The South Hills Marching band had their very first competition of the season on October 8, 2022  at Downey High School, competing against many other schools in the area. For many new huskies in band this will be their first competition season since joining marching band while for others this may be their last. 

“We’re placed in divisions by the size of our band. We won what’s called the sweepstakes award, they give out a trophy which is the highest scoring overall in the band,” band director Michael Wooten said.

Wooten shared what level of preparation goes into the competition days. 

“They’ll be here at 10 in the morning and we practice for 10 to 1 ish. Then we take a break typically for two hours, where we eat, load the truck, get the uniforms and props. It’s an all day thing they probably get here at 10am and don’t get back until 10pm. It’s a big day,” Wooten said.

Freshman Samantha Szucs has been playing in band since middle school and was inspired to continue due to her love of music. Szucs shared her experience after her first competition with the marching band.

“It was a fun experience, but when we got close to performing, I started getting nervous, because it was my first competition. Then after I felt like we did good. So it was fun, then we won sweepstakes which kind of boosted the level of fun a little bit,”  Szucs said.

Senior Philip Guzman, has been in the marching band all throughout his high school years. Guzman reflects back to when he started the marching band as a freshmen, and how his perspective has changed over the years.

“I feel like I have a lot more responsibilities, with leadership and making sure I stay on top of my music,” Guzman said.

Since this will be Guzman’s last year in the high school marching band, he shared advice that he would give to anyone that may be interested in joining the marching band.

“I would say, make sure to be on top of your stuff and remember to just have fun,” Guzman said.