Kudos to Barry Saunders for his Sept. 15 column “We’re just here to watch halftime” on forgetting the football game for the marching bands. It is so true not just for colleges but for the high schools in our area.
These dedicated students give of their time just as much as the football players. They practice after school, before school, in the summer and weekends. Marching in a high school band is physically challenging, with having to complete a 12- to 15-minute choreographed routine while playing a musical instrument. Many “star” athletes don’t have the stamina to do that.
And yet these music programs don’t get funding just like athletic programs don’t get the funding needed. Parents have to raise money and pay out of their pockets for their children to participate.
So how many fans are in the stands on Friday night just for the halftime show? If there are 100 people on the field during halftime and on an average 1.5 parents for each person, that is an additional 150 people just for the band!
At $5 per person, that’s $750 the band boosters aren’t getting. I hope athletic boosters are helping the band boosters! These dedicated musical athletes desire it.
David Markle
Fuquay-Varina
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