Frisco Bands About To Head Into Another Year

In less than one month, you'll be getting a taste of the fall season in the nation's high schools, as band programs everywhere will have kids in the parking lots and on specially-designed band fields preparing their halftime routines which will be part of their contest shows. Get excited.

And in a place like Frisco, Texas, all nine of the city's high schools will be raring to go. This is a state year for schools in the district (Class 5A does this year, as every other year), and it could become one of the most hotly contested ever. Already, they have had five schools progress through the area semi-finals in past years, and two schools, Centennial and Wakeland, have become regular entries at the state marching contest. Other schools like Frisco High and Liberty were previously named as alternates to go to state, but never actually got to go.

All the anticipation is there this year. Frisco High, Reedy, and Lebanon Trail each have new band directors, and the latter will actually get more attention because of Kelly Wykoff and her track record while at Centennial. While that band won't become Centennial West (at least, not this year, anyway), they should take a step up in difficulty level and they will debut the implementation of the drum major this year. It will be just sophomores and freshmen for the fall season at LTHS. The Reedy situation has occurred late, as director Levi Chavis left the school to assume similar duties at Lake Highlands High School in Richardson, TX. As for numbers, most will enroll at least 200 kids, including a surging Heritage, which had close to that number in their largest showing last fall. They also had their best show, too. Lebanon Trail should be around a whopping (for them) 170 students in just two classes. Frisco High and Independence, a fourth-year school, will likely be the two smallest in the district, with counts of close to 150.

As for the other highlights: Reedy will enroll their first senior class as things get taken up another notch with the third-year band, as the green and blue will create an interesting vibe this coming season. I have no word on who Reedy's new band director will be, but had Chavis stayed, we might have seen the Lions become a big player in the district who could become a threat to go to the state contest. Chavis, while at San Antonio Reagan, was a regular entry at same. Whatever they do going forward will remain to be seen. Wakeland is also expected to be a major player, and they didn't really miss a beat last year in Tanner Smith's first year at the campus. He knows the reputation of the school and understands it, and he knows he will be tested in Wakeland's first state year of the post-Gerry Miller era. Can that group of students pull it off? Also contending, of course, will be Centennial, where Andy Rein has done a tremendous job of keeping the Bill Centera-inspired tradition of excellence alive, both in the jazz and marching bands. While I don't really know what the Titan band's numbers will be like, I expect them to remain around 280 to 300 students, with an exciting drumline and a mature brass sound.

Also back for more excitement is Lone Star, which finally exploded in the last two seasons and now is among the city's largest and best programs, and with a great track record of superior ratings. Liberty is also back, too, but their drumline will be a little smaller than in past years, but, overall, should still be strong in their fall show, entitled, "Dystopia, Utopia". Plenty to look forward to in the weeks ahead.

I'm marking my calendar for the select football games I'll plan to attend. Should be an exciting year in Frisco for some incredible things.