On November 22nd, South Broward High School’s marching band took the field at the Kia Center in Orlando to perform in the 2025 Florida Classics Battle of the Bands half-time show, a 46-year-old tradition. The event is part of the last regular season game between Bethune-Cookman University and Florida A&M University, two famous historically Black colleges in Florida, who battle it out for the title for the last game of the regular football season.
Every year since 1925 (except 2020 due to Covid-19) the colleges invite high school bands from around the country to strut their stuff in a celebration of marching, music and dance. This year, SBHS was among the seven high school marching bands invited to participate. It was the first time in the school’s history.
The highly competitive lineup included schools from across the country including Heritage High School (Palm Bay, FL), Ocoee High School (Ocoee, FL), South Cobb High School (Austell, GA), Sunset High School (Dallas, TX), Wekiva High School (Apopka, Fl), Wilson High School (Florence, SC) and SBHS.
For months, the Marching Bulldogs practiced to perfect their program. The opportunity was more than just a performance, it was a stamp and proof of how much the band has grown.
“For us to be elected in the first year meant that they believed in us, my reaction was through the roof when I found out that we made it,” said Mr. Elias, SBHS’s newest band director.
Uma Ghiliazza, 16, is a sophomore at SBHS who plays the tenor for the band and says that the opportunity to be part of this showcase for the first time ever was both exciting and very nerve-racking.
“I was excited, but also nervous,” Ghiliazza said. “I didn’t think that I was ready for that because it’s very different from performing at school”.
After all the rehearsals she was ready.
“Once we were done practicing, I felt like we were good enough to perform what we had prepared.” she said.
One piece of advice she stuck with was “Just don’t look at the audience. Focus on your instrument instead of getting nervous,” Ghiliazza said.
She described the experience in one word, “Exciting,” especially because it marked the first time SBHS has ever performed at the Florida Classics. Watching other bands perform also pushed her to do better.
“They showed that we have to put in more effort so we can be on their level,” she said.
The marching Bulldogs performed “Spain” by Chick Chorea, “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth Wind & Fire, “Illegal” by PinkPantheress “Straight Ahead” (A Marching Cadence), “Superbass” by Nicki Minaj, “Hot in here ” by Nelly and, “Let Me Know” by Tamar Braxton.
Sophia Gonzalez ,18, is a junior at SBHS who has been playing drums since the 3rd grade and is now playing the cymbals for the band.
One of the biggest challenges was that the Bulldogs had to learn how to dance with their instruments, which is what the college marching bands in HBCU’s are famous for.
“Adding a dance part was really fun and looked really well but it was really exhausting especially with the instrument being so heavy and putting a lot of weight on your back,” said Gonzalez.
Most of the Bulldogs felt honored to take the field, but seeing how good the college marching bands were, they were a bit overwhelmed.
“We didn’t do as well as we could’ve done but not because we didn’t put in the effort but, because of our circumstances. This is our first year we’re doing something like this, I think we could’ve done a lot more but also we had Mr. Elias out there and he was a drum major when he was in college,” said Gabriella Syken, marching drum major.
The Bulldogs left Orlando proud of their first appearance and motivated to grow. With a year of experience now behind them, they’re already preparing to return stronger and earn their spot again next season.
