SPANISH FORT, Ala. — With only a few weeks until the first Spanish Fort High School football game, the marching band is doing what they need to prepare for a Spanish-themed halftime show.

The 80-member band, including dance team and color guard, this week is participating in band camp, where they will learn the fundamentals needed for a successful show.

“We’re going to work really hard to get a lot done during the camp,” Tripp Morris, band director, said.

The band will work on marching fundamentals such as marching in step, forward and backward marching and horn angles. They’ll also practice fundamentals such as proper breathing, according to Morris.

The halftime show has a very heavy Spanish influence, he said. Music for the show is from the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. The opener will be “El Toro Caliente,” followed by “La Danza Pasillio” as the production number. “Toreador Tag” will be the closing number for the halftime performance, Morris said.

“I’m hoping this will be our most successful year,” Morris said. “I’m really looking forward to the show.”

The band will participate in the Choctaw Marching Contest in Choctawhatchee, Fla., Oct. 18.  The contest is an advanced competition comprising a preliminary and final round, Morris said.

Morris, the first band director at Spanish Fort High School, has been there since the school’s inception in fall 2005.

Before coming to Spanish Fort, Morris was the band director at Baker High School in Mobile for 15 years.

Morris expressed high hopes for the coming school year.

“The band wants the Toro football team to move it to the playoffs,” he said. “We want the band to also win by entertaining the crowd at the games.”

The band will sell a $20 coupon book to Baldwin and Mobile residents that benefits the Band Boosters. The band hopes to pay off their marching uniforms; it still owes about $14,500. The intial bill was a little over $30,000. Coupon books will be sold at the band office, according to Morris.

Adding to the show’s Spanish theme, the color guard will have flags featuring bright Spanish colors and flames; the girls will dressed as senioritas and the dance team will dress as female toreadors, which are bullfighters.

The season’s first game is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 28 at J.O. Johnson High School in Bay Minette, according to the school’s Web site.