By Rylee Kirk

SPRINGFIELD — The Effingham County Rebel Regiment might not march to a different tune this fall but it will definitely march in a different uniform.

The Rebel Regiment is getting in step with the latest design and material innovations.

“Our new uniforms are built to be structurally supportive yet cooler in hot temperatures,” Effingham County band director Will Alford said.

The uniforms, set to arrive at the school soon, will feature a shirt made of fabric similar to that which is used in athletic jerseys.

“In the hotter months, you know, September-ish, you know it's 90 degrees (at the) beginning of a football game, that kind of thing, so we'll actually use a short sleeve variant,” Alford said.

Alford said the band decided to follow in the footsteps of drum corps across the country.

“When we began talking about the uniform design, that's one thing we want to incorporate with something to make the kids' lives just a little bit easier in terms of dealing with that heat just because it seems like it’s getting worse and worse,” he said.

It was definitely time for a uniform change.

“Both us and South (Effingham), we get the uniforms on 10-year rotations because, after 10 years, the old uniforms are in pretty bad shape -- as you could imagine,” Alford said.

The new uniforms will feature a  nod to the past when Effingham County was the only high school in the county.

"Red used to be one of their primary colors that they would use and, then when South split from Effingham County (to form a second county high school), South became maroon and so Effingham kind of got rid of that red element to their color scheme,” Alford said. "It provides a good contrast and color mix, and some of the sports teams just kind of slowly started bringing it back and it's become more and more prevalent with everybody's uniforms. So we decided to incorporate it in ours as well. 

The students like the inclusion of red.

"They love the color combination and, again, it's just more modern," Alford said.

Before making the change, Alford contacted the Effingham County Board of Education to make sure it was OK.

"We'll keep it for ten years, so we told them, ‘You know, we want to make sure the red's going to stick around for a little while,’ and they said it was,” the band director said.

The board of education splits the cost of the uniforms with the band boosters.

“A lot of that is concession stand (revenue) at football games and also the marching band competition we host every year, The Coastal Empire Classic,” Alford said.  

Alford said he is incredibly thankful to the board for the assistance and he’s not the only one.

Zach Gatewood, a rising senior and bass trombone player, modeled the prototype of the uniform.

“It's gonna be a lot cooler, especially with how hot it is around here especially and football season,” he said. “So, it's always been a pain wearing the other uniforms. So, wearing these is definitely a nice break.”

Gatewood has seen a mock-up of the new togs and he likes them a lot.

“They’re a lot cooler than any other local bands,” he said.