Athletic conferences have been a hot topic over the past two years as sports commentators have discussed the break-up and stabilization of the Big 12 and Big East conferences. The conferences’ domination of athletic news should come as no surprise since millions of dollars are at stake.  With today’s downturned economy, the notion of saving or making an extra dollar – or a million of them – is enticing. And the conference structure is not limited to collegiate athletics, as any high school athlete can attest.
 
The 411 high schools that participate in Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) events are members of 51 athletic conferences, ranging from the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference with eight of the state’s largest schools, to the Mid-Indiana Football Conference that only offers competition in one sport and boasts membership including Milan, the quintessential small school of Hoosiers fame. Conferences are not limited to athletics. Speech and Debate (the other non-basketball activity for which Indiana high schools are known) also has conferences, such as the Central Indiana Forensic League. With so many other activities having conferences, why not marching band?
 
If you are going to consider marching band conferences, a logical place to start would be membership. As of September 27, 2011, 141 bands are registered to compete at an ISSMA district competition. If 120 of these bands decide to band together, pun intended, there would likely be between twelve and fifteen conferences. With fewer participants than their athletic counterparts, the conferences would require a larger geographic footprint than athletic conferences to be worthwhile. These conferences would probably look very similar to the ISSMA district competitions, which feature geographically natural rivals at each site. For example, a music conference with Howard County at its center would include schools such as Carroll, Clinton Central, Clinton Prairie, Eastern, Lewis Cass, Pioneer, Taylor, Tri-Central, Maconaquah, Northwestern, Western, and Kokomo. If this ten-member conference existed in 2011, it would have eight bands in class D, three in class C, and one in class A. For now, we’ll call this the Central Indiana Conference, or CIC. 
 
For illustration purposes later, a second conference would be helpful. This second conference will center around Kosciusko County and include Fairfield, Northwood, East Noble, Columbia City, Plymouth, Wawasee, Concord, Goshen, Northridge, Elkhart Central, Elkhart Memorial, and Warsaw. If this 12-member conference existed in 2011, it would have two bands in class C, seven in class B, and three in class A. This imaginary conference would be called the Northern Indiana Marching Band League, or NIMBL.
 
Now that we’ve established two potential conferences, we have to ask, what would be the point of these conferences? What are the benefits? The answer is, not surprisingly, money. As part of their membership in a conference, each school would be required to compete at any competition hosted by another member. This means that all of the CIC members would have to compete at Maconaquah’s Sounds of September and Kokomo’s Tournament of Champions. Likewise, all NIMBL members would have to attend competitions at East Noble, Plymouth, Concord, and Goshen. However, a band would receive a reduced entry fee to participate in a conference rival’s competition. This helps contest hosts get bands to attend their competition, and it helps contest attendees keep their costs down. A competition may not make as much money on a per-band basis, but it would be guaranteed to have a certain number of bands attending. With the number of competitions each weekend growing and the number of bands attending each competition going down, this could be a great thing.
 
There are other potential deals that could be struck, such as a two-year series between two conferences. In one year, all NIMBL bands would compete at a CIC competition. The next year, the CIC bands would all compete at a NIMBL competition. This adds to the competitiveness of the activity by bringing another dimension of rivalry. No longer is it just a question of whether Goshen will beat Concord. Now there is the added element of whether the CIC bands will beat the NIMBL bands. If each conference has this type of competition with a different conference each week, an individual band’s exposure would increase a great deal.
 
Now for the drawbacks. Directors like their autonomy, but under this system, they will be unable to schedule competitions as they see fit. If they wish to stay home a certain weekend, they may not be able to do so unless the conference does not have something scheduled for that weekend. Moreover, it is difficult to commit to an allegiance that could have unforeseen ramifications. Furthermore, not everyone will be able to host a competition. The list goes on.
 
There are clearly issues with this concept or it would have been done in the past. However, there are some things that remain certain. The past of marching music in Indiana is proud and accomplished; the present is intense and engaging; and the future is promising and hopeful. As for whether or not marching conferences will be a part of that future, only time will tell.