DrumlineMom

You rock.

I never said any of what you said above- you inferred and assumed and completely misinterpreted my post. There are kids in Spirit who I worry will have neck problems later in life due to all the Deltas they wear around their necks from marching multiple seasons!! There are also many who are rookies. the reality of the situation is that Spirit is willing to give rookies a chance, if they are up to the challenge, are hard-working kids who want to learn. This has NO bearing on their competitiveness, desire to achieve, or ability to do well. I watched my son march in Semis in Spirit. He cried. I cried. His dad cried. We stayed and watched finals the next day. Would I have been prouder if they were in finals? NOPE.

Snarelife, PLEASE do not fall under the illusion that marching somewhere other than a top 12 WC co rps is "aiming low" or "under-achieving." Corps is hard work, no matter where you march or how you finish. I promise you that the "lower ranking" corps work very, very hard and the opportunities for growth there are so great. Please, please, please march this season. If a top 12 WC spot doesn't happen, please don't let your backup be Couchmen. Seriously. There are so many high quality programs looking for motivated individuals. I am confident that you can absolutely find a spot. The corps experience is so amazing- please don't deprive yourself of it just because things don't go exactly the way you want them. Life is well, kinda like that. Again, good luck to you in whatever you decide to do. The journey to the "home" corps may take a few twists along the way, but I'm of the firm belief that this is the one activity in the world where things really seem to work out for a lot of folks-- sometimes, it's just hard to see it that way when we don't get exactly what we want, when we want it. Hold on tight to your dreams, and be willing to walk the path that you need to reach them. Don't let anyone tell you that you are "aiming low" by paying your dues, as soooooooo many before you have done. Again, good luck and best wishes to you.

Don't know if they will again this season, but Forte did a lot of recruiting in Ohio and held camps there. This was their first season out, Open Class finalist corps. Really great folks over there.

I am a parent of a two-year drum corps vet, so while I don't know a whole lot, I do feel like I've learned a thing or two about the drum corps experience, particularly in percussion. There is a certain amount of dues paying in drum corps and while that idiom does not hold true 100% of the time, it's the average experience. In light of this, you might want to consider adjusting your expectations a tad, and broaden your horizons a little to make sure that you are able to experience corps this next summer. It might be a bit unrealistic to expect to walk in to PR, Cavaliers, or any other top 8 with absolutely no experience at all. While ability counts for a lot in these programs, experience does too. Again, it's not unheard of to get a spot never having done this before, but it is also not common. There are some very high quality open class programs, and "teaching" world class programs such as Spirit and Pioneer who are always looking for young, motivated individuals who want to work hard, get better, and don't expect to skyrocket straight to the top at their first go-round. If that describes you, I'd encourage you to give those corps a chance and learn from some great staff, learn how to tour (yes, this is a learning process, and might be better to do it with people who understand that you are learning), and do all of this in an atmosphere with a bit less pressure. By all means though, try for your dreams because you never know...but in the meanwhile, develop a back-up plan and understand that the top 8 is NOT the only "good" drum corps experience you can have. Good luck to you!

I admit I haven't read this whole thread, so if my opinion is redundant, I apologize. I believe that it is NEVER appropriate to boo at ANY drum corps show for ANY reason. Don't like a particular corps for political or other reasons? Hate the game, not the player. To "boo" kids who paid thousand(s) of dollars to tour, have busted their butts in the hot sun, given up summer job opportunities, taken cold showers, traveled thousands of miles, slept on gym floors, and missed their friends and families ALL in the name of entertaining a crowd, and they get BOO'ed? No. Highly inappropriate IMO. This isn't a question of freedom of speech, it is a question of class and respect. Don't want to clap or stand for said corps? Fine, don't. I looked around and saw a lot of silence after the first place performer finished but at least it wasn't mean-spirited. While this show, simply put, wasn't my fave, I still clapped for the EFFORT THE KIDS PUT ON THE FIELD. There are a lot of different reasons for applause. I know that the kids in all the corps work extremely hard, regardless of their placement. And whether it was last place or first, they all worked until the very end to bring all of us an excellent season. They at least deserve respect for that.

They were amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable. The crowd went absolutely bananas. If ever a corps needed a comeback, it's this one. Holy cow.

It will probably keep filling up. General admission was sold out. -also to add- earlier in the day, it was pretty hot out. I'm a native Texan and even I thought it was hot here in Indy today. Seemed like around 6 it started to cool off a lot though.

DCI tech support told me that the PS3 doesn't support the versions of Flash that they post, so at this time I couldn't use my PS3 to see the fan network.

LOL, the Spirit kids got a really good chuckle out if this, btw.

FINALLY!!!! Jeez louise, I was beginning to think Spirit was never gonna get that 80! Keep it up!! I am also happy to see Bloo doing so well this year!!!! WTG!

My son marched open class as a 15 year old last year, and WC as a 16 year old this year. He just turned 17 yesterday, as a matter of fact, and will be a junior this year. He certainly plans to continue to march. We, too, have just had to communicate with the school and he really stayed on top of things to complete his finals and get out of school about two days early to move in on time. Some in his corps weren't so lucky, but they work with the kids so it's cool. We fell into the myth that our kid couldn't march WC as a high-schooler and that really seems to be not true. Many corps are willing to work with motivated, hard-working, talented high schoolers. Experience marching corps helps too, which is why open class corps IMO are so valuable. I very much agree with the comment that as a high schooler marching in the WC, having supportive parents is overwhelmingly helpful. I sat back and let the kiddo make most of the school arrangements, with the caveat that at a sign of trouble I would step in. Thankfully, they gave him none whatsoever. it was a pretty cool lesson. I'm glad this thread has been started to dispel a myth that could really discourage talented high school students from having an amazing experience, and corps from getting them :-)

Yes. THanks for pointing that out.

ME TOO! These kids are KILLING themselves with this show- a LOT of improvement and really long, grueling hours in the Tx heat have gone down. These kids are bent on working on this until the very end. Spirit KSA!

LOL!! Well, when we did this ;-), it was Cavies. Lots and lots of Cavies. And a poster of the Cavies drumline was hung in the nursery. i wish I was kidding, but I'm totally serious. But hey, kid is finishing his 2nd season of drum corps as a 17 year old, so I guess it worked!