It is really interesting how much run the University of Arizona Marching Band has gotten this week, or the Wildcat Marching Band as it was called in 1967.It is great that current Pride of Arizona members are proud of that piece of their history.
The 1967 Wildcat Marching Band was invited to perform at halftime of the first Super Bowl. Jack Lee was the director,and they were a cutting edge band, very deserving of the honor of performing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.He brought Big 10 High Step and innovative,moving picture, halftime shows to Arizona,and everyone knows the story of him writing,Bear Down, on the flight back to Ohio, after his interview for the job.
Now is the time to return the Pride of Arizona back to national prominence!The Athletics Department needs to take a lead role in hiring the next band director. This position is unique in its demands,and can only really be compared to the Head Football Coach or Director of Athletics, as far as the wide range of skills necessary.
The person in charge of the athletics band has to hire a staff with the technical skills to arrange and teach music, and design and teach drill. Just dealing with performance,two associate directors would not be too many. It would probably take several teaching assistants also.The band would also command an extremely large budget. Management, equipment, logistics,code of conduct are things that can be handled by student infrastructure, mostly part time paid positions especially college work study. The accounting system would have to be air tight because it would consist of several different revenue sources.Relations with band alumni, band parents, and high school band directors are also important.Development ,fund raising, is possibly the most important aspect of the modern marching band.
Now is the time! The university has upgraded the Athletics Department in unprecedented fashion, across the board.This final piece can energize the fan base, create more solid home field advantages, and sell more tickets. This university is in a unique position in this conference ,because of the size of this community, to galvanize support for its teams.Now is the time!
