Sunguardmom

So glad to see winter guard starting again down here in sunny (but cold) South Florida. I was able to go to the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami regional yesterday and I figured I would post my reviews of what I saw. I wasn’t able to make it to prelims because of work, but when I met up with some friends I had heard a lot about what had happened that morning. I did hear about all of the judging issues, I wonder if those were fixed up for finals. Scholastic A: Spanish River is in a league of their own with this group. I’m not sure how I feel about their show personally, but they are definitely a talented group of kids. The show is just kind of there for me though. I kind of felt that way about all of the groups that were in SA finals. Coral Glades, Timber Creek, and Cypress Bay all had nice shows. I just wish that one of them pushed the boundaries a little more. All of them are filled with talented kids though and well put together shows. Lyman definitely stuck out to me, although I felt they didn’t have a very strong run to go along with their very strong look and show. Seemed a little sloppy, which is probably why they gave up their higher placement from prelims. Independent A: Medea seems really young, and not what I am used to from them. I remember the girls who looked like they could be cocktail waitresses at a casino. However, this group looks very young and high school-aged. I think they will be doing a lot of growing over the course of the season and will definitely improve. I believe Gainesville Independent is new, but look quite polished for this time of year. I would like to see a little more meat in their show but I won’t discredit their graceful performance. FIU has taken jumps forwards from last year and I am so happy to see them back in a good spot!! Scholastic Open: I hate to say this, but this was probably the most disappointing class for me. I loved University last year, and I love their show this year. However, those kids couldn’t hang on to anything last night. I really liked them and thought they could have been a lot higher---had they caught half of what they tossed. Hopefully they got the wake up call. Colonial was very weak, but held themselves together pretty well. I heard their run in prelims was not pretty and had really pulled it together for finals. Santaluces seems the same this year as they do in past years, but they had a pretty decent run. I don’t understand the show though at all. I would have flip flopped Cooper City and Cypress Creek personally. Cypress Creek had a much better run though than Cooper City. Not that Cooper City had a bad run, they were just a little sloppy in comparison to Cypress Creek. I think this group of 5 will have lots of flipping around throughout the course of the season. Scholastic World: I’m not sure why people were so upset over Flanagan. I kept hearing how they are not anything like they were last year (minus the ending flag feature allegedly being the same). I thought they did really well though. In comparison to the rest of the guards they did deserve their score. It was really impressed though and I think they will do well again this year. I’m not going to predict placements in Dayton because I haven’t heard about anyone else, but I do think they will do well. Stoneman Douglas is not the same guard I’m used to. I’m going to hope for the best for them and assume they will continue to grow and get better. I think the fact that they are smaller than we are used to is impacting the way we view them. They are such strong young women and used to create intensity based on how many intense women there would be on that floor. I expected to have to wear ear plugs for Seminole’s show based on previous reports on how their music was irritating and hard to listen to. However, I think this is the best Seminole that I have seen yet. I didn’t really care for Freedom’s show. They did a really good job though with what they have. Independent World: I liked Fahrenheit a whole lot more than I did last year. The crowd was loving every minute of their show. The Knights show seemed very similar to Freedom’s. They are a lot bigger than they were last year and it gives you a lot to look at. I just couldn’t get into the show though unfortunately. Premonition was one of the crowd favorites of the night and definitely gets people on their feet. I think that they will get into finals though this year for sure. Did they use the same music at Fahrenheit though? I wasn’t sure, but I was thinking about that on the way home. I loved Braddock Independent though. They were the highlight of the night for me and my friends around me. Their saber line was probably the tightest saber line of the night and their movement put them in a totally different realm all together. These are just my thoughts though IMHO and I hope I’m not sparking any debates. Good luck everyone!

SA: Spanish River, University IA: Patriots, Wakefield SO: Mission Viejo, Countryside IO: USF SW:Cypress Falls IW: Signature Good luck to all groups next week in Dayton! I wish I could be there!

The TOSS! DVD is really well put together and very informative. It helped me clear up a couple of things myself, and really reinforces what I teach my students. I've started using it as a teaching tool, letting my more advanced members take it home to refine what they can do as well as my young ones to help them get that head start.

My goodness, I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I read that Logan may not be going to China. To think that all of this speculation and curiosity that has been going on all year long would be thrown the biggest curve ball possible. IMHO I believe that Flanagan could definitely take home one of the medals this year. Every time I see them they just seem to get stronger and stronger. When I'm watching them I forget that they are 14-18 years old. I hope these kids don't stop spinning after high school. I wonder if they all go to Braddock.

My opinions may be off since I have only been to the Ft. Lauderdale and Pensacola regionals (Orlando as well in a few weeks). Plus a couple of SFWGA and FFCC shows. I think Florida could have quite a few finalists though: The Knights, Braddock, Stoneman Douglas, Fahrenheit World, Freedom, University, Cooper City, Colonial, and maybe a few others. Plus I think that they could have a couple of guards in medal contention this year: Northeast Independent, Flanagan, River City Independent, and Fahrenheit A. It's not just the weather down here that is hot hot hot.

I have seen a number of both through Replay, Ft. Lauderdale regional, youtube, you name it! However, Imogen Heap is still reigning over the activity this year again.