Freedom High School Junior Aaron Moreno was recently offered a position with the third-oldest junior drum and bugle corps in the United States, the Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps. Moreno is the current FHS Color Guard Captain and will go down in history as the first Freedom Color Guard member to be accepted into such a prestigious organization. Making the cut for The Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps is definitely a feat that requires lots of dedication and hard work. Many who attempted the audition, including students from the University of South Florida Color Guard team, were not accepted to the program.

“For preparation, I do guard here [at Freedom] for both marching and indoor season,” said Moreno. “I put in extra time at home, watched videos, and went to audition camps to prepare for the final audition. It was really nerve-wracking.”

Moreno definitely stood out during his years on the Freedom Color Guard team and has not only impressed the Boston Crusader judges, but his coaches as well.

“Normally, members are only asked to learn flag and dance their first year, but Aaron exceeded our expectations. He learned how to spin a rifle and sabre during his first year. This year, he auditioned and became one of our leading captains,” said Jesse Rivers, Freedom’s Color Guard coach. “His hard work and dedication to this program gave him some of the essential tools to audition and make final cut for the Boston Crusaders.”

The hard-working junior could not have done it without his supportive color guard team members and coaches.

“Being on Freedom’s Color Guard team helped me because my coaches have spun there before so they knew how to help prepare me for auditions. They taught me their warm-ups and the laws for auditions,” stated Moreno.

Although Moreno has experience in high school guard, this opportunity definitely takes his passion to the next level. The Boston Crusaders consist of brass players, percussionists, and color guard members under the age of 22 who travel during the summer and perform in over 40 competitions and exhibitions.

“We started about three weeks ago and I’ll be leaving on May 20th and we’ll start our season. I’ll be coming back August 15^th,” said Moreno.

Despite popular belief, the sport is one that requires intense training, especially when working with the Boston Crusaders.

“They are really intense workouts. Our show is 15 minutes long. All of our practices are outside and it’s about a 12-hour practice every day. We’re up at 7 o’clock in the morning practicing till 10 o’clock at night. We travel from state to state competing. We perform, get on the bus, travel, and then start back over the next day,” Moreno added.

When asked what he was looking forward to the most, Moreno optimistly replied, “I’m looking forward to performing in big stadiums becuase it won’t be just football stadiums anymore. I’m excited for finals and the really big crowds. Hopefully I gain a lot of new skills and self-dicipline because college is coming up and this will prepare me to be away from my parents and everything. ”