» By AARON FORSGREN – aforsgren@my.apsu.edu
If there is one thing that is not hard to find at APSU, it is school pride and spirit. You can find it anywhere you look, especially on a Saturday during a home football game. This is especially true when you bring up the Governor’s Own Marching Band which adds to that the background and thrill of Homecoming week.
The Governor’s Own Marching Band is under the direction of professor John Schnettler, director of athletic bands at APSU, and he is all about getting the fans and the football team into the fighting spirit.
Their number one tool to pump up the crowd and team is cooperation. “We coordinate everything we do with the cheerleaders and pom squad. So during cheers and chants, we are doing it together at the same time,” said Schnettler.
Besides the band director, the band also has three equally important field commanders Johnny Tubbs, Katie Wells and Nicole Shrembek.
Shrembek said, “It’s just the energy they bring to the field and their overall pep. When they get peppy, I get peppy and vice versa.”
The band has a core of school pride and spirit, and in the case of a sporting event, especially a homecoming game, it spills over to the team and crowd and brings it together to make the experience of Govs’ football games worthwhile. Wells said, “I always try and get them hyped from a
big smile.”
They will be performing their halftime show again one last time this Saturday, Nov. 5, for their final Govs’ home game as they take on the Central State University Marauder’s at Governor’s Stadium. TAS
