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The Judge's Box |
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Question: Why did KMEA change the
classification from band size to school size? It just seems unfair
that a band of less than 50 members has to compete against a band
with more than 200. |
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Answer:
Since I don’t know all of the “inner workings” of KMEA or the
Marching Band Committee, I can’t give you a fully detailed answer.
However, I do know there was quite a bit of concern a few years back
that the overall sizes of bands seemed to be continuing to decline
from year to year and that some directors were possibly “limiting”
the number of participants simply to remain in a lower class. All
you had to do was to look at the program at the state contest – was
it a coincidence that each of those 16 AA bands had EXACTLY 60
playing members each year? In addition, the proportion of Class A
bands vs. the balance of the classes was huge (something like 80% I
believe). By making the change to school size, the thought process
was to encourage more participation and that the playing field would
be a bit more level since similar sized schools would have similar
sized enrollments from which to select their membership. Of note,
Indiana has done it this way for years and there are very few
complaints. In fact, one of the smallest bands this year ended up 5th
in their class at the state championship, placing ahead of groups
two and three times their size. Within some bands, you’ve already
seen some noticeable growth in membership (Madison Central, Adair
County, Dixie Heights, and Ryle immediately come to mind). Judges,
however, should always be evaluating the QUALITY of the band
vs. the QUANTITY. Is the system perfect yet? No – but in my
opinion this was a step in the right direction for the long term
growth of music programs. |
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