As Texas simmers under a 39-day heatwave that will seethe through August, high school marching bands and other athletic programs are still underway and expected to perform.
For Jason Younts, the Champion High School band director, water breaks during band camp rehearsal isn’t optional.
“It’s required. You will clear the field. You will go to your water jug. You will drink,” he said.
Band camp began July 24 for Champion’s marching band and Boerne High School’s marching band. Although band camp rehearsals can last all day, both bands rehearse outside only from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. to avoid the day’s hottest hours.
Leah Lira, Boerne junior saxophone section leader, said outdoor morning rehearsals were three hours long in past seasons, but that has since been reduced to two hours.
“Some freshmen haven’t properly acclis mated to the heat, so they had to get electrolytes. But no one has passed out,” Lira said.
During band camp, students in matching t-shirts and shorts can be seen standing and marching along the numbered yard lines of high school parking lots.
Using a clicking metronome and counting out loud to keep time, marchers focus on their form: rolling through their feet, holding their heads up high and trying to keep their line formations straight.
These are only the basics - there is still a show with music and choreography to learn.
Younts implemented detailed procedures and systems for members braving the heat. Daniel Person, Boerne High School band director, did the same.
Champion marching band members take water breaks every 10 minutes. These breaks can be gushand- go’s or “holidays.” Gush-and-go’s are quick gulps and holidays can last three to five minutes.
Boerne’s marching band gets water breaks every eight minutes.
When he began working at Champion four years ago, Younts implemented the use of shade tents for breaks shielded from the sun.
Similarly, Person implemented a medical tent manned by band parents during Boerne’s outdoor rehearsals.
Sharon Fonza, band mom of eight years and one of the medical tent volunteers, said the point of the tent is to check in on the marchers and give them a break when they’re not feeling well.
“I look for signs and offer crackers,” Fonza said. “It’s mostly getting the young ones used to the heat.”
Besides having water jugs, Younts said students are required to be in proper rehearsal attire, have physicals on file and eat a nutritious breakfast.
“If kids don’t have those things, they’re not allowed to work with us until they fix that.”
With 200 members in his marching band, Younts said there haven’t been any heat-related medical emergencies this season, but he still wouldn’t recommend having waffles with syrup before marching in the sun.
If students do vomit or faint, parents are contacted immediately, and the student is home for the day.
Champion senior drum majors Sierra Fridley and Nikolas Parra, who just got out of drum major camp, are tasked with leading the band and looking out for the students’ well-being.
Fridley and Parra carry stopwatches around their necks to alert when the band needs a water break.
“There’s been some minor things where people have not felt well and had to sit out,” Parra said. “We’ve had a couple people almost fall or kind of sag, but there’s never been anything serious.”
Champion’s heat procedures are the norm throughout Texas high school marching bands as they begin their seasons in the middle of summer.
Person uses the wet bulb calculator, which combines the temperature and relative humidity to measure how well a body can cool itself naturally. He said using the calculator will be especially helpful in August, when the band starts learning their show during outdoor evening rehearsals.
“Heat is always an issue in Texas no matter what,” Person said. “We’re just refining what we’ve already done.”
Boerne’s show, “The Butterfly Effect,” is about chaos theory and how small actions can produce massive waves of change over a long period of time.
“The running joke is that this isn’t a butterfly show,” Person said. “But it totally is.”
Person said the students are “super motivated” to make it to the state during UIL competition this year. The Boerne band hasn’t made it to state since 2007, and last year they made it to area finals in the 4A division.
As Boerne students practiced basic marching drills in their instrument sections July 25, Person made an example of the trombone section’s incentive and said they were looking” better than they ever have.”
Connor Eddy, a drumline junior in the Boerne marching band, said he believes the team has a good chance of winning state this year.
“We’re making steady progress,” Eddy said. “We got Mr. Miranda; he came from the Blue Devils which was really cool. And this year we have a percussion instructor, which is gonna help us a ton.”
Alec Mirana is the new assistant band director at Boerne.
The Champion band is also energized for the season. Younts said this is the first marching season the band’s show, “Dis’-connect,” will have a fully customized set and design. The show’s theme is about how individuals can connect by disconnecting from technology.
“I’m really excited about the drill,” Parra said.
Friedly, who’s gotten to listen to the show’s music already, said “it sounds amazing.”
As anxious as Boerne and Champion are to compete, they can’t start practicing their shows on the field quite yet. August 1 marks the date that bands in Texas are allowed to start learning drill sets. Before that, band camp rehearsals usually focus on teaching the fundamentals of marching and learning as much show music and as many stand tunes as possible.
Person said that working the band’s rehearsal schedule around the Texas heat can eat into drill-learning time.
“At the expense of that progress, we’re looking at taking care of the kids.”
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