Ranger Rick Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I'm just curious, looking back at the season... how did the corps that would have been Div III this year benefit from the new Open Class system? What has changed for the better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadsop97 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 my guess is we won't find out until this coming year's open houses. Part of the reason many division III corps struggled with numbers was because when kids got good enough or whatever you want to call it, they would move to division II. With that distinction gone, I have a feeling kids will be less inclined to go to a bigger corps that they're still competing against. Since there is still a sense of loyalty with most open class corps, I have a feeling the corps that would have been div III will have a better retention rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummer79 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 as someone who's had to try and recruit for Div III it's MUCH easier saying Open class and getting a positive response from prospective members Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCfan99 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 as someone who's had to try and recruit for Div III it's MUCH easier saying Open class and getting a positive response from prospective members I agree. It is easier to market the activity in your city and easier to recruit when all you have to say is "open class". I believe that was the original concept. However, many were worried that going open class would force out the smaller groups. It was thought that to compete in this class, you would have to be bigger/stronger/louder etc. An evolution of sorts - only the fit survive. I'm not sure if this is true or not. I think it has to play out a little more. However, it appears that the days of 30 - 40 member corps are gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I agree. It is easier to market the activity in your city and easier to recruit when all you have to say is "open class". I believe that was the original concept.However, many were worried that going open class would force out the smaller groups. It was thought that to compete in this class, you would have to be bigger/stronger/louder etc. An evolution of sorts - only the fit survive. I'm not sure if this is true or not. I think it has to play out a little more. However, it appears that the days of 30 - 40 member corps are gone. That may or may not be true. Spartans had about 40 this year and nearly made it into finals. Now as for the groups that are perennially small, ie Racine Scouts, that may be the case. However, the majority of the corps that I saw at finals were of the "large D3" variety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpsPhan Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 OT, I know, but Matt; as a long time Phan and supporter of the Regiment, I love the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleKnights Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I feel like without the excitement of a race for a small corps championship, attention is pulled away from the small corps. Oregon Crusaders show has not been well received at all on these forums, despite placing incredibly high for a 62 member corps and achieving what would have been the highest Division III score since Mandarins received a 93.7 in 1999. Praise for Citations and Spokane seems to center around caveats like, "Wow, they're so much better than they used to be," or "They're very good considering how small they are." Maybe being a part of Open Class is a better recruitment tool for the lower placing small corps, but not for the top three. Spokane and Citations would have a better time recruiting with bronze and silver medals than with thanks-for-trying medals. Oregon would be ordering rings. Frankly, those kids must feel like they got screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalTones2012 Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 This year's finals seemed to be more mixed than previous years. Spokane, Citations, and OC were mixed into the top tier with all the 100+ member corps, and yet there were still some large corps that didn't make it to finals. Overall, I think any prejudice that was previously given to smaller corps has been eliminated in the judging system. Great start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndzoneEric Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I feel like without the excitement of a race for a small corps championship, attention is pulled away from the small corps. Oregon Crusaders show has not been well received at all on these forums, despite placing incredibly high for a 62 member corps ... I guess it's a matter of how you look at it... corps half full or corps half empty. With this new system, I had forgotten all about numbers and was thinking about the quality of the shows, until you brought it up in your post above. Perhaps one of the positive byproducts of the new system is that it will light a fire under the butts of the corps to grow their programs, both in size and in quality. Oregon and Citations are two great examples this year... but there were many more... especially since only Teal and Surf had mega-size corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 (edited) i was in spokane thunder this past season and the '07 season. i thought initially that we would be crushed simply because of our size but that proved to be wrong. overall i very much like the new class. as for the corps that didnt make finals, i can see how they would feel bad about the new class but personally i like to "play with the big boys" Edited August 14, 2008 by pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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