Is Drum Corps still a youth based activity?

[Drum Korps Fan Man]

I vote no because DCI seems so focused on making money as opposed to entertaining people or making it easy to provide an awesome experience. maybe I'm wrong. I hope so.

[doyle079]

letting kids vote at 18 thats ridiculous, must make them no longer youth. i kid

but really they/we are still youth. your no longer youth, when you have to raise a family or work at a "real" job for 40hours a week and are always in need of a weekend. maybe around 25?

[Piper]

There's no way that DCI is youth orientated anymore. Just look at Blue Devils C. Those old timers are awesome out there. Ok...ok...I'm being sarcastic.

[Penn State]

However, recall the number of corps that were around back then, most of which had average ages significantly younger than today's "highest level" corps. With that many active corps during those years, "youth-based" was mostly accurate.

It's concerning that the language often used today (particularly for garnering financial support for the activity) leads people to believe that it is one focused on "kids and youth development," when we all know that that is generally no longer the case. Also, the "let's support the kids" soapbox seems to be put away quickly when it comes to people actually attending the Open Class events. In fact, clearly the "highest level" corps could/should more accurately be described as adults, many of whom are well into their college years with the financial means to afford today's corps dues, as well as being able to afford putting "real life" on hold for nearly three months of the year in order to tour. We gladly pay $55.00 and up per ticket to see these top adult performers.

It's also interesting how those that believe that the drinking age should be lowered ("if they can fight for their country...") likewise want to continue to rationalize today's DCI activity as a "youth-based" activity that's "for the kids." To say the least, "Youth-based" is obviously misleading.

Well said!