Staying with a corps

[bluublood]

Forgot to respond to it, sorry. I want to go to the Cadets. I don't want to go to Phantom, or BD, or Cavies, or Crown. The simplest reason (and probably the shallowest) is I wanted to put on that uniform and call myself a Holy Name Cadet. No, they're not the closest, no they're not the cheapest. But they do have 75 years worth of history that I want to be a part of.

Perfect reason.

[dbc03]

It really is just a matter of what you are looking for... I personally don't really think there are "bad" reasons to leave one corps for another. If wanting to win is your thing then go for it*. If you don't care about the competition then that's fine too.

I left my first corps because I wanted to be as good as I possibly could be. I wanted to push myself to my absolute limit of excellence, and I'm not going to lie, yes I wanted to win. I felt that I would be selling myself short if I stayed at my first corps, and I didn't want to look back in 10 years and wonder what might have been. I have no regrets.

* I'm going to qualify this by saying that while wanting to win isn't bad, if that's ALL you are in it for you are probably going to end up disappointed at the end of the season.

[supersop]

Forgot to respond to it, sorry. I want to go to the Cadets. I don't want to go to Phantom, or BD, or Cavies, or Crown. The simplest reason (and probably the shallowest) is I wanted to put on that uniform and call myself a Holy Name Cadet. No, they're not the closest, no they're not the cheapest. But they do have 75 years worth of history that I want to be a part of.

[/thread]

There's nothing to feel guilty about in that reason. You have a goal and you're letting others hold you back from achieving that goal. Many years from now, no one will question your move or why. So long as you continue to show love and respect for Troop and HNC, that's all that matters. Every corps has something different to offer and will shape you in different ways. Just remember what Troop stood for, what you learned there, how it affected your life and pay tribute to that with respect and admiration. Anything anyone has to say about it will only matter if you want it to matter. I'm just curious as to why there needs to be open opinion about your decision. You must really be struggling.

My advice: Enjoy the summer and be a fan of both corps. Do your winter camps and follow your dream. That's all any of us can do.

[Silver_King]

Forgot to respond to it, sorry. I want to go to the Cadets. I don't want to go to Phantom, or BD, or Cavies, or Crown. The simplest reason (and probably the shallowest) is I wanted to put on that uniform and call myself a Holy Name Cadet. No, they're not the closest, no they're not the cheapest. But they do have 75 years worth of history that I want to be a part of.

if thats your reason then i would totally understand if i was at the previous corps and wish you the best.

[BostonRocks]

When I marched, I am old, it was a huge deal to go from one corps to another. It was fairly common to stay with the same corps your entire marching career.

I have friends that are still teaching and they tell me that members tend to bounce around much more than we marched.

[violet]

My husband likes to joke that he left his first midwestern corps for the other corps he marched with because they had better food.

Of course, the second corps was the corps that made hm want to march. His first year, he wasn't able to make that corps, so he went to another to get the experience he needed to make it into the corps he wanted to age-out with.

He still has warm feelings to both, and has been really happy to see his first corps doing well the last few years.

[acolli17]

My husband likes to joke that he left his first midwestern corps for the other corps he marched with because they had better food.

Of course, the second corps was the corps that made hm want to march. His first year, he wasn't able to make that corps, so he went to another to get the experience he needed to make it into the corps he wanted to age-out with.

He still has warm feelings to both, and has been really happy to see his first corps doing well the last few years.

Yeah, not gonna lie, I think Cadets have some amazing food

[Bandguy]

Some things come to mind on this:

1) There are people who will move from one corps to another because a staff member they became attached to moved. I'm not saying at all that a staff member who moves will try to recruit people into the next corps. It's just the thing that if a member wants to keep that connection going he/she can do it by making the move as well.

2) I think there are people who will move simply to get a "second opinion". Everyone in every corps plays, spins, and marches. Like one of the previous posters said, there are those that want to see different ways to get the same result.

3) I've often wondered how much movement would happen if corps announced their programs, say, in October of the previous year. If members knew ahead of time what it is they will be performing, would that make a lot of difference in selecting a corps?

By the way - I totally get the loyalty issue, and I'm a fan of it. If one pours themself into the corps and the corps pours themselves into the member how can you NOT have loyalty for them? I guess I'm thinking you don't necessarily have to have the uniform on to be loyal.

[CERG]

But can anyone give examples/reasons for staying/leaving a corps?

Maybe I shoulda put "Discuss" at the bottom of the original post...

I marched Troop and left the corps for SCV and BD (didn't march the season with BD).

Honestly, I've told many people why I jumped corps and they either don't get it or agree... so here goes.

The Vibe

Its all about the vibe. I met some guys who only went to BD chasing a ring nothing else.... When I was there I loved the people, the staff, the members, the admin, the fans... it was all great, to me it didn't seem like corps that only cared about winning... which its not.

Sames goes for SCV, I loved the aura that seemed to float in the air during camps when Rick was still around. However, to me that feeling left when basically all the staff changed. ( this is just my opinion and the reason I left for BD)

I ended up not marching BD due to health problems so took 06 off and wasn't going to march 07. My roommate convinced me to go to x-men camp, since I convinced him to march the year before.... so i followed. I loved the members but didn't really dig the vibe so I left and decided to not march my age out.

Got a call from an old friend Trevor Bailey, one of the brass guys for Troop and a recruiter, talked some. Then he found out I have another year of eligibility left and gave my number to Scott. I was called later that evening and told to come to camp.

I couldn't have been happier, the people, the staff, the environment, the show... loved everything about it I'm happy to say I was part of Troops rise.

Basically my point is, vibe is the most important thing in deciding whether to stay or leave. What the point of marching somewhere like BD or Cavs, just to get a ring when you hate everything about being there, or when there are more bad things than good. This is a horrible analogy but corps are like foods. Not everyone likes burgers and fries, not everyone likes jello, not everyone likes huge cuts of prime rib. The fact is, everyone has different tastes and may try something new, but if they don't like it they don't eat it.

If you don't like the corps why stay... its better for both sides; the corps and yourself, to be happy.

Hope that makes sense

[Jofus]

I left Madison after 2006 because of the huge staff change. Only one vet was returning to the drumline, and I was pretty nervous about the new staff. I took 2007 off for financial reasons anyway, but I felt more at home at the Cadets in 2008 because it was most of the same faces I saw in the percussion at Madison in 2006. I knew I had a shot at Cadets, so I took it and loved my experience. Too bad I had to age out. I still LOVE Madison, though. I wore my Madison jacket even after marching in the Cadets. Nobody said you can't have tons of pride in more than one corps.