As the day starts and the weather heats up, Ayala band and colorguard (BAC) get ready to host the 15th annual “Music and Motion” field tournament. 

Every “Music in Motion,” Ayala band has practice before the competition starts. The practice lasts for 3 hours, and time is spent going over the show and doing some last minute adjustments before they compete. 

Whilst the band is practicing, the booster parents (parents who help out BAC) set up the concession stands, which are the areas those participating in the competition can warm up at, as well as the ticket booth.

After practice, the band left the field to go eat lunch, and the lower marching bands arrived and looked for places to warm up. Once lunch ended, they changed into their show shirts and pants and headed over towards the field to watch Don Lugo perform. Throughout their performance, the stands were going wild as the band played their music, hitting their formations and performing their visuals to their highest energy capacity.  Color guard tossed their flags into the air, perfectly in sync with one others.

“Don Lugo’s performance was really captivating,” said Amare King (12), “the way they portrayed school life was great.”

After Don Lugo’s performance, the band had many hours to relax and wait until they had to change into uniform for the lower group awards. This gave them time to relax, and they eased their stress by playing baseball with a swishy ball and a Paw Patrol bat.

“This game was more intense than real baseball,” said Sophia Torres (11). 

While all the kids were in the MPR having fun, over at the stadium many ambulance cars started to arrive at school, due to student performers getting heat strokes. Now when having to be at a place from day to night, the performers needed to eat to keep their energy up. Luckily, the Ayala BAC boosters made burgers, as well as had a variety of snacks and drinks for the Ayala students, so the concerns for more student injuries quickly diminished.

After 6 PM, the performers had to get into hair and makeup. As the sun started to set, the moon came out to signify it was time for the higher group division’s performances. The first group from the 5A division to perform was Chino Hills High School and then Mission Hills High School took the field. As Ayala warmed up, the crowd began to get hyped and cheer each other on.

After Ayala’s performance, all of the performers were talking amongst themselves about how good of a run they did.

“The feeling that I had was unreal, ” said Malia De La Cruz (12). “Surprisingly I’m not as tired but I still did good.”

At the awards ceremony, the Ayala BAC members had to stand on the track watching the awards being handed out. It came down to the 5A division, and Ayala placed 2nd place with a score of 77.225 . In 1st place with a score of 78.025 was Chino Hills High School. It was heartbreaking for some of the Ayala students, but for others they were not displeased because it was only 0.8 of a point away.

Although it was a close score, Ayala BAC still hopes to improve, in order to place in first next season. Overall, whilst “Music in Motion” had its lows, it most certainly was a fun time, both for performers and the audience alike.