The West Nassau High School Warrior Band hit a high note in district competition with multiple wins.
The 87-member band took home nine trophies Oct. 15 in Best in Class, Best Drum Majors in Class, Best Percussion in Class, Best Color Guard in Class, Superior Majorette in Class, Superior Band Preliminary, Superior Band, Superior Percussion and Superior Drum Major.
The group traveled to Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Ga., placing seventh overall among 18 bands with music from Fall Out Boy. The Warrior band plays the rock band’s tunes during this season’s Warrior football halftime shows and in competitions.
“It was good,” Warrior Director of Bands Jason Eason said. “It was one of the best competitions I’ve been to.”
In his seventh year, Eason has prepped the band since June for seasonal competition that concludes at November’s end. The band will again perform Nov. 5 at Mandarin High School in the Florida Bandmasters Association competition.
Seventeen schools from Nassau and Duval counties will be evaluated for their respective field shows, Eason said.
Band students Alyson Higginbotham and Dakota Hodges are ready to take on their competitors. They practice with their band mates during the school day for 80 minutes in class. After school they practice two to four hours daily. Each girl also plays clarinet at least an hour a day at home.
After three years with the band, Hodges still gets nervous during competitions.
“It’s not that you’re under pressure,” the high school junior said. “It’s that you have a lot of adrenaline because you’re doing what you love best in the world.”
Higginbotham carries her a strong sense of pride for the Warrior Tribe and her band director as well.
“The band is like your second family,” she said. “He’s like your second dad. He makes sure you’re taken care of.”
As for the many hours of practice on the field and in the band room, Higginbotham believes that each band member should posses certain traits to stay in harmony with others.
“(It takes) a good attitude and a good ethic,” she said. “It’s hard if you don’t want to be here. But if you do, you’ll have the most fun you’ve ever had in your life.”