Tournament of Bands
The Tournament of Bands, also known as Tournament of Bands'Tournament Indoor Association', is an American school band association and governing body that sanctions marching band, color guard, and drumline, competitions in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. The "tournament of bands", or "tournament indoor", culminates in regional championships, or Chapter Championships, followed by the Atlantic Coast Championships, every November and May.
Founded in 1972 by the National Judges Association, TOB is composed of 439 member bands organized into eleven regions or chapters. It provides a large array of competitive performance opportunities including marching band, indoor guard, majorette, percussion, and dance teams. TOB/TIA sanctions approximately 150 marching band events and more than 100 indoor events every year.
Membership
Membership is open to any elementary, middle, junior, or senior high school, as well as any college or university. An independent unit may join if certain criteria are met such as unit size and age of members., membership are organized into eleven regions, or Chapters, across 9 states.Number of members by state are:
- Delaware: 22
- Maryland: 70
- New Jersey: 61
- New York: 4
- North Carolina: 3
- Ohio: 4
- Pennsylvania: 225
- Virginia: 27
- West Virginia: 24
Marching band
| Group | Musicians | Auxiliary |
| 1 | Up to 30 | 30 |
| 2 | 3150 | 50 |
| 3 | 5175 | 75 |
| 4 | 76 or more |
In addition to the group sizes, there are three levels of performance classification that a member may elect to participate:
Open Class – Highest level of competition, intended for experienced bands.
A Class – Intended for young bands prepared to compete at the regional or state-level.
Festival Class – Intended for young and developing bands. No scores are given for this class, only ratings.
Every class and group combination is available at all TOB-sanctioned events and Chapter Championships, or regional championships. Festival Class is not available at the annual Atlantic Coast Championships, only Open and A Class.
Indoor activities
The Tournament Indoor Association is one of several circuits for indoor shows in the mid-Atlantic states. TIA sanctions competitions for indoor guard, marching percussion, concert percussion, twirlers, and dance team units. The indoor season generally runs from late January to the first weekend in May. Units can be either scholastic or independent. Scholastic units are affiliated with a school. Independent units are usually not affiliated with a school. Classifications are as follows:- Scholastic Elementary/Independent Cadet – For elementary school students or students under the age of 10.
- Scholastic Middle/Independent Junior – For students in middle school or up to the age of 14.
- Novice A – For color guards only
- Novice – For percussion, dance teams and twirlers
- Intermediate A – for color guards and percussion
- A class
- Open class
- World class
- University – All members must be students at the university and not over the age of 22. Judged on Open class sheets.
- Senior – All members must be 23 or older. Judged on open class sheets.