What’s your favorite part of football games? For many people, it’s the actual game, but for so many others it’s the loud, upbeat band to better animate the touchdowns and throws. This same band has been bringing music and excitement to countless, otherwise “soundtrack-less”, events. Few people know that the San Dimas Royale Corp also plays for basketball games. Or they did until it was decided to be shut down. The 2023-24 school year will be the very last time that San Dimas High School Basketball, girl and boy teams, will get the same luxury as Football, the band that has been performing for the basketball crowd, for years up till now.
Back in 2020, COVID hit the world exceptionally hard, some harder than others, and all of our lives got flipped upside down. One of the things that got messed up the most was our school lives and more specifically, sports. Basketball season was moved towards the winter, and that took an entire chunk out of many people’s schedules, people in basketball and people not, and events had to be moved.
Marching Band is a fall sport and this change for basketball didn’t affect it becuase they didn’t overlap. But when given such little time to prepare for games, the Basketball Band couldn’t keep up.
Co-Band Director Daniel Sandt, who has been organizing parts of the SDHS band for close to a decade now, said, “We finish marching band and get back in the beginning of December to start rehearsal, and we’re not ready to perform.”
The Royale Corp performs at many events, school, and non-school-related, and San Dimas is very grateful for this. But it also means that much time is needed to be put in by staff, students, and even parents, to achieve such quality given to us; from pep rallies to concerts. Everyone involved with the band practically lives there, and in order to ensure more time off for work and relaxing, a few sacrifices had to be made and they cut their losses. Ball-Band included.
Previous drum major and current student leader of Ball-Band, which is a primarily student-governed group, Ayanna Garcia, talked about her experiences with working in the band during her high school career. “Last year was my first year, and Senior year’s my last year so I got to make it count. I’m gonna miss it because it’s really fun to play alternate rock music outside of concert and marching band.”
For a brighter, more rock band feel, the band for Basketball consisted of high-wind instruments, several guitarists, a pianist, a drummer, and music recognizable from pop and rock bands, like Black Sabbath, or ABBA. Band Kids participating mainly liked it becuase of the “cool music”, and getting to play things with their friends that they wouldn’t normally do in concerts or marching band, not necessarily the performing at the games themselves.
Ball-Band may be missed, but we can only look forward to what the band will do next, now with extra time to practice and relax. Everyone, student and non-student alike, will still get to hear the same amazing and talented kids play at football games and concerts, maybe if they’re lucky, even the same Ball-Band music at SD Rocks.
