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Average age for corps


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I said I saw the info. It doesn't mean its available for publication.

BTW, I have credibility. You may not believe my STATEMENT has credibility. There's a big difference....

But we don't know a thing about you, or where you may have gotten the inside information to which you claim to be privy, 'surk. You can't just come out here and make a pronouncement, and then when someone questions you answer with that doublespeak "I have...you may not believe...big difference" stuff. Well, I suppose you can - but don't expect much as far as anyone taking you or your position seriously.

Peace,

Fred O.

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I agree Pioneer would do better but why? Musicianship? Physical ability? Age is only a factor in so much as it's a predictor for other factors which actually matter.

Which do you think would win:

Corps A : 150 21 yr old drum corps rookies

Corps B: 150 20 yr old drum corps vets with 4 years experience in a top 6 corps.

IMO age (as an independent factor on it own) has nothing to do with it. Sure there are factors (like experience and maturity) that correlate strongly with age but most of those factors *can* move independently of age. The only factor that might not be independent is physical stamina.

Another counter-example: I'll bet if you took one of the top high school bands from BOG GN and fielded them as a drum corps in the summer, they'd do remarkably well (especially if you considered the cut to 150). And they would all be 15-18 yr olds.

Yet another example. Take one of the Japanese high-school-aged corps-style high school bands and bring them over for a summer. Would they be dead last (because of their very low average age) ?

I think you made some very interesting points.

I think that Pioneer would better, and I think the reason why would be if they were all 21, and had been marching in a college marching band, they probably would have had between 7-8 years of marching experience, even though it had not been with drum corps. Also, with the 150 members, it would enable them to create more elaborate drills for their shows, something that is a little more difficult sometimes with a 50-70 member corps.

Answer to question, corps B with 20 years old with 4 years marching experience would probably be the better corps. However staff would have to be decent. I would wonder if Pioneer got all the kids that had marched 4 years, and Blue Devils staff got complete newbies one year, how the placement would end up.

And I do think the top bands in BOA, given a full summer rehearsal like drum corps, could easily break into the top 12 with 150 members without the woodwinds, even with members only in the 15-19 range. Considering what some of those bands put on the field with the limited time compared to drum corps rehearsals is pretty amazing. It would be cool to see a marching band form a summer drum corps. But I know that most schools probably couldn't afford a million dollar budget for such a project.

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I think you made some very interesting points.

I think that Pioneer would better, and I think the reason why would be if they were all 21, and had been marching in a college marching band, they probably would have had between 7-8 years of marching experience, even though it had not been with drum corps. Also, with the 150 members, it would enable them to create more elaborate drills for their shows, something that is a little more difficult sometimes with a 50-70 member corps.

Answer to question, corps B with 20 years old with 4 years marching experience would probably be the better corps. However staff would have to be decent. I would wonder if Pioneer got all the kids that had marched 4 years, and Blue Devils staff got complete newbies one year, how the placement would end up.

And I do think the top bands in BOA, given a full summer rehearsal like drum corps, could easily break into the top 12 with 150 members without the woodwinds, even with members only in the 15-19 range. Considering what some of those bands put on the field with the limited time compared to drum corps rehearsals is pretty amazing. It would be cool to see a marching band form a summer drum corps. But I know that most schools probably couldn't afford a million dollar budget for such a project.

Yep. It's not age -- it's experience and training (and -- as you point out -- factors not related to the performer like staff) . Except for some (slight) physical aspects I don't believe age (in and of itself) has much impact.

But everyone hears that average age stat and jumps to the (wrong) conclusion.

Correlation does not imply causation.

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This always comes up. For corps who use an online data-base to manage the corps finding this information is very simple but it isn't necessarily publicized. But I have heard that for many years the corps that has had the oldest average age has won finals though have no proof or evidence of this.

Its hard to quantify this stuff, but I would imagine that the older marcher in The Cadevaliers ( Cadets, Devils, Cavaliers) has more Drum Corps experience than the younger aged marcher in The Cadevaliers

Are there more marchers in DCI World Class Corps that arrive at The Cadevaliers at age 20,21, 22, with less marching experience in DCI Corps than those that arrive at the Cadevaliers at ages 17,18,19 ? I doubt it. But I guess we'll never really know without that data being available. But my sense is that the marchers that arrive at The Cadevaliers tend to make the ranks with a higher age, and the DCI experience (by virtue of their higher age), likewise reflects that more seasoned experience as well. I think the data would conclusively show that the average age and average DCI marching experience in The Cadevaliers is significantly higher than the remaining World Class Corps below them. And that this would be true each and every year. But again, without the data, we can only speculate on this, without really knowing the answer to this one way or the other.

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Its hard to quantify this stuff, but I would imagine that the older marcher in The Cadevaliers ( Cadets, Devils, Cavaliers) has more Drum Corps experience than the younger aged marcher in The Cadevaliers

Are there more marchers in DCI World Class Corps that arrive at The Cadevaliers at age 20,21, 22, with less marching experience in DCI Corps than those that arrive at the Cadevaliers at ages 17,18,19 ? I doubt it. But I guess we'll never really know without that data being available. But my sense is that the marchers that arrive at The Cadevaliers tend to make the ranks with a higher age, and the DCI experience (by virtue of their higher age), likewise reflects that more seasoned experience as well. I think the data would conclusively show that the average age and average DCI marching experience in The Cadevaliers is significantly higher than the remaining World Class Corps below them. And that this would be true each and every year. But again, without the data, we can only speculate on this, without really knowing the answer to this one way or the other.

youre right.......most ( not all ) in the 19-22 range.( more to the higher end )..a few members are the exception but very few

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When was the last time a YOUNG corps won the DCI title? 2000 Cavaliers? 1995 Cavaliers? 1996 Phantom Regiment?

Other than those three, seems like everyone else was pretty old.

Then again, I'm basing that entirely upon how old they look. 95' cavaliers looks YOUNG, real young.

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But we don't know a thing about you, or where you may have gotten the inside information to which you claim to be privy, 'surk. You can't just come out here and make a pronouncement, and then when someone questions you answer with that doublespeak "I have...you may not believe...big difference" stuff. Well, I suppose you can - but don't expect much as far as anyone taking you or your position seriously.

Peace,

Fred O.

There is no doublespeak, I was just commenting that the previous post that I was alluding to, was making a personal attack (albeit unintentionally) rather than a comment on the statement. That is all.

Leave it to DCP'ers to twist things.......

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Yep. It's not age -- it's experience and training (and -- as you point out -- factors not related to the performer like staff) . Except for some (slight) physical aspects I don't believe age (in and of itself) has much impact.

But everyone hears that average age stat and jumps to the (wrong) conclusion.

Correlation does not imply causation.

Be interesting to see how good Cadets2 are this summer in DCA. They are primarily made up of HS students.

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