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I just want to say that the idea of an “Invitational” is only a name. The schools still pay to go and perform at these competitions. They should be allowed to do whatever is necessary for their students to have the best experience possible. If that means having their own announcements, then let them be. You have no idea how hard it is for these students to go out there and perform at a very high demand, both mentally and physically! Let alone the fact that some of these schools do already know the outcome in their classes at these competitions and they still go out there and perform to the best of their ability. Don’t mean to be rude and go against the grain on this but at the heart of the issue is that this about the students education and experience.

Some stats: Marian Catholic: 45 consecutive class championships, 45 finals appearances Morton: 20 consecutive class championships, 20 finals appearances Romeoville: 1st class championship, 3rd appearance in finals Plainfield North: 1st class championship, 10th finals appearance O'Fallon Township: 1st overall championship, 3rd class championship, 10th finals appearance Illinois Valley Central: 11th class championship, 16th finals appearance Galesburg: 7th finals appearance Collinsville: 3rd finals appearance Lemont: 14th finals appearance Plainfield Central: 3rd finals appearance Oswego: 2nd finals appearance Victor J. Andrew: 26th finals appearance Bloomington: 9th finals appearance Prospect: 21st finals appearance Normal: 5th finals appearance

I know the demand side of it, I am not very far removed from my tenure in marching band. My band was highly rooted in tradition, so I may sound old school on this matter, but those around me have also expressed a similar sentiment. Is it our band culture breeding it? Probably, yeah. Sure it works for the state of modern marching band. But I don't exactly agree that forcing members to pay extremely high costs for top of the line equipment, props, and uniforms is conducive for the best educational experience possible, which the modern marching band culture (and DCI) has bred. My point is the esthetic aspect should come second to helping as many kids as possible to be quality musicians and learning the discipline and hard work needed for marching band. No doubt some of the most skilled players are being blocked from the activity due to fees. That being said, my band certainly was competitive, and that was certainly a driving force of the program, but we brought that about by our musical abilities and personal performance above all else. We may have been stuck in the past, but I'm proud I was in a band like that. Sorry for the tangent, I just felt like the issue was relevant and needed mentioned.

Surely we wouldn't sacrifice education or artistry for recognition?

School size is the way to do it, otherwise schools would cut kids to get into a different class size.

There is a method to the madness. Most schools I know that do it have their PA announcer or a band dad with a great voice do it, (so no AI.) They also want consistency for their performers. If they have a preshow that rolls into their program, or want their show to begin with a big hit that aligns with the BOA announcement timing, then why chance it that your local announcer stumbles through "Rach-man-i-noff" or butchers your poor drum majors name? (Don't even get me started on what was going on at Wheeling's show this year.) As far as the aspect's of the "invitational" go, the announcement from the press box is one of the least important.

I'm in the central Illinois area, and there are a couple bands that do it, but not too many. I, and everyone I've talked to, hate it when bands self announce. It's called an invitational for a reason, a band is invited to compete when the announcers say they can. We think announcing oneself is pretty rude, especially when they don't seem to wait for the okay.