If your kids were going to march

[Piper]

Thank you for writing this. There are reasons for the "military bearing" that go beyond what the public sees. I'm glad you hype on it. It's good stuff!

When I marched the juniors we were afforded quite a bit of freedom on the bus (within reason of course) because it was like our home away from home so to speak. But it was always made very clear to us that the second we stepped off the bus we were in the public eye and were required to behave accordingly. They were REALLY strict about that.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Piper

[Jerseyboy]

Based on off field . Some groups just handle themselves very very well.

travel right , good buses , quality education system.

eat right , get right amount of sleep , have established many years of producing good drum corps.

all get the DCI experience .

treat there members right ON and OFF the field.

1-SCV -the class of DCI ,always good , always treated well , eat well travel well.

2-Cadets , although they had lots of bus problems in 2009 the longevity and alumni base is second to none , Hard work

3-Cavaliers,always respectfull and proud. The all male thing might still seem strange. great alumni

4-Crossmen , Since moving to TEXAS the corps has been treated very well, great buses and travel , quality food and I am told lots of it .everything has gone right except for placements which will fix itself . Org.is in the SCV ,Cavies mold. Biggest diffeernce since moving is quality rehearsal facilities.

5-Blue Stars -another older corps , although they moved down in ranks for a while there ( Div III and DIv. II ). really starting to become the SCV of the midwest.

Edited April 30, 2010 by FanofNight

[Cathie Wiener]

I find it interesting that I really wanted to pick the Cavaliers but I just couldn't because I know they don't allow cell phones on tour.

That's one of the reasons I would want someone to go march there! I have to say my younger brother's drum corps experience in 2009 was MUCH different than my experience in the 90s and the biggest change was that d*mn cell phone. If I had as many opportunities to talk with my non-corps family and friends as he and his fellow corpsmates did because of that stupid cell phone, it would almost seem like I didn't march in corps.

I know I'll come off as an old fart for saying this, but participating in the activity seems much more pristine without that outside influence the cell phone provides. You have to figure out the little quirks of your corpsmates without help, you have to find a way to get along with people in your corps because you're going to be on tour with them, you have to make the mistake of doing your laundry wrong once, etc., etc. That was one of the best parts about drum corps when I marched and that aspect of isolation makes you grow up pretty fast. I know, off topic... oh well.

I know I said I would send my brother to The Academy if I could, but I'll also add Blue Knights to that list like many other people have said. Their rehearsal schedule and effective use of time was outstanding. Blue Knights was a great place to march after Freelancers folded and they really had the same type of corps structure as far as becoming a family and supporting the kids to learn and work hard.

[MikeD]

We had plenty of fun, but when you put on that uniform and are in public play time is over and it is time for your game face. The good news about that is that being a part of that kind of tradition is really fun in and of itself and you can still have fun while you've got your game face on. We hyped on that kind of stuff. We loved acting the part of The Cadets because when we were at shows as fans or members of other corps and we saw the Cadets that is what we saw and wanted to be a part of.

It was that way in my Cadet days too. Great post!

[kansasDC]

I think I might, just might, let my son march in Blue Stars someday. Oh, wait..........

[ContraRich77]

I'd let my kid pick............I'd be a proud papa if BD or SCV was chosen, but I believe all the corps nowadays provide a great experience chock full of hard work and life lessons to learn.......I guess one thing I would do is encourage him/her to march open class if they don't get into the world class corps of their choice.

[A Cavalier TDY]

BD

BK

SCV

ST

VK

alphabetically :-)

ST = Spokane Thunder?

[khoutler]

1. Madison

2. Compromise

3. Compromise

4. Compromise

5. Compromise

...life's too short to settle for second choices.

[AlanAndreasen]

My son, a high school freshman, is currently a rookie member of Colt Cadets. Boy, this is one classy organization - top to bottom. They are all about education. If he stayed with the Colts organization until he ages out then that would be fine by me.

The only other corps I know anything about is Pioneer. Back in the day the Emerald Knights were battling it out in DCM with them. They were such a classy organization, we shared housing frequently, and often helped us out at a moments notice.

For my tastes, SCV would be the ultimate. OMG to have marched the Martha show! What a dream.

[AlexL]

Any corps THEY could afford. If they expected ME to pay those fees for summer marching band, I would suggest/insist they march DCA. The money I save would be spent on their college education.

To be honest, other than some of the more technically advanced majors like engineering\science\medicine, i think one of the biggest benefits of the college education is the growing you do as a person over those 4 years. Id say i got more of that than i did from most of my classes. Where am i going with this? In my summers on tour, i also learned and grew much more than i did anywhere else.