It would have been easy to just stay in bed.
The Oxford High School Marching Band had no obligation to practice during Christmas vacation. Band members could have relaxed at home with family like their fellow students. Instead, the band, 155 strong, has braved muggy weather during the break to hammer out drills on a wet, sloppy practice field.
That's because a trip to the BCS national championship is hard to pass up.
Tuesday was one of those days, finding the band in practice for its participation in the pre-game show at the 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans. While there, Oxford will compete against nine bands from across the country in BCS championship marching band competition.
The winner will not only perform in the pregame show outside the Superdome but will also get to help set up the field for pregame activities. There will also be a mass performance of all the bands during part of the halftime show in which they will play a montage of music representing the culture of New Orleans.
The Oxford band has been preparing for weeks and will practice more next month before leaving for New Orleans on Jan. 6.
As was the case Tuesday, none of the practice days in the past few weeks has been easy.
“God said rain for all of these practices,” drum major Allen Pennington said with a laugh.
But despite the bad weather, the band has stuck with it, said band director Chris Pennington.
“I think the commitment level of the ensemble here speaks for itself,” he said. “You see very few students who come on Christmas break and practice five hours a day. I’m very proud of the students dedicating their time and effort to make this happen.”
To Collin Robinson, trumpet section leader and a sophomore, dedication of the band is about more than just getting to visit New Orleans.
“It’s all to better ourselves and what we do,” Robinson said.
The band first learned it had been selected for the BCS competition in April.
“I was excited,” said Jaime Preston, captain of the dance line. “I love football.”
Chris Pennington said bands are chosen for the competition based on how they fared at other competitions.
“They want to know if you are able to maintain and organize a group and able to maintain discipline in a group,” he said.
The band’s show will consist of music it performed during its halftime show during this football season, including “House of the Rising Sun” and “Satisfaction.” However, the marching drill for the competition will be completely new.
Allen Pennington said the new drill is more difficult than what the band usually performs.
“The first drill was more symmetrical,” he said. “The new drill is more abstract and asymmetrical.”
Preston said the dance line, called the Golden Girls, has had its own challenges. She said the dance line would be doing a separate performance with a large group of other dancers in New Orleans. The Golden Girls have for weeks been practicing choreography they received on a video over the Internet.
“The thing about this, is this style of dance is something that most of the girls have never done before and I’ve never done before,” Preston said.
The choreography includes aspects of hip-hop, krumping and other highly visual upper-body movements.
Chris Pennington said his band is made up of a special group of close, dedicated students. However, he added, the band would not be taking the trip were it not for his support staff.
“I have a fantastic staff without which none of this would have been possible,” he said.
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