She has attempted to step back several times but has always been dragged forward to the front line.
''It's very hard to shake it loose if you've got the music and movement in your blood,'' Hoad said.
''I was never a scholar and couldn't play ball sports. Marching suited me.
''I love the people, the discipline and the team work. Marching is a sport that has got everything.''
Hoad (69), who retired last year as laundry manager at Mercy Hospital, is the district chief judge for Otago and a key official at the New Zealand marching championships at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Hoad (nee Byrne) was a pupil at Holy Name School when she first competed in marching at the age of 12.
Her uncle, James Byrne, the drum major for the Dunedin City Silver Band, started a marching team and Hoad was called in at the last minute.
''They found me a uniform but the boots were six sizes too big,'' she recalled.
Her best performance as a competitor was with the Blair Athol team that was the South Island champion in technique and display at the University Oval in 1960.
One of her team-mates, Michelle French, is coach of the Onyx Militaires team defending the under-16 title.
''I have seen a lot of little tots come into the sport and they are now bringing their own little tots along,'' Hoad said.
Hoad has been involved in marching administration since the age of 16 and has held every office in the Otago region.
She was elected to the New Zealand Marching executive in 1985 (now the board) and held office for 16 years. Hoad was the New Zealand chief judge for 11 years, and was a judge for the transtasman challenge against Australia for three years.
''It was a great period of my life and was very rewarding,'' she said.
Hoad, who still takes part in leisure marching, has four children but only daughter Liann was keen on marching.
