Gateway to host marching band championships at Antimarino Stadium

Gateway High School will host the 2021 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association (PIMBA) championships on Oct. 23 at Antimarino Stadium.

The event will be held after PIMBA’s competitive season was canceled in 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic. Gateway was the host site for the most recent championships in 2019, which was shortened due to inclement weather.

“The championships typically rotate year to year between member schools of PIMBA,” said Jim Hoeltje, Gateway’s director of bands. “2020, PIMBA didn’t have a season. As we planned the 2021 season, the member directors, we have a meeting over the summer where we choose who’s going to host shows and locations for those shows, and member directors vote on locations to hold them. Whoever is interested, all the member directors vote on which school they’d like to hold the championships. This year it was Gateway. We have a nice facility for it. We have enough room.”

Seventeen bands will perform after the championships begin at 4 p.m. and is expected to conclude around 9. Admission will be $15 for adults and $5 for students.

PIMBA is returning to live events after having a virtual season in 2020. Bands recorded performances and posted those online.

“There’s a lot of moving parts,” Hoeltje said. “With 17 groups coming onto our campus, there’s a lot of considerations as far as parking. Where are we going to put them? Where are they going to warm up? Where are they going to sit? How are we going to make sure we have enough concessions for them? Things like that.

“The nice thing for me is I don’t handle most of that. It’s my booster organization, my (band) parents. They handle 90 percent of it, which is wonderful for me because I’m lucky to have such a great group of parents that can handle all of that for me.”

A running theme has been an appreciation of some semblance of normalcy after covid impacted the 2020 season, Hoeltje said.

“Every time we get to a show, all of the area band directors, we’re a close-knit group,” Hoeltje said. “We see each other at a lot of different events, not just marching band events. We went from seeing each other to a lot of different events to, all of a sudden, now we don’t see each other.

“As we’re walking through, getting off the buses and as we’re watching the other bands, it’s just been really nice to see the other directors and say, ‘Hey, nice to see you. Nice to be out here. Nice to be doing band.’ It’s nice to see what other groups are doing rather than just your own group.”

Gateway has won the PIMBA championship in Class 3A five of the past six seasons where scores were recorded. Because of the 2020 virtual season and the rain-shortened event in 2019, scores haven’t been given since Gateway won Class 3A with an 86.71 in 2018.

Despite the competition, Hoeltje said the bands display unique camaraderie.

“It’s a very different atmosphere than you would get at a soccer tournament or a volleyball tournament, or something like that,” Hoeltje said. “It’s not necessarily, ‘We’re trying to beat everybody.’ It’s mostly, we’re trying to be the best version of what we can do.

“Everybody is supportive of each other. When one band finishes, all the bands that are watching give a standing ovation, rounds of applause, cheering. Cheering for friends that go to different schools.”