The Marching Southerners, JSU’s amazing marching band, just won “the Heisman of band awards”

If you love marching bands, you need to know about The Marching Southerners at Jacksonville State University (JSU) and the huge award they just won. It’s basically like the Heisman of marching band awards. Keep reading for all the details.

See The Marching Southerners for yourself

Before we get to the well-deserved accolades, you have to see this band for yourself to fully appreciate the level of talent on display. They sound incredible. They look fantastic. What more could a football-going audience want from their band?

The Marching Southerners are the 2022 recipients of Sudler Trophy

Back in early December, the John Philip Sousa Foundation let JSU’s leadership know about the big award, which is considered to be the band equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. One band every two years receives the award, and according to JSU News, “JSU is the smallest university ever to win the trophy since the awards program was created 40 years ago.”

For 60 years, The Marching Southerners have been delighting crowds on + off the field

Here’s what Ken Bodiford, Director of Bands at Jacksonville State University had to say about the honor, December 8 on Facebook:

“The announcement that The Marching Southerners will receive the coveted 2022 Sudler Trophy completely humbles me. In addition to the current members and staff, this award is a culmination of all the hard work and dedication of past members and directors dating back to the founding of The Southerners and Marching Ballerinas in 1956. It is truly an honor to share this accomplishment with our entire band and university family.

I can’t express my gratitude enough to my colleagues and staff who have worked by my side for over two decades with The Marching Southerners… My sincere thanks go out to decades of Marching Southerners for their undying support and dedication to the program. Last but not least, it is an immense honor to share this coveted award with our current members who have weathered an F3 tornado and a crippling pandemic…yet they persevered to carry on our tradition of excellence.”

Congrats, Jacksonville State University + The Marching Southerners on this well-deserved award!

If you’ve got a musician who’s looking at colleges, take a look at Jacksonville State. Bonus: you don’t have to be a music major to be eligible for band scholarships.