On Saturday October 8th, the PCN band hosted an OBA  (Oklahoma Bandmasters Association) contest. There were 20 small school bands that came out to compete. The band director, Joseph Craven, and the PCN band got many compliments from t people that came out to watch.

OBA is one of the largest marching band competitions in the state of Oklahoma in which bands compete and perform for a panel of judges. There are various locations and dates for OBA in accordance to the size of the bands. The bands that PCN hosted were 1A, 2A, and 3A bands— which are considered small sized bands.

“With our new stadium completed in 2019 and Covid restrictions being lifted, we were excited to have the opportunity to host 20 1A-3A bands at North,” Craven said. Hosting an OBA competition was a new thing for North. “This is actually the first year PCN has hosted an OBA competition,” senior Danasia Mitchell said.

Planning a contest as big as OBA doesn’t just take a week to prepare.  “We began planning for the contest during the summer. We formed an OBA committee and met monthly to plan all the details, including the layout of contest, where bands would stay for the day, where they would warm up, how medical and water locations would be run, how they would travel to the performance stadium, spectator parking logistics, and so much more,” Craven said.

The band got a lot of compliments from directors and students about how well it was hosted. It was a unique experience for the band members. “It was really fun, I’ve never hosted a contest, so this was my first experience, and I would do it again,” junior Trinity Smith said. Some people even wanted a request for them to host another one next year.

Although it went well, everything came with a challenge, “We had done plenty of planning ahead, but with 32 performances throughout the entire day, every band had unique and individual needs that we were required to meet,” Craven said. There was a lot of pressure going forward with hosting a competition. “OBA is the state championship for these schools, and we wanted to make sure that they could end their competitive season and celebrate their hard work with the best possible experience,” Craven said.