Blue and Gold Brigade marks 10 years, Sibbitts ends long tenure as director

By: Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

With the semester winding down, the Blue and Gold Brigade finished its 10th season playing for Canisius Athletics. Not only is the milestone special as it marks 10 years, but it marks the end of an era for the longtime director and founder of the band: Bryan Sibbits.

Sibbits began the band in the fall semester of 2015 when he started his masters at Canisius. After attending a couple basketball games and a hockey game, Sibbits found it strange that a Division I school didn’t have a pep band. Loving music as he does, Sibbits wanted to use his music education degree to help create the band. The first rehearsal came not long after a meeting with the former associate athletic director John Maddock for initial interest. “About 15 or so kids showed up, which was more than I was expecting, but I found some music online, downloaded some free stuff and ran it with the group. From there, we were off to the races,” Sibbits explained. 10 years later, the band is continuing to carry on the legacy that started as an idea.

What sets apart the Blue and Gold Brigade from other bands is the alumni connection, including alumni from the area coming back to play with current students. Michael Bossert and Dante Simonetta, the two original members of the band, remembered what it was like to get a random call from Sibbits on a weekday, asking if they wanted to play for the Canisius pep band. “Bryan and I went to Fredonia together, and we hung out a couple times in the trombone studio, but we never were close friends. We exchanged numbers and I never thought I’d hear from him,” said Bossert. Little did he know, Sibbits would pull Bossert into the world of Canisius, a campus he never stepped foot onto until that night. “Bryan cold calls me one day and asks if I want to play trombone that night, explaining that he was trying to start the Canisius pep band,” Bossert said. Early members of the band like Bossert and Simonetta still come back to play with the band along with Aaron Clift and Jordan Servos, who joined during their time at Canisius not long after.

As the alumni walked down memory lane, multiple stories about the band emerged, including memories of trips to Albany, N.Y. when the basketball MAAC Championships were held in the state capital. One of the coolest moments they recounted from Albany was during Band Jam, where all the school’s pep bands come together and perform for one another and together. Canisius played “Sweet Victory,” a song from “The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie.” Everyone instantly recognized the song when the Blue and Gold Brigade began to play, and it became a core memory for all involved. “The gasp that you hear when everyone realized what song we were playing felt really good,” said Clift, one of the four trumpet players that played with the band this year.

Other memories included exploring a mall in Albany because “that’s all there was to do,”

according to Bossert, but turning the experience into fun as a trio of Bossert’s bought matching suits. Though all fun and games, the Blue and Gold Brigade always shows up to basketball and hockey games while school is in session. Whether at the Koessler Athletic Center (KAC) or the LECOM Harborcenter, the Griffs in the stands cheer loudly for their fellow Griffs on the court or ice.

As the transition begins to happen from the leadership of Sibbits, Bossert and Simonetta to Clift, Servos and Steve Nemeti, the Blue and Gold Brigade will finish their season with a banquet at the end of April, celebrating the 10 years of hard work and dedication to Canisius Athletics and the people that make up the pep band. “As I think back 10 years ago to if someone would’ve asked me if this would’ve lasted 10 years, I probably would’ve assumed that it would dwindle out after I graduated, but we’re here and hopefully we last another 10, 20 or 30 years and just see where the road takes us,” said Sibbits.

Though the three amigos won’t stop from coming to games and playing with the band, life has caught up with them and it’s time for the next chapter in their lives. As Sibbits steps out of the KAC as the leader of the band for a final time, the memories of community zip through his mind one last time. As Christopher Jackson once said in the musical “Hamilton,” playing George Washington, “we’ll teach ‘em how to say goodbye, say goodbye, you and I.”