Jeff Ream Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Hundreds of 10-13 Year olds in DCI corps????? Really???? EVERY World and OPEN CLASS corps I know of has a Minimun age of 14 (some are 15).Amount (percent) of 10-13 Year olds on this site vs us seasoned folks? Very small. he shoots, he scores Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) Hundreds of 10-13 Year olds in DCI corps????? Really???? EVERY World and OPEN CLASS corps I know of has a Minimun age of 14 (some are 15).Amount (percent) of 10-13 Year olds on this site vs us seasoned folks? Very small. No, I'm not referring primarily here to " hundreds of 10-13 year olders in DCI Corps " I'm referring to 10-13 year olders that are" Drum Corps fans", go to shows, some march in ( my quote above) " Parade Corps," and also ( my quote above ) " DCI feeder Corps " and are seen at ( also my quote above ) " in the stands " and " at the concessions stands ". Yes, there are " Hundreds of Drum Corps fans " in the country that are between 10-13 and also " hundreds of them march in Drum Corps " too. I also did not dispute the fact that the amount of 10-13 year olders participating in this tread poll above probably" is very small ". I did say that it is likely that the amount of 10-13 year olders participating in this poll is probably no less than those over 60 that participated in it. And it could bre more, as more 10-13 year olders are computer saavy and follow DCI on this site probably as much as those over 60 who tend to gravitate to the DCA Board. But hey, it's just a guess. And an opinion. Nobody really knows the age of the respondants to this poll on this thread. I'm willing to acknowledge that it's entirely possible that more over 60 year olders participated in this poll on this thread than those between 10-13. At the end of the day, the age of those participating is much less critical than their experience level with DCI. Keep in mind, the poll on this this thread asks the question for poll participants on their DCI thoughts of DCI as success or failure " FROM IT"S INCEPTION " to today. Age is not critical here. But I think experence would be,especially if we are asking people to compare DCI from it's inception days through to today. Edited February 15, 2009 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) nevermind... hit the wrong button when I went to edit Edited February 15, 2009 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsMom Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Hmm... both my kids were in the 10 - 13 year range when they joined an open class corps. I even knew a few World class kids that started before they were 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 what parade corps are left? just asking out of curiousity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bari Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Well, here's their published mission statement from midway through the DCI era:Let's break this down. 2. Promote, develop and preserve the operational and artistic standards of the competitive musical sport: Quite a mouthful. Artistic standards, however, are created by the corps, not DCI. DCI's job is clearly on the operational side (as it should be). How have they done there? They do promotional work, yes. On the other hand, many have pointed out to me that it is not DCI's job to "develop" operating models or the corps that populate them. At least, that's the rationale (excuse) they give for why DCI doesn't do that sort of thing. "Preserve" must be measured in terms of the most obvious quantitative variables - number of corps, number of participants, number of fans, number of events. How'd they do? Well, here's a rough tally of how today's activity compares to the 1972 activity: Corps: 10% Marchers: 30% Fans: 50% Events: 35% In summary, they promote, but do not develop and have not preserved. Fail. Think about it this way: Would the activity be nearly as popular without DCI? No. Because of this, it's a success.And besides, why do people always complain about the evolution of drum corps? Everything evolves over time. Otherwise we'd still be watching I Love Lucy in black and white and driving cars that take up half of the road. Evolution is good. Your arguement does not address the fact that Drum Corps before DCI was able to put butts in the stands and kids on the field... Maybe it was a better model for a YOUTH organization! With the local circuit tours and before DCI there were way way more corps! According to the above statistics! In fact with only 10% of the corps still thriving the fans loose in a big way! Maybe the ones lucky enough to live near a large national tour venue will get so see a WORLD CLASS CORPS! But everyone else just gets to pay for travel or see feeder corps! This is why there are only half the number of fans attending now vs 1972! Although there is certainy more population now than in 1972 it is not a good feeling that corps membership is 70% lower than it was in 1972 