Football season is just days away on the high school circuit, and I for one am excited for another great season ahead.

This will be my first time participating in football season as a journalist, as I will be a part of the great team at CovNews Sports, led by our sports editor Garrett Pitts.

But as we enter another football season, I’d be remiss if we didn’t discuss halftime.

For some people, this means going to the concession stands to grab a hot dog and a drink or waiting in a miles-long line to go to the bathroom. If that suits you best, then whatever.

However, that’s not for me. Halftime is all about watching the marching bands that work so hard to put on a show.

Year after year these bands put in months of work to put on the best performance possible to entertain the crowds in the stands. Many of these same bands also use these halftime performances to prepare for competitions against other bands across the state.

How do I know all of this? Because I was a band kid myself.

I was in marching band for five years at my alma mater Jasper County High School (8th graders were allowed to join marching band hence the extra year). My first year was spent playing trombone before I transitioned to percussion where I was on drumline for three years and played drum set in the front ensemble my senior year.

At my school we would have a band camp in late July to early August each year that would last anywhere from two to three weeks. Majority of those mornings were spent in the midsummer Georgia heat, which was still unbearable back then as it is right now. A typical morning would involve going through warmups and drill – better known as formation/placement – for the halftime show for around three hours.

If the daunting heat and mental focus of learning drill wasn’t enough, I also had to learn to carry a bass drum my freshman season. Those bass drums usually weigh 30-40 pounds, which was around one-third of my bodyweight at the time.

Can you imagine a 14-year-old, barely 100lb me trying to go through band camp like that? I still don’t know how I did it.

Afternoons were spent learning the music for the show and memorizing – yes memorizing – it within a short timeframe. This is where I’m fortunate to have a good memory and a decent musical IQ, but it still is mentally exhausting after weeks in the hot sun.

No, marching band isn’t as physically strenuous as football. It probably isn’t as mentally draining either. But you know what it is? A testament of hard work and dedication for the many students involved in it.

I shared a little about my experience with marching band in Jasper County, but Newton County is oh-so-lucky for the amount of talented bands that are in town.

For starters, I can personally attest to the machine that is the Alcovy band program. Led by Brian Coates – Alcovy’s 2024 teacher of the year – the Alcovy band program is one of the best constructed programs in the state of Georgia and is a must-see band. The direction that Coates has that band in is inspiring to witness.

I also have personal experience with Social Circle’s band, as I played on the opposite side of them all five years of my band career. They always put out a solid product on the field and are not to be taken lightly in competitions across the state.

I have not had the chance to see Newton or Eastside’s bands, but I am looking forward to getting the chance to do so. I’ve heard nothing but great things and I expect to see that at some point this season.

I hope many of you attending games at Sharp Stadium, Redskin Stadium or any other high school stadium this year pay attention to the bands this year. They have worked hard for the stage they are given and deserve the crowd’s respect.

Evan Newton is the news editor at The Covington News and a former Marching Hurricane. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.