Here is some more information concerning the area marching contest to be held in Odessa on Saturday.

1. While the red flag is up during your warm-up, you will be allowed to do some individual tuning during your warm-up time according to the following guidelines:
a. No more than two people playing at any one time;
b. Must be facing away from the stadium;
c. Absolutely no percussion playing.

2. There are three warm-up areas at the stadium, all along the fence line on the eastern edge of the parking lot. Please do all warm-up faciong away from the stadium.

3. If you are bringing one truck with all of your equipment, let me make a couple of suggestions:
a. Load all pit equipment in the back of the truck;
b. You can bring your truck in on the eastside of the stadium with your buses to unload everything except the pit;
c. Once unloaded, we will lead your truck around to the eastside of the stadium to unload at the pit loading/unloading area.

4. You may use motorized vehicles, similar to golf carts or mules, on the track as long as they are driven by an adult and not a student. Trucks or other heavy equipment is not allowed. FYI, the ramp to the field level for the pit equipment is very steep, and is approximately 10 feet wide at it's widest point.

5. If you are purchasing tickets for your students to watch the contest on the press box side, you will only need to purchase one ticket per person. When you leave for dinner, all spectators will receive a hand stamp to allow for re-entry into the stands.

6. There will a concession stand open on the eastside of the stadium for the contest participants. T-shirts and patches will only be available outside the stands on the westside of the stadium.

7. Due to the large number of buses that will be involved with the contest, we are asking that you refrain from bringing extra vehicles into the eastside parking area. I have spoken with one individual who is bringing a van to take tennis students back to a match, and we will accomodate situations such as these. The vehicles will not be able to park with the buses, but will be somewhere in the parking lot, probably against the south fence.

8. There are electrical outlets on the wall of the stadium that are available for your use. There is a track at the stadium, so you will need extension cords to reach the pit area. UIL rules do prohibit any kind of electronic cords on the actual field, but they are acceptable in the pit area.

9. The judges comments will be recorded on two different mediums - a cassette tape and a VHS tape. We have it set up so that the judges comments will appear on a video tape of the bands performance so that you can see what they are saying. They of course will not be available until after the preliniary round is completed, but if you have access to a VHS on your bus, you will be able to use this tool possibly. The same system will be used for prelims and finals.

10. The bottom of the numbers is 7 yards (21 feet) from the sideline and the top of the numbers is 9 yards (27 feet) from the sideline.