Palm Beach Central’s Bronco Band Brings Home The State Championship

Palm Beach Central’s Bronco Band  Brings Home The State Championship

The Palm Beach Central High School marching band triumphed over the competition to claim the state championship crown for the 2016-17 school year.

The Bronco band won the Class 3A crown at the Florida Marching Band Championships (FMBC) for the first time in school history last November at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Palm Beach Central earned first place with a score of 87 points, pushing past Miami Coral Park High School, which took second with 85.45 points.

“I could tell early on in the summer that the group was special,” said James Yaques, director of bands at Palm Beach Central since 2005. “We were really happy with our show design, and the band was taking the product and bringing it to life.”

The Broncos bounced back from an off-year in which the band missed finishing in the top five for the first time in four years. In 2015, heavy rains moved the semifinal competition indoors and the bands performed at a standstill — which hurt the Broncos.

“Our show is most effective with the music and visual together,” Yaques said. “With half of the component taken out, we just missed the finals. Based on results from prior events in the season, if the semifinals would have not been rained out, we probably would have finished second or third. I think missing finals [last year] without the opportunity to perform their full show really hurt the kids. It may have been a motivator to be even better.”

Bronco band performances throughout the 2016-17 season were impressive, finishing first in the semifinals, in addition to winning a regional competition at Jupiter High School and placing second at a regional competition at Park Vista High School.

The championship-winning show was performed to the music of Sleeping Beauty. This upcoming year’s show will be based on the fictional character Poison Ivy, one of Batman’s many enemies. The repertoire changes every year.

Emma Pitot, a rising senior, has been a member of the marching band since her freshman year. Pitot plays the alto saxophone and will be the section leader for the second year in a row, as well as having added responsibilities as band captain.

“Our biggest challenge is keeping everybody motivated,” she said, with a current focus on leading the team to a repeat championship. “We have to do the small things to get to the big picture, which is winning states. My job is to help lead, but it’s a team effort.”

Pitot’s teammates are proud of their most recent accomplishment and have high hopes for the future.

“It’s harder to maintain than to win,” said Madison Pompos, who is entering her junior year. “We have to work twice as hard. Last year we had motivation; this year we have to fight to get that feeling again.”

Pompos, who has been in the band since she was a freshman, was one of 12 saxophonists in the 105-member state champion marching band. She has been elevated to the important role of drum major for the upcoming year.

The Broncos have spent much of the summer learning new steps and formations because they perform a different show every year, Yaques said. Each show runs approximately 10 minutes.

Motorists on Forest Hill Blvd. can often catch a glimpse of the band practicing in the Palm Beach Central parking lot on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m. during the school year.

“That’s our main practice field,” Yaques said. “We sometimes practice in the [football] stadium so the students get used to the feel of grass as opposed to asphalt.”

Yaques has brought the Broncos to statewide prominence with a culture of excellence. The Florida State University music graduate served for four years as the principal tuba player for the Second Marine Division band in the prestigious United States Marine Corps Band. He also holds a master’s degree in music conducting from Florida International University.

The band season begins in July and runs through November, with the semifinals and finals for the upcoming school year set for Nov. 18. There were several preseason practices in May and June to get the incoming ninth-graders familiar with the high school band.

The entire group learns the basic steps during the summer practices, and the band practices simultaneously for football games and band competitions. Often, they perform at football games on Friday night and head to competitions on Saturdays to hone their skills.

The well-respected Broncos have been regular contenders for the state title most of the last decade. The marching band is a two-time silver medalist (2014 and 2012) and also reached the Class 3A state finals (top five) four other years (2013, 2010, 2009 and 2008).

Yaques, who directs all the bands at Palm Beach Central, is very proud of the marching band’s accomplishments.

“Winning states is certainly the top goal for the marching band,” he said. “We didn’t do anything differently. The students were really driven and worked really hard.”

The 2016-17 championship marching band consisted of flutes (6), clarinets (8), saxophones (12), trumpets (10), mellophones (5), baritones (10), tubas (5), percussion (16), color guard (32) and one drum major.

This upcoming year’s band will have about 20 new members, Yaques said, making the summer practices an integral part of the season, similar to spring practice for football teams.

“I think it is going to be tougher to repeat,” Yaques said. “Keeping the same kind of focus we had last year will be tough. But we are reminding our students that we will have to be better this year to do it again.”

Pompos recalls with pride the band’s big triumphant moment.

“You realize how much our hard work paid off,” said Pompos, who plans to major in criminal justice while playing in the band at either the University of Cincinnati or Florida State University. “We were overjoyed by the experience. I started crying, everyone was jumping, crying, screaming and taking photos. Every single moment was worth it.”

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