On November 1st, the Musselman High School Band made its way to Hershey, Pennsylvania to compete in the Tournament of Bands Atlantic Coast Championship. Not only did the band make school history by winning the Group 4 Open Division Title at the ACC’s, but also making West Virginian state history for the first time.
The Atlantic Coast Championship is an annual competition of bands between Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regional schools and groups, making this achievement for Musselman even more astonishing and memorable.
A significant win like this did not come without many hours of hard work and dedication. About ninety student performers attended.
When asked about how hard the students had worked, James Miller, the color guard instructor, replied, “We practice[d] quite a lot to be able to make [this win] happen.”
He explained that before competitions, hours of practice occurred before showtimes. The students attended a band camp that lasted about a month. It required three days a week of their time for four hours each day while they worked on their skills and maneuvers from eight in the morning to eight in the evening.
Picture was provided by the Musselman High School Marching Band.
“We have a very active group of dedicated students, but they’re also dedicated to their studies and their community, so they’re involved in other things as well. So it was very challenging to delegate their time,” said Knepper. “I thought that they were working very hard to reach each of our endeavors.”
Emotions were high for the band, as they experienced anticipation in previous years in an attempt to win the Atlantic Coast Championships, but not succeeding.
“We weren’t nearly as expecting [the win] or thinking that we were going to do it this year, and it happened.” Miller expressed.
When asked how everyone felt about winning, Knepper replied, “It was surreal. They worked extremely hard to polish their skills and work together to collaborate in such a large number. The feeling was emotional and it was definitely one I think that all of us together can say we’re going to treasure.”
