How would you define A class?

[MHSmirage]

A frustration over the lack of judging consistancy, and utter confusion over the A class in general, I ask myself and you all this question.... Is it better to have a show that people will remember, or one that will win?

I watched most of my circuit's finals this year and asked my kids what they thought. Thier fave show was Mc Neil's "RAD!" show...a program that gave a great tribute to 80's workout videos. This show, while extremely clever and a fantastic step aerobic block ending flag feature, was not in metal contention.

I guess i'm just over the "vanilla" show concept to even be top 5 in A class at circuit.

Am I totally alone?

[TrishDish1002]

Wait a second....

I am relatively well known in this activity. I've performed and taught in WGI and DCA. AND I'm that Community Admin for THIS FORUM!!!

Yet my kids placed 7th at their championships Saturday night (and deservedly so)

Sometimes it helps to know people, but don't generalize!

This behavior is certainly common. I teach an SA group, but am fortunate to teach with someone who is very well connected in the activity. There's no doubt that we get treated well, both in our circuit and at WGI events. I'm certainly not saying that we get an unfair advantage competitively, but when the Contest Director, T&P guy, Regional Director, Chief Judge, Sound guy, etc. are all old friends, they're going to be a little nicer. It's human nature. The truth is (sad though it may be), one of the best things you can do for your program is get chummy with the big shots in the activity.

[Jak]

Wait a second....

I am relatively well known in this activity. I've performed and taught in WGI and DCA. AND I'm that Community Admin for THIS FORUM!!!

Yet my kids placed 7th at their championships Saturday night (and deservedly so)

Sometimes it helps to know people, but don't generalize!

I think if you'll read my post, you'll see I said we don't get an unfair competitive advantage. But the officials are nice to us and talk to us because they are friends. There are people in the activity who are snobs, and can be very rude unless you are connected with the right people.

I remember standing in line for sound check before WGI finals at the Dayton arena a few years ago. The sound people and somebody else (Contest Director or something) were there and were being pretty rude to people. When it was my turn they made some huffy comment to me about how I was gonna have to wait and then proceeded to ignore me. Just then Tommy Keenum walked in to the arena. The people at the sound table were going ga-ga. "Oh, look who it is." "He looks great." "I wonder who he's here with." As Tommy walked by, he gave me a hug, asked how I was doing, and wished me luck. Well I certainly had their attention then! They were all "Would you like to listen to it now? Is that ok? Is there anything else we can do?" It was so funny!

[N Murphy]

Our budget is really small, and we design our own shows. We had (what I thought was) a really neat concept, great song, floor design that went with it all.

We pushed the kids work wise. We weren't the cleanest of clean, but out of 19, we had 13 rookies, and only 6 vets. That's tough numbers experience wise, but I really feel we did a good job pulling it off!

What I wish: to have someone in the 'design capacity' to tell me what I did right, and what I did wrong. Not to pick me apart in terms of performance and expression, and shoulder facings. I want to know if the DESIGN of my show, the IDEA of it, is it on the right track?

This was my 5th season doing this. 2nd year in class A. In Indiana. This is our second season writing our own show. (in the past we had another person writing the drill).

Any takers?

[danishmodern]

did you compete at a wgi event? if so, contact shirlee whitcomb. she can put you in touch with an experienced designer at the world class level who will give you feed back.

i did that this season and it helped a lot. i spent an hour on the phone with a scholastic world designer. he told me flat out things we needed to fix in the show, etc.

after reading your post i am thinking that i will call him back in a week or two and ask him what he thought about our show at the end of the season after we made changes and got it clean, etc. you are right... i'd be nice to have someone tell me what worked and what didn't and why.

Our budget is really small, and we design our own shows. We had (what I thought was) a really neat concept, great song, floor design that went with it all.

We pushed the kids work wise. We weren't the cleanest of clean, but out of 19, we had 13 rookies, and only 6 vets. That's tough numbers experience wise, but I really feel we did a good job pulling it off!

What I wish: to have someone in the 'design capacity' to tell me what I did right, and what I did wrong. Not to pick me apart in terms of performance and expression, and shoulder facings. I want to know if the DESIGN of my show, the IDEA of it, is it on the right track?

This was my 5th season doing this. 2nd year in class A. In Indiana. This is our second season writing our own show. (in the past we had another person writing the drill).

Any takers?

[TrishDish1002]

HAHA!

I think if you'll read my post, you'll see I said we don't get an unfair competitive advantage. But the officials are nice to us and talk to us because they are friends. There are people in the activity who are snobs, and can be very rude unless you are connected with the right people.

I remember standing in line for sound check before WGI finals at the Dayton arena a few years ago. The sound people and somebody else (Contest Director or something) were there and were being pretty rude to people. When it was my turn they made some huffy comment to me about how I was gonna have to wait and then proceeded to ignore me. Just then Tommy Keenum walked in to the arena. The people at the sound table were going ga-ga. "Oh, look who it is." "He looks great." "I wonder who he's here with." As Tommy walked by, he gave me a hug, asked how I was doing, and wished me luck. Well I certainly had their attention then! They were all "Would you like to listen to it now? Is that ok? Is there anything else we can do?" It was so funny!

[N Murphy]

did you compete at a wgi event? if so, contact shirlee whitcomb. she can put you in touch with an experienced designer at the world class level who will give you feed back.

i did that this season and it helped a lot. i spent an hour on the phone with a scholastic world designer. he told me flat out things we needed to fix in the show, etc.

after reading your post i am thinking that i will call him back in a week or two and ask him what he thought about our show at the end of the season after we made changes and got it clean, etc. you are right... i'd be nice to have someone tell me what worked and what didn't and why.

No, we don't do any WGI events right now.

[rochguardguy]

A frustration over the lack of judging consistancy, and utter confusion over the A class in general, I ask myself and you all this question.... Is it better to have a show that people will remember, or one that will win?

I watched most of my circuit's finals this year and asked my kids what they thought. Thier fave show was Mc Neil's "RAD!" show...a program that gave a great tribute to 80's workout videos. This show, while extremely clever and a fantastic step aerobic block ending flag feature, was not in metal contention.

I guess i'm just over the "vanilla" show concept to even be top 5 in A class at circuit.

Am I totally alone?

No you are not totally alone...trust me. I know many that feel the same way as you...it is sad when you realize what it takes to have your kids do well in competition but feel like you have sold out to do so.