinuba high school was excited to speak about their victory.
“The kids, they’ve worked hard all this week and they really wanted to come back,” Domingcil said. This competition has been something that Dinuba High school has been working towards ever since band camp according to Domingcil.
Last year, Domingcil’s team took home the sweepstakes as well as many other trophies. This year they were challenged to stay on top of their game and keep their performance fresh for this year’s competition.
“I want to play harder music and I want to do harder routines for the color guard. Luckily we have really good coaches who can help me out and we hope we can keep it alive even if we don’t win sweepstakes,” Domingcil said.
Preparing students who are in middle school marching band for high school marching band is crucial for being successful at the high school level. In the Central valley particularly, the heat is a huge factor in the difficulty of this sport.
At the middle school level, students are taught how to stay safe with the heat while marching with instruments and staying hydrated is drilled into colorguards routine. During their performances EMTS were on standby and multiple students started to experience signs or symptoms of heat stroke.
Despite the many obstacles at this year’s fair, Burton middle school won Junior High grand sweepstakes. Many of the middle schools that compete are given a preview at these competitions of what they can expect when performing on the high school level.
“It all starts at the junior high school level. They have a great teacher, and I’m very blessed to have them,” Domingcil said.
