The Puma Regiment has been performing during half-time shows and at competitions since September, but on Nov. 13 they had their biggest performance at the Arizona Marching Band Association (AZMBA) Championship. The championship is the biggest competition of the year, with it being the final competition and having every band in the division perform, and the band has been preparing for it all year. 

One skill the band has been working on all season is their formations. “Our biggest weakness in competition is uniformity of marching technique. It’s hard getting everybody doing the exact same thing all the time,” said band director Brandon Keisgen. The band earns points based on uniformity while marching, so that has been one of their main goals to work towards while practicing. 

While practicing this past week, “[The band has] been working on visuals a lot, like getting them more unified and making our forms more clear…” said senior drum major Megan Mansfield. As well as working on uniformity at practice, they have also been working on their musicality, which is the expressions done with the music. Senior drum major Clare Hale said “We have been working on putting more expression into the music rather than just playing what is on the page”, the goal with musicality is making certain songs sound like they are being sung. 

Even though the band has a weak spot when it comes to uniformity, they have great teamwork to help work through their weaknesses. “I think we are really close to each other, we are all friends which I think really helps bring everyone up to the standard that we want,” said senior saxophone player Tanner Shell. Communicating while on the field is key while playing so that if someone makes a mistake, together they can fix it without anyone getting injured. 

This season they have faced some challenges having a lot of new underclassmen in the band this year. But despite this heading into championship, the band is in third place for their division.“I think it is going to go pretty well. It’s pretty competitive. It’s hard to say what type of placement we are going to get… [it] could change depending on how much work everyone has been doing this week and what the judges see that day, and the kind of performance we are going to have on that day,” said Keisgen. 

Shell is also confident in their upcoming performance. “I think it is going to go really well. I think it will be one of our best performances of the season, and I am really excited,” said Shell.

At the championship on Nov. 13, they got 4th and got their highest score in Perry history of a 82.825.