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New Housing Opportunity or a Death Knell to Drum Corps


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Reading THIS made me first think of 3.5% more unused football stadiums and unchallenged housing site opportunities for drum corps.

Quoting the article:

"Across the athletic complex, a practice football field sat empty, even though it was recently mown and painted with yardage lines and hash marks. In years past, the junior-varsity team would have been relegated to that grass field. But on this day they had the stadium to themselves, as they will for every practice this fall. Centennial isn't fielding a varsity football team because not enough kids signed up to play.

Participation in high school football is down 3.5 percent over the past five years, according to the annual survey by the National Association of State High School Federations, or NFHS."

But I wonder if a slowly dying football industry actually threatens the fields that drum corps play on and the facilities in which they stay. 

I accept that I may be mountain-climbing up a molehill.

Edited by garfield
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9 minutes ago, garfield said:

Reading THIS made me first think of 3.5% more unused football stadiums and unchallenged housing site opportunities for drum corps.

Quoting the article:

"Across the athletic complex, a practice football field sat empty, even though it was recently mown and painted with yardage lines and hash marks. In years past, the junior-varsity team would have been relegated to that grass field. But on this day they had the stadium to themselves, as they will for every practice this fall. Centennial isn't fielding a varsity football team because not enough kids signed up to play.

Participation in high school football is down 3.5 percent over the past five years, according to the annual survey by the National Association of State High School Federations, or NFHS."

But I wonder if a slowly dying football industry actually threatens the fields that drum corps play on and the facilities in which they stay. 

I accept that I may be mountain-climbing up a molehill.

Interesting point. Fewer football programs, fewer football fields/stadiums.  Like you said.... could impact not only shows, but rehearsal facilities.


Perhaps... some day down the road... all drum corps shows will be held at the H.S. stadiums in Texas, because those will be the last ones left.   LOL.

 

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On one hand, I think the SoundSport, WGI Winds and the Japanese marching band INDOOR models will provide an out for most groups as football fields become more scarce. 

However, as the marching arts continue to grow and expand independent of their football overlords (ha), I think it would be a perfect opportunity for marching groups to start taking on the stadiums as their homes rather than parking lots, etc.

  

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There are also other sports that use the fields (or at least, fields of similar size) too--could see an expansion of men's soccer, for example. And field hockey. And lacrosse! (which, while the field has different dimensions, can at least be played on a football-sized pitch.)

The big stadiums, though...that's a different matter.

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I get the feeling this will be part of larger trend of small rural school districts consolidating in order to pool resources and offer more competitive programs.  Overall it far more efficient to bus kids a few extra miles versus duplicating capital costs of buildings and multiple administrations, etc...

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11 minutes ago, MikeN said:

I think we're talking decades here, not years.  And I suspect the activity, if still around, would just move indoors at that point.

Mike

 

Competitively, it will likely stay outdoors (though the indoor stuff may expand). The only real difference is Friday night performances, and either eliminating those or shifting to halftime at other games (soccer, etc) is a possibility.

I know at my school if football was to disappear, it would ultimately have little impact on the marching band aside from the Friday night aspect.

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I think the OP can coast down the other side of the mole hill with little worries of a wipe out :)  Most of the current big events are sites of professional teams or well entrenched collegiate teams.  I would be more concerned with funding or low participation well before lack of sites/housing. 

However you did get me remembering a little show back in 1988 in Barlow-Vincent OH at Warren High School...not sure of the exact size of the stadium but certainly can't hold more than 1000 if even that.  Was a great show with BD, the Cavies, and VK to headline. BD stayed at Warren High and the Cavies stayed two days at Belpre Middle School in Belpre OH (my hometown).  For Belpre... the field they used was just that a field... (although  I believe in 1984 the Cadets used the sacred High School football field which peeved the football coach and he and the local band director got into it )

Some questions I have (noting I am an outsider per se and not really fluent into the economics of DCI): What would be the smallest venue (stadium) that is currently on the DCI World Class circuit?  Are there any current venues that have a real/perceived shortage of housing? What does a housing site charge to stay? 

Edited by Wog
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We have two HS in our NJ district, West Windsor-Plainsboro North and South (the one I have been working with since 94). The North high school was forced to cancel varsity football this fall, due to a falloff in participation. There were not enough kids to field a team. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, garfield said:

Reading THIS made me first think of 3.5% more unused football stadiums and unchallenged housing site opportunities for drum corps.

Quoting the article:

"Across the athletic complex, a practice football field sat empty, even though it was recently mown and painted with yardage lines and hash marks. In years past, the junior-varsity team would have been relegated to that grass field. But on this day they had the stadium to themselves, as they will for every practice this fall. Centennial isn't fielding a varsity football team because not enough kids signed up to play.

Participation in high school football is down 3.5 percent over the past five years, according to the annual survey by the National Association of State High School Federations, or NFHS."

But I wonder if a slowly dying football industry actually threatens the fields that drum corps play on and the facilities in which they stay. 

I accept that I may be mountain-climbing up a molehill.

given more of the venues DCI performs in, I'm not thinking it's going to be a challenge or concern any time soon.

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