They're the team within the team, behind the teams.
Most Ateneans don't realize that there are girls in the Blue Babble Band-girls who play drums amidst all the testosterone that the Band generally represents. In a 37-member band, there are five females who don't consider themselves in the minority. But, rather, they're a special group.
Making the band
Meet Ateneo's drummer girls: the bass drummers include Mac Claudio (II BS MIS), Elsa Parungao (II BS MIS), and Ria Redulla (III BS MCT), while Justine Perez (II AB MEco) and Bea Samson (I AB MEco) play the snare drums. Most of them have only started drumming for the Blue Babble this year, with Justine being the veteran and the only girl who played last year. Most of them also had little to no experience in drumming and were only cheerleading in high school. The girls say that they joined the band due to a combination of the desire to experience it and the good kind of peer pressure. "I've always wanted to join before, but I always thought that it was only for boys," Ria says. Friends and blockmates invited them to join the band and promised them that they'd have fun. And they've never looked back since.
The five-day tryout period was something they remember fondly. "They taught us the beats and made us all play together after each session," Elsa recalls. "Four days [of] teaching the cheers and training. On the last day, it's only the tryouts proper," Ria explains. "You have to play the beats they call. The judges have their backs faced to you [so there would be] no bias."
What the girls don't relate to too fondly though is physical training (PT). It was part of the tryout period, as well as a regular activity in their practices, that ensured they would be fit enough to handle the tasks of being a Band drummer. "I just remember we mopped the Blue Eagle Gym floor after jogging, with our backs and sweat," says Elsa.
A man's world?
Once they were in the band-and they found themselves being the only women-the comparisons and contrasts were too stark to ignore. "Hindi ka makapaghubad ng shirt 'pag pawis ka na! (You can't take your shirt off even though you're doused in sweat!)" Mac jokes. The girls complain about their relatively limited movements, especially when they're wearing their white pants as part of the uniform during games and it's "that time of the month." On the other hand, that very same problem gives them an advantage over the men-"it's always an excuse not to join PT"-and they also enjoy the occasional acts of chivalry from the guys. All in all though, the guys and girls are on the same plane. "That's the first thing our coach told us [on our] first meeting-dapat pantay lahat (everyone should be equal)," Elsa says.
They have a lot of praise for their coach, Andre Quimpo, for not only making sure that there were no such thing as "minorities" in the Band, but more importantly, for also teaching them to be independent and responsible. "He always believes that we can stand up and be the best by ourselves, not because we're always following. He teaches us to be the best to the very last detail," Ria explains. "Like for our drumline piece, he let us do whatever we wanted. He was there to guide us and help us out when we're having trouble with something," Elsa adds.
Little corner of the world
Although they admit they didn't automatically become close in the beginning, they at least had something in common with each other that was unique to the rest of the band-it was a familial bond waiting to happen. Like any other group of girls, they have their share of inside jokes, secrets, code names, stories, and of course, information about clothes and shopping. Ria says that they're all very particular about being girls in the band, citing the time she wore a skirt to the tryouts and how she and the rest of the girls took their time to fix themselves up before their drumline performance. "We still have our own little girls' world even among the guys," says Ria. "The banda boys become curious at times," Bea adds. Justine says that the guys sometimes try to listen in on their conversations, which only adds to the fun dynamic the whole band has. In fact, the girls were christened by the rest of the band with the collective nickname "Spice Girls" just this season. True enough, they have their own little world that they proudly cherish.
As coincidences go, each girl in the band actually had something in common with each member of the original pop group, and thus, their Spice Girl monikers. The other girls confess that they were intimidated by Ria when they were only starting out, granting her the Scary Spice moniker. Elsa is considered the most fashionable and has done some modeling as well, making her Posh Spice, while her blockmate Mac is Sporty Spice because she hardly gets tired during practices and training sessions. Bea, being the youngest, gets the Baby Spice slot and the rest of the girls have dubbed Justine their Ginger Spice since she doesn't show up sometimes whenever she's busy with schoolwork.
"We literally play until we bleed"
As for the workload that comes with being in the band, the girls go through quite a struggle, dividing time between school and the band, especially during the season with longer practices at night and Thursday class cuts for games. "It's not just the training time itself. When you go home, you barely have energy left to stay up and study," Ria says. They are able to manage the juggling act, but not without sacrifices in social life and family life as well as other extra-curricular activities.
When it comes to setbacks, the girls admit to some disappointments especially with how the crowd only cheers for the team when they're leading or even when a fight breaks out, or when someone gets injured. They say that it really is tough to get a crowd going at a point when the team really needs the support. "We're there to encourage the crowd to cheer, they only have to respond," Elsa says. Nonetheless, they're devoted to the Blue Babble Band-"no matter what happens [at the] games, we still love what we're doing," Bea says. "We literally play until we bleed."
They also enjoy the respect and camaraderie within the band as well as with the other schools' bands, the perks, such as free tickets and discounts, and of course, drumming itself. It's a fun and inspiring way for them to contribute to the Ateneo community. They all agree that being in the band is sort of their own statement, to show others not to underestimate them and their skills. "I'm proud of being able to represent and cheer for my school," Ria says. "I'm also proud of being in the Babble Band as a girl and of being able to show everyone that we can have the capacity and ability to play the drums as hard as we can."
http://altg.theguidon.com/2005November//features01.php
