How Do the Judges Arrive at a Score?

The last twenty years or so have seen shift in emphasis in Southern California high school marching bands from parade competition to field competition. As a result of this shift in interest many spectators and participants are unfamiliar with the finer points in SCSBOA parade competition.

To help you better understand the competition, we thought it would be a good idea to describe how the competition area is marked and used, and the associated penalties that can and do occur. Frequently, spectators and participants are surprised that a band didn’t score as well as they thought it should. More often then not, the reason is that the group was penalized for not using the parade area properly or not following a strict set of rules.

The competition area is marked according to the layout below:

The competition area is 450 feet of street defined by the Competition Starts (1) and Competition Ends (2) lines. The band is required to stop at the Competition Starts line prior to entering the competition area. Failure to stop results in a 1.0 penalty. The band then has a brief period of time to finalize its spacing and alignment before step-off.

The head judge will signal to the starter for the drum major to start the band. The drum major has 30 seconds to start the band. If the band is not moving within 30 seconds a 1.0 penalty is deducted from the band score.

Bands must maintain a forward motion of lat least 220 feet per minute. There is a line (3) in the street 220 feet from the start line. This line must be reached 60 seconds after the band starts or a 1.0 penalty is deducted from the band score.

The next line (4) is placed opposite the middle of the judges’ stand, 250 feet from the start line. This is the drum major’s salute line. Ideally, the drum major will hold his salute starting six steps before the line and ending six steps after the line. Deviations from this 6-6 ideal will affect the drum major’s score and the drum major’s portion of the band’s showmanship score.

The next line (5) is placed 325 feet from the Competition Starts line. The drill team must be to or beyond this line when the band passes over the Competition Ends line. Failure to reach this mark will result in a drill team penalty of 3.0 points.

• Failure to turn in copies of the competition music to be used by the music judges (5.0 penalty)
• Failure to play the music straight through without repeating sections (9.0 penalty)
• Failure to continue playing the competition music until the last rank of the band passes the Competition Ends line (3.0 penalty)
• Failure to start playing the competition music before the last rank of the band passes the Competition Starts line (3.0 penalty)
• Failure to play music from the required music list (9.0 penalty)
• Interfering with the following band’s performance (1.0 Penalty)