Wednesday night is a practice night for the Capital District Youth Pipe Band. For members like Dillon Zon and Evan Cross, it’s a day they look forward to every week.

“It’s something fun to do," said Zon, who plays the snare drum. "You meet tons of people. You get to experience great things.”

“Yeah, it’s one of a kind," adds Cross, who plays the bagpipes. "You’ll never find it anywhere else.”

Founded 30 years ago as the Scotia-Glenville Pipe Band, the band has risen from a group of young, inexperienced pipers and drummers to a group that’s won the World Pipe Band Championships in its age group twice in the last nine years.

“It's quite surreal, actually," Cross says. "It’s a world championship. It’s words, but if you really think about it, then you really realize how much of an accomplishment it is.”

Winning once, let alone twice, is something band instructor Maureen Connor never could have thought imaginable.

“The first 10 years of the band were just trying to get up their first hill, but after that, it’s been a giant roller coaster," Conner says. "I love roller coasters, so it's been a wild ride.”

The name of the band suggests it consists of just players from the Albany area, but looks can be misleading. No matter where you live, the band will welcome you.

“It’s not only a band, it’s like a brotherhood," Cross said. "We’re all friends in real life. It’s not like we don’t talk to each other as soon as we leave. We’re all friends.”

“Just come out and try it," Zon says of the band. "You never know. When I was 5 years old, I thought the same thing. I’m just going to go try it, and I've been doing it ever since.”

“You teach them to be world champions in a pipe band; that will lead them to success in the rest of their life," Connor said. "They’ll know how to do it. And that’s what I find the most inspirational about it.”