drumcorps00 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Canada competed in the 70's because corps were usually made of "off the street" kids. Today the majority of kids in corps are from marching band. The United States is a Football culture with a unique high school element. Marching band ties in with football in the high schools. Canada is a Hockey culture where hockey is in the community and mostly outside the schools. This is why Canada does not compete on the level it once did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paq Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Canada competed in the 70's because corps were usually made of "off the street" kids. Today the majority of kids in corps are from marching band. The United States is a Football culture with a unique high school element. Marching band ties in with football in the high schools. Canada is a Hockey culture where hockey is in the community and mostly outside the schools. This is why Canada does not compete on the level it once did. Having marched, instructed and lived in both countries I couldn't agree more that this is the main reason corps in Canada have fallen by the wayside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 It didn't help when Kiwanis kept moving to the States. They rehearsed in Buffalo more than Canada and then when they had 5 kids they decided to move rehearsals to Tampa because they had a huge corps there. Then they muscled their staff in an pushed out the Tampa staff and where did they go? To Ft Myer and then tried Miami...boy was that the dumbest decision. Sadly, the great drum corps tradition in Canada is gone. I miss those great corps.... Seneca Princemen/Toronto Optimists/Seneca Optimists Etobicoke Crusaders/DeLasalle Oaklands/Oakland Crusaders Flying Dutchmen/North Stars Ventures Opti-Lancers Opti-Knights Windsor Guardsmen Ambassadors Durham Girls Midlanders Krescendos Canadian Knights etc Having marched, instructed and lived in both countries I couldn't agree more that this is the main reason corps in Canada have fallen by the wayside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iplaytimpani Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 It didn't help when Kiwanis kept moving to the States. They rehearsed in Buffalo more than Canada and then when they had 5 kids they decided to move rehearsals to Tampa because they had a huge corps there. Then they muscled their staff in an pushed out the Tampa staff and where did they go? To Ft Myer and then tried Miami...boy was that the dumbest decision.Sadly, the great drum corps tradition in Canada is gone. I miss those great corps.... Seneca Princemen/Toronto Optimists/Seneca Optimists Etobicoke Crusaders/DeLasalle Oaklands/Oakland Crusaders Flying Dutchmen/North Stars Ventures Opti-Lancers Opti-Knights Windsor Guardsmen Ambassadors Durham Girls Midlanders Krescendos Canadian Knights etc I disagree that the move was a bad decision. The people running the corps were the bad decision. Sometimes corps need to fold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friceox Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 It didn't help when Kiwanis kept moving to the States. They rehearsed in Buffalo more than Canada and then when they had 5 kids they decided to move rehearsals to Tampa because they had a huge corps there. Then they muscled their staff in an pushed out the Tampa staff and where did they go? To Ft Myer and then tried Miami...boy was that the dumbest decision. To this day....I still wonder what would have happened if TBT didn't merge with KK. I remember the first few winter camps were awesome and had a HUGE turnout, we even had kids coming from other states for the first time! Then the merger came about....then a post on RAMD got me to drive up to Rockford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedford Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 (edited) The dollar differential used to be a factor, but now that the Canadian dollar is worth more than the U.S. it is probably due to cross border regulations on both sides that are more of a factor. Pro sports teams now need a full time broker to get teams back and forth. Some players are not allowed into Canada or the U.S. due to DUI's or other infractions . It has just become too much of a problem to move anything larger than a family across the border anymore, let alone a drum corps. This isn't really a factor. Canadian corps are used to that reality. Frankly its more of an issue getting a US corps to come north than the other way around. There are lots of issues here and likely just as many opinions. Edited March 31, 2008 by bedford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 For you younger people...Canada was GREAT for corps and shows! We had a better time there than in NY. 1976 was definitely the best with Oakland and Seneca, Flying Dutchmen and other corps plus a few corps from the States. Bluecoats were there for a few shows too. Stadiums were always filled! Yes bad decisions were made, I agree. Why would you want to move to another country though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kusankusho Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Having marched, instructed and lived in both countries I couldn't agree more that this is the main reason corps in Canada have fallen by the wayside. But that was also true when we did have a lot of corps. Canada was always "hockey" and never big on marching band programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedford Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Canada competed in the 70's because corps were usually made of "off the street" kids. Today the majority of kids in corps are from marching band. The United States is a Football culture with a unique high school element. Marching band ties in with football in the high schools. Canada is a Hockey culture where hockey is in the community and mostly outside the schools. This is why Canada does not compete on the level it once did. The marching band culture and all its offshoots would be the primary reason in my mind. Also the draw that individual participants have for wanting to play on a larger stage. I would have to say the lack of visible support from DCI doesn't help either. Arguable this may be a symptom but, the inability to attract corps north (i.e. no more DCI Canada) or even convince someone at the DCI office to figure out a way to get the Countdown shown here, is not condusive to producing an environment where this could recover a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedford Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 But that was also true when we did have a lot of corps. Canada was always "hockey" and never big on marching band programs. That's true Jimmy. But those days were also influenced by the military association with corps and church support/sponsorship. With those two influences effectively out of the mix, if you combine the hockey culture with increased disposable income for families, which in turn has fostered the availability of a virtually unlimited array of alternate extracirricular activities, and its tough to compete. If the band culture was present then drum corps would at least stand a fighting chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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