If you guessed the football team, you are correct, but you might not be at this time next year. Steve Richter, director of the Fighting Scots Marching Band, says change is in the air.

"My hope for the future is to have more students in the band than on the football team," he said. "We seem to add about 20 members every year. I think next year will be the year we do it."

Added Richter, a former member of the Marching Leathernecks at Western Illinois University and an assistant with the band at the University of Connecticut, "I’m a huge aficionado of marching bands. Love ’em! My professional training is as a clarinetist, but I’ve enjoyed working with this group and learning all the ins and outs of it."

At 100 members, the Fighting Scots Marching Band not only shares the triple-digit roster size of the football team, but it has shared the field on Saturday afternoons, as well. This year’s halftime debut was delayed by rain, however, so the group played at its first 2008 home game on Saturday at April Zorn Memorial Stadium. Their playlist featured songs from the '60s by bands such as The Beatles, The Yardbirds and The Kinks.

Richter said the marching band has come a long way since it first formed in 2003.

"We started that year with just 15 kids playing in the stands," he said. "That was like herding cats. It was difficult to get everybody together. But it’s really caught on, and we’ve experienced growth every year since."

Richter said students are drawn to the band for several reasons.

"Most small schools don’t attempt to have a marching band, so this is a huge recruiting tool," he said. "Prospective students know they want to go to a small school, and Monmouth is a place that offers them the size of school they want and allows them to continue an activity they enjoy."

Other students appreciate Richter’s philosophy on practicing. Rather than running students through hours of daily sessions, the director limits his practices to one per week.

"We respect their time to be in other academic activities," he said. "We want to keep the schedule very doable for them."

England and his band mates do experience one jam-packed week of activities, but Richter explained that comes before classes begin.

"We have band camp in the week leading up to the start of school," he said. "We go over marching fundamentals, all the music for the semester and the drill for the halftime show. It’s from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, and it’s pretty rigorous. There’s a lot to learn."

Once the school year begins, the students settle in to a routine of Monday night practices from 6:30 to 9 p.m., as well as performances at Fighting Scot home football games, and a trio of parades, including the Prime Beef Festival and Monmouth College Homecoming events.

"We also participate in the Veterans Day celebration at the VFW," said Richter. "That’s something we started the first year, and we’ve been doing it ever since."

Currently, the band’s practices are being held in the Huff Athletic Center, but Richter is "hugely excited" that the second phase of the football stadium renovation will allow the band to practice under the lights on the facility’s field turf next fall.

"That’s going to make a huge difference," said Richter, who remembers years past when the student had to be bused to Sunnylane Field for evening practices. "I am thrilled that those lights are on the way."

Richter not only sees lights at the end of the tunnel, but he also envisions a band that will only continue to improve over time.

"This year, for the first time, we are staying for the entire football game," he said. "We want to continue to improve the quality of our performances, and I would also love to see us be more visible as a recruiting tool for the college."