RGV bands gather for annual Pigskin Jubilee

RESULTS

>> Final results of the competitions are available here.

LA JOYA — The stands shook as dozens of screaming fans stomped their feet and cheered for the McAllen Memorial High School band while it prepared for its performance at the La Joya football stadium.

Felisha Rodriguez, 19, stood with a friend as she pointed out the band members she met during her days in the school’s drum line. The college sophomore from San Antonio was visiting the Rio Grande Valley for the weekend and was watching her alma mater’s band perform Saturday in the University Interscholastic League’s Region 15 Pigskin Jubilee.

After the initial cheering, the crowd suddenly sat in dead silence while the band began to play.

Dancers with big, teased hair wore black leotards as they swirled flags and weaved between the young musicians who marched in unison across the grassy field.

Margaret Perez cheered eagerly for her daughter Anyssa, a trumpet player who performed two solos during the presentation.

“She’s been doing this since middle school,” the mother said. “She’s always practicing.”

Now in its 67th year, the Pigskin Jubilee was spearheaded by a school superintendent from Mission in 1940. Each year, UIL representatives rank Valley high school bands on a performance scale from 1 to 5 as they compete for the chance to advance to other contests, including at the state level.

UIL Regions 15 and 28 fall within the Valley, and each holds its own Pigskin Jubilee competition. Region 15 stretches from Roma to Alamo and Region 28 stretches from Donna to Brownsville.

At the Region 28 meet in Donna, the Santa Rosa High School band members were dressed as 1930s gangsters as they performed “The Untouchables” and “Music from the Godfather Chronicles.”

Drum major Marcos Ovalle, clad in a double-breasted suit and fedora, stepped up the pace as musicians and drill team members performed complicated maneuvers at Bennie La Prade Stadium.

With about 500 students in the school, Santa Rosa manages to put a 120-member band on the field by drawing on seventh-graders through seniors, said band booster Norma Ovalle, Marcos’ mother.

“They’re all in junior high,” she said, gesturing to a group of band members near the bleachers.

“We’re a 2-A school, so that’s what it takes for us to have our big band and a big sound,” she said. “These little guys, they really push themselves.”

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Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428. Allen Essex is a reporter for the Valley Morning Star.