On taking the field

THEY PRACTICE in the awful Arkansas summer heat, starting weeks before school begins. Waking up early to get some time on the football field before heat stroke becomes a real danger. Their coaches work them hard. They come home dripping sweat, their clothes soaked through. But the kids can’t take the field on Friday nights without first learning the X’s and O’s.

Even at their young age, this is hard work, tiring work—work that makes them ache when they get home. And eat like horses. After all, they’re burning off a lot of calories out there. Combine that with their high school metabolisms, and supper can’t come fast enough. Then sweet sleep. Until the alarm goes off for another morning of practice in the heat.

Now that fall has arrived, all that work has paid off.

They took the field the other night at North Little Rock High School, and proud parents watched from the stands. They scored a 1. And were thrilled. For that’s the best score a marching band can get.

Bands from all around central Arkansas competed at the brand-new North Little Rock High field on Tuesday night. (Which, by the way, looks fantastic.) And what entertainment! We sat amazed. Just how much time and practice did it take to nail that performance?

All that sweat. All those early mornings. All that practice and all those blisters and all that marching. A flute player tells of having to hold a pencil in her instrument during the summer to make sure she kept the flute horizontal. If a pencil fell out while marching, it meant pushups.

Tremendous job, ladies and gentlemen. Consider this another lesson from high school: A lot of work goes into the best performances.