Amidst all of the hype and glory of the South football team, shrouded beneath the spirit days and fan buses, therein lies an essential, but nearly unspoken of entity of these football games: the Panther Regiment.
The Panther Regiment is South’s marching band and color guard, which perform during halftime at the football games. The marching band, as explained by its name, marches in different formations while playing various instruments. The color guard performs by twirling flags and rifles as well as by dancing.
Being a member of Panther Regiment entails grueling practices comparable in difficulty with those of the football team. For sophomore Aftyn Cappy, a member of the color guard, “pushing through long practices” is the most difficult part of being in the Regiment.
Practice begins in the spring of the previous school year. Prospective members then have to attend an 11 hour per day training camp during the week before school starts. Once the season starts, the marching band practices on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and the color guard has an additional Monday practice..
Aside from the frequent practices, there are several other challenges to being in the Panther Regiment.
“The hardest part is that you have to play your instrument while you’re walking around,” Benjamin Tait, a senior marching band member, said.
Color guard members also face specific challenges, such as “learning how to spin the flag,” according to Cappy.
However, being a member of the Panther Regiment is worth the long practices and challenges in the end.
“I love my team, and we work really well … and I really like throwing flags,” Cappy said.
Along with performing at football games, the Regiment regularly attends competitions across Indiana, which Tait particularly enjoys.
“We get to see a lot of other marching bands, and we get to go on a big, long trips to perform at lots of places,” Tait said.
The Panther Regiment’s season just ended, with its last competition having been the Saturday before last and its final game last Friday.
Cappy plans on continuing color guard throughout high school. Tait, in his final year of Panther Regiment, intends on continuing band and marching band in college. As for adulthood, he plans to play trumpet as a hobby.
“It’s also a fun way to be able to make friends and interact with people,” Tait said.
Despite the regular practices, performances, and competitions in which the Panther Regiment partake, the team can often go unheard of and unrecognized, much to the dismay of Cappy and Tait.
“It seems like the sports get a lot more attention than the band does. I think it’d be good if the marching band had more attention,” Tait said.
Cappy expressed similar sentiment. “I think that we should get a little more attention because we do work very hard,” she said.
