Music, madness and making memories: The Sound of Pride competes at BOA regional

BY VICTORIA MARTIN

The cheers begin to dissipate and any movement on the field ceases to exist. The announcer’s voice fills the empty air, and the band begins. 

On October 12, the Sound of Pride (SOP) band program performed at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida at the Bands of America (BOA) competition. The program received 13th place within their category and 18th overall for preliminary competition. The overall score was based on a total of 21 programs that also attended this competition. 

Due to the band program getting 18th place, they did not perform in finals that night. Finals consisted of the top 10 overall teams from the preliminary round. 

“Our placement this year has made me feel that we have to push ourselves to make finals the next time around,” sophomore color guard member Emma Ruotolo said. 

“Our show this year is a lot different than any other show we had before.”

The SOP has been working on their show since the beginning of June 2019. The show took over four months to complete. 

“Every single member has pushed through every obstacle thrown their way and they persevered in the end,” drum major Samantha Sigal said.

The band’s show is entitled “Journey Through the Storm.” The show is about a journey over the sea in which the band encounters a storm. The show consists of the before, during and after of the storm, shown through the separate musical movements.

“Our show this year is a lot different than any other show we had before,” Color Guard Equipment Manager Julia Christian said. “The show itself does not have fun vibes like last year, but this show took us further due to its sophistication.”

This competition was unlike any the band has competed in before. SOP normally competes in local competitions against other South Florida marching bands. BOA is a nationwide competition and is judged differently. BOA contains different sets of regional dates and then has a final competition which any band from around the country can attend.

“BOA was our opportunity to show the band world what the Cooper City Sound of Pride is made of.” 

BOA can be considered one of the more important competitions during marching band season. Even though BOA is one of the largest and most important competitions, the marching season for SOP is not yet over. On Saturday, October 19, SOP will perform in their final competition.

“Overall, we wanted to grow as an organization and as individuals,” Sigal said. “BOA was our opportunity to show the band world what the Cooper City Sound of Pride is made of.”

The SOP program has competed at BOA previously, so this competition wasn’t new to the program. SOP appears to be looking forward to next year’s trip and the experience they will have.

“Our experience at BOA taught us valuable lessons that we will take with us and use to better ourselves in the future,” Sigal said.

Photo courtesy of CCHS Color Guard