2016 Bands of America Grand National Championships, presented by Yamaha

2016 BOA Grand National Finalist Feature: Ronald Reagan H.S.

Learn what true dedication looks like in the form of the Ronald Reagan High School band from San Antonio, Texas, and its run to BOA Grand National Finals.

Dec 19, 2016 by Michael Gilley

2016 BOA Grand National Finalist Feature: Ronald Reagan H.S.

As the 2017 Bands of America season is approaching, we take a look back at the bands who made it all the way to the 2016 Grand National Finals.

The word dedicated is defined as being "devoted to a cause, ideal, or purpose." For the members of the Ronald Reagan High School marching band from San Antonio, Texas, this term comes with the territory of marching.

Following summer band in the brutal Texas heat, a season of rehearsals, football game performances, and Bands of America Regionals, Reagan went through one of the most difficult stretches of performances ever seen ahead of Grand Nationals in Indianapolis. Check out the final nine days of the band's 2016 season in early November:

Friday -- Bands of America Super Regional Prelims (San Antonio)
Saturday -- Bands of America Super Regional Finals (San Antonio)
Tuesday -- UIL Texas State Marching Contest Prelims (San Antonio)
Wednesday -- UIL Texas State Marching Contest Finals (San Antonio)
Friday -- Bands of America Grand Nationals Prelims (Indianapolis)
Saturday -- Bands of America Grand Nationals Semifinals (Indianapolis)
Saturday -- Bands of America Grand Nationals Finals (Indianapolis)

"The kids have woken up before 5 AM every day for the last five days in a row," RHS director Dan Morrison said at BOA Grand Nationals. "And if you watched their performance, I don't think you'd ever guess that."

For the members of the band, the staff, volunteers, and parents of Ronald Reagan, the daunting schedule was just another week for people who are committed to the marching arts.

But like all good things, there was an ending. Reagan saw its season finish with another appearance in the finals at BOA Grand Nationals.

"You do it a million times," Morrison said in the tunnel before his band's finals run. "And then it's just done."

That's how the marching arts goes. It's a sudden and abrupt ending for a large group of people who have dedicated themselves so completely to a six-minute production.

But what's left is a host of amazing young performers who are prepared to rededicate themselves to the next chapter in their lives. And they already know the true meaning of dedication -- because they lived it. For the Ronald Reagan band members, they loved it as well.

UPCOMING 2017 BOA EVENTS:

BOA Houston Regional
BOA San Antonio Super Regional

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