and that there are 65% fewer events! So except for a few lucky people who live near enough to a big venue drum corps is cut off unless you think a web cast is in some way the same as being there live! Then there are the few lucky kids who's parents could afford to put them in a world class corps and who were able to make the cut! I am not saying that we were able to put out a competetive product back in the 80's when I marched but we did it with mostly disenfranchised youths from OUR area! Paople were able to work their way up from the B corps and actually get into the A corps so there was a reason for the younger kids to keep working at it! So if being exclusionary is the key identifying factor of a successful YOUTH organization then DCI has succeeded in a big way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) Hmm... both my kids were in the 10 - 13 year range when they joined an open class corps. I even knew a few World class kids that started before they were 14. I'll acknowlewdge that it's possible that the requirements of DCI today may prohibit those under 14 from marching. I'm not up on these newer age restrictions of DCI. If posters here tell us that you must be at least age 14 to march, absent any info to the contrary, I'll accept that this is now the case. However, for the record, most of of the current World Class Corps at one time or another had marchers under the age of 14 that marched in DCI World Class competitions. I know for a fact that The Cadets, Blue Devils, Crossmen, Troopers, Boston, Blue Stars, SC Vanguard, Phantom Regiment have all competed in DCI with members under the age of 14. ( I'm just not sure about Cavs, Blue Knights, Crown, Madison and some of the others ) So I'm with you on this point, DrumCorpsMom, that DCI World Class and Open Class Corps used to age restrict starting at age 21 or 22, but not before, and that LOTS of kids under the age of 14 marched in DCI Open Class and Lower in prior DCI years. Edited February 15, 2009 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Your arguement does not address the fact that Drum Corps before DCI was able to put butts in the stands and kids on the field... Maybe it was a better model for a YOUTH organization!With the local circuit tours and before DCI there were way way more corps! According to the above statistics! In fact with only 10% of the corps still thriving the fans loose in a big way! Maybe the ones lucky enough to live near a large national tour venue will get so see a WORLD CLASS CORPS! But everyone else just gets to pay for travel or see feeder corps! This is why there are only half the number of fans attending now vs 1972! Although there is certainy more population now than in 1972 it is not a good feeling that corps membership is 70% lower than it was in 1972 and that there are 65% fewer events! So except for a few lucky people who live near enough to a big venue drum corps is cut off unless you think a web cast is in some way the same as being there live! Then there are the few lucky kids who's parents could afford to put them in a world class corps and who were able to make the cut! I am not saying that we were able to put out a competetive product back in the 80's when I marched but we did it with mostly disenfranchised youths from OUR area! Paople were able to work their way up from the B corps and actually get into the A corps so there was a reason for the younger kids to keep working at it! So if being exclusionary is the key identifying factor of a successful YOUTH organization then DCI has succeeded in a big way! 48,000 at finals in 1972? What stadium holds 48,000 on the show side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) 48,000 at finals in 1972? What stadium holds 48,000 on the show side? I read his post twice, and don't see where he mentioned twice as many people" AT FINALS " at all. I think he may be referring to the entire Drum Corps summer tour of 1972 having twice a many fans seeing a DCI Drum Corps show as ( for instance ) last year. If that was his reference point, I think he's probably correct. In 1972, there were a lot more shows of both World Class, Open, and Div.3. In addition, that year the VFW and AL still had their National Championships and were attended by upwards of 30,000 each, and some of the DCI Corps went and competed along with some of the non aligned Drum Corps that had not yet joined DCI. Thus, it's not a stretch at all it seems to me, to say that" twice as many people " attended Junior Drum Corps competitions in the summer of 1972 compared to any single DCI year from the last decade or so. Edited February 15, 2009 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig III Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 For that reason I voted DCI is a failure.It just needs to merge with BOA and get it over with. It this EVER happens, I will lose all respect for drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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