From Staff Reports
Just over a week ago, members of Del Rio High School’s Mighty Ram Band were treated to a hero’s welcome as they were feted for becoming the first band in the history of the school to reach state.
Imagine the welcome if they earn the title of the best marching band in the state Tuesday.
For the first time in the city’s history, Del Rio High School’s Mighty Ram Band will be competing for the Class 6A State Marching Band Championship. They and 17 other schools will take to the field at San Antonio’s Alamodome for a grueling competition where every note, every step can make a difference.
“This is something that has never ever been done before by a Del Rio band, so it’s really special,” said Ricardo Rios, Del Rio High School band director.
The band earned its place at state by finishing second in its region during competition Dec. 5 at Judson High School. That put them among Texas’ top 18 marching bands and sent them into unchartered waters.
That day at Judson started like any other competition day for the 110-member musical force of nature. It ended with a state bid.
“We warmed up just to get everybody going. It’s like athletes having to stretch out; it’s the same for band members. We have to go through the warm-ups,” said Rios, who noted the band met at 6:45 a.m. for a day that wouldn’t end until well after seven that night.
The band members and eight teachers boarded five charter busses and headed 169 miles to Judson High School on the northside of San Antonio. Just getting to Judson was an accomplishment as the band earned first place at a competition just a few weeks earlier to qualify for that Dec. 5 competition.
The quest to state is never easy. It only happens every two years, so some members of the band may never get the chance to make it. As if that pressure wasn’t enough for the band, which begins working on its performance in the spring and perfects it on the blazing asphalt of the outdoor basketball courts near the parking lot at Walter Levermann Ram Stadium during the summer, this year the band had another obstacle standing in its way – a global pandemic.
Practice was slated to start July 15, but school officials paused all activities until Sept. 21. So once they started, they were in effect two months behind those districts that never paused.
It would have been easy to write off this season due to COVID-19, as students opted out of a variety of programs out of safety concerns. Band was no exception, but Rios, his fellow instructors and those kids who wanted to compete were ready to make it work.
“We wanted to be some of those schools who competed. We decided we were going to go on as planned,” said Rios. “We did a lot of Zoom instruction and worked with the students on what they had to do. We sent out a survey and we had about 60 kids who said they’d do it.”
“Every student that wanted to be in the marching band, we put them in and everyone worked really hard and got to experience this,” Rios added. “There were no benchwarmers, everybody was out there. The stars just aligned, and everything we did just worked. Some schools were able to have a summer band and we still beat them.”
Tuesday, they are pulling out all the stops. They’ll have five minutes to set up and then two minutes to clear the field. They are going to play a medley called “Dia de los Muertos,” consisting of “Fiesta Mexicana,” “Midnight” by Coldplay and “Heroes Lost and Fallen.”
While Rios is now known as the first band director to take a Del Rio band to state, he’s quick to point out it’s not a one-man show.
“The kids have worked so hard,” he said. “The directors – Aldo Morales, Sydney Bonnell, Jesse Brijalba, Andrew Basler, Daniel White, Eric Medina and Brenden Dolehanty. Then, our color guard, Monica Sandoval and the dance company leader Diana Rodriguez … they all worked hard to develop this band and made it work.”
