EAST LANSING, Mich. — Football season is almost back at Spartan Stadium, and when the Michigan State Spartans run out of the tunnel to take on Western Michigan next week, the Spartan Marching Band will be there to cheer them on.
- The Spartan Marching Band has been practicing intensively for two weeks to prepare for the upcoming football season.
- This season, the band welcomes 99 new members while seniors like Drum Major Maria Watkins begin their final year with the band.
- The band will take the field next Friday when Michigan State hosts Western Michigan.
WATCH: MSU Spartan Marching Band prepares for football season with intensive rehearsals
At Michigan State, the end of summer brings a new semester and the return of football. But the football team isn't the only group hard at work getting ready for the season.
The Spartan Marching Band has been practicing all week, preparing to entertain thousands at Spartan Stadium this fall.
"Right now, all of our new members are going through about two weeks of preparation, to learn everything it is to be a Spartan Marching Band member and all of the nuances and details of performing as our group."
While this season will be the first for 99 new members, seniors like Drum Major Maria Watkins will begin their last season in the band next Friday.
"I'm really excited to be doing the senior traditions, but it's also really sad. Like, I love this place," Watkins said.
While she's spent four years in the band, this is Watkins' first and only season as Drum Major. She says it's an opportunity she's going to savor.
"I'm a little nervous, but the excitement outweighs the nerves. I think it'll be such a big reward for all of the hard work that Tom and I have put in, so I'm really looking forward to it," Watkins said.
Her counterpart on the field, Drum Major Tom McGovern, says the band is a special community, and that's what drives members to keep pushing throughout the season, even once the stresses of school come into play.
"Considering our time out here is not forever, there's going to be a day that we march our last show in the stadium. We're going to look back on those times and think fondly about how those times were that maybe weren't so great in the moment," McGovern said.
The SMB will officially take the field next Friday when Michigan State football hosts Western Michigan.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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