The NCHS Drumline participated in the second annual Winter Drumlympics on April 5, 2021. The Winter and Summer Drumlympics are student-organized events where the drumline members compete in made up athletic events that involve percussion equipment. The 2021 Winter Drumlympics featured the debut of 4 new events that incorporated percussion ensemble equipment. The Drumlympics are organized by the section leader of the drumline, the Drum Sergeant, in order to help create a strong team atmosphere in the drumline. 

The first event completed for the first time ever was “Timpani Waddling.” One of the most annoying daily tasks the percussion ensemble must complete each day is pushing the Timpani from the storage room to the band room. This task is annoying because the percussionists must lift up the pedal on the bottom of the timpani while pushing them in order to keep the pedal from marking up the floor. This makes the people moving the timpani look like they are waddling. It takes percussionists some practice to get the hang of this, so naturally this lent itself to a drumlympic event quite nicely. Each participant had to weave through an obstacle course consisting of a few music stands and get a timpani to a designated area as fast as possible.

 The winning performance came from freshman Hudson Nicol, who won by almost a full second. When asked if he was surprised to win the event Nicol said, “I was actually pretty surprised, I had seen a couple people try before me, some great, some not– so I didn’t know what to expect coming into the event, but obviously it turned out well.”

The next event to make its debut was called the “Pument Room Race.” This event’s name stemmed from the inside joke that the label beside the storage room has been reconfigured to read “Pument Room” instead of “Storage Room.” In this event two members of the three or four person teams had to work together to put the snare drum cases into the cabinet as fast as possible. In order to do well the participants had to be fast as well as tidy because time was added for instances of untidiness. 

The other two events to make their debut were the “Mallet Cover Relay” and the “Ultimate Chromatic Relay.” The Mallet Cover Relay required three members of a team to put the cloth covers on four mallet instruments as fast as possible. The Ultimate Chromatic Relay tested two team members’ abilities to play a chromatic scale on a xylophone. Senior Jack Larson’s favorite event to watch was the Ultimate Chromatic Relay because he was impressed by how fast some participants could play chromatic scales. The day finished with “Harness Sit-ups” and one of the drumline’s favorite events, “Big Booty,” an elimination style game that tests participants’ sense of rhythm and quick thinking. 

Trophies were given out for the top three participants or teams in each of the 6 events, then the team who accumulated the most points through placing in the top three events won the overall team award consisting of Queen Elsa crowns and star wands. This year’s winning team consisted of sophomores Kai Wolz and Mason Napier and freshman Hudson Nicole. All drumline members left with participant ribbons as is tradition. Larson is especially fond of the participant ribbons he has accumulated throughout his time in high school and displays them from the rear-view mirror of his car. When questioned why he likes them Larson said, “Participation is epic.”

This was only the second annual Winter Drumlympics, but it is likely a tradition that will stand the test of time in the NC Drumline and continue to help the group build lasting friendships and bonds.