Which corps has the most members from their home state?

[MisterA]

This question stems from something I remember from a couple of years ago. We were sitting next to a couple whose daughter was marching Phantom. They told us that year there wasn't a single member of the corps from the town of Rockford. This really surprised us alot, as Rockford seems like such a big city, and to think not one kid from Rockford was able to make the cut(or maybe none auditioned?) I don't know how good the band programs are in Rockford, but we would have thought that tons of kids from the city would try out for the hometown corps.

So just wondering, how many corps don't have a single kid from their hometown marching? And how many members does/did your corps have from the home state which the corps was located in?

[1977Kingsmen]

Wow i find that hard to believe there must be someone from rockford in the corps.

[MisterA]

Wow i find that hard to believe there must be someone from rockford in the corps.

I found it very surprising as well. There must be at least 10 high schools in Rockford I would guess, and I don't know much about their band programs. Maybe their band programs aren't very good there? Or maybe the band directors don't allow kids to try out for corps, I have heard of that happening in the past with some directors. Personally I would think there would be tons of students from that size town that would strive to march Phantom.

I have also been wondering, since Crossmen moved to Texas, how many members do they have from the state of Texas now? And how many members does Revolution have from Texas?

I would almost guess that corps like Jersey Surf, Mandarins, and Pioneer would have lots of members from their home states, anyone know how many in the last season or two? And if I overheard correctly a few years ago, over half of the members of Academy were from the state of Arizona? I think that was in 2006 when they were champions in DII. Anyone know if that was accurate, or if they still have a large number from Arizona since they went World Class?

[MikeD]

This question stems from something I remember from a couple of years ago. We were sitting next to a couple whose daughter was marching Phantom. They told us that year there wasn't a single member of the corps from the town of Rockford. This really surprised us alot, as Rockford seems like such a big city, and to think not one kid from Rockford was able to make the cut(or maybe none auditioned?) I don't know how good the band programs are in Rockford, but we would have thought that tons of kids from the city would try out for the hometown corps.

So just wondering, how many corps don't have a single kid from their hometown marching? And how many members does/did your corps have from the home state which the corps was located in?

I think you will find that most of the corps members are in college, not HS, so the direct tie-in between Rockford HS music programs and the making Regiment is not as relevant as one might think.

[BRASSO]

This question stems from something I remember from a couple of years ago. We were sitting next to a couple whose daughter was marching Phantom. They told us that year there wasn't a single member of the corps from the town of Rockford. This really surprised us alot, as Rockford seems like such a big city, and to think not one kid from Rockford was able to make the cut(or maybe none auditioned?) I don't know how good the band programs are in Rockford, but we would have thought that tons of kids from the city would try out for the hometown corps.

So just wondering, how many corps don't have a single kid from their hometown marching? And how many members does/did your corps have from the home state which the corps was located in?

I believe that I was told that Phantom Regiment, unlike other years, will have 1 marcher marching this year from the City of Rockford, Illinois. But I don't know why this subject keeps coming up all the time as Corps now attract marchers from all over the world now. Corps now define " home " as where they do the bulk of their fund raising to support their Corps, not the town where the majority of its marchers are from. This " change ", where marchers come to the World Class Corps from all over, has come into being decades ago. Neighborhood Corps, Town Corps, Parish Corps, etc died out decades ago. I do believe we'll see that as we move down the classification of the Corps, we might see more marchers within that Corps coming to that Corps a little closer to where they principally fundraise, then perhaps the World Class Division Corps that now attract marchers not just from within the state, region, country, from from all over the world now. It is afterall, called Drum Corps "International". I do believe that the younger fans here will see in their lifetime more competition shows among Corps ( here and abroad ) that are based overseas in future decades, and where DCI will have their championships abroad some years. We've already had DCI Championships outside the USA before, and we'll see a site Championship or two someday in Europe or the Far East. It won't happen right away, but it will eventually in my opinion as the activity grows in popularity abroad in the coming decades in future years. The travel costs associated with this will be a challenge, but travel costs have nnot stopped us yet, and perhaps in future years, as the world shrinks,travel costs might come down and it should become doable for at least some of the World Class Division Drum Corps International Corps currently based in the US.

Edited May 9, 2012 by BRASSO

[rkfdPRphan]

Actually there are TWO Rockford kids marching in Phantom Regiment this year!!!!

Rockford is a very, very depressed area right now. Our manufacturing businesses have closed shop and left the town almost broke.

To keep our public schools in the black, music was cut way back.

When I was in high school (1969-71..... ) EVERY Rockford school had a great marching band with matching unis, a full orchestra and lots of smaller music quintets and such......now, in a lot of cases, there is NOTHING.

We do have one gifted public school music program and 3 private high schools. I believe the 2 Rockford members attended one of these schools.

Phantom Regiment gets little support from the city right now, but does put on some great camps at Rockford College for the local kids to attend and gain musical knowledge. I appreciate that more than they can ever know as a Rockford life-long citizen.

This year Rockford has a new 'marching band' that is supposed to show up at our 4th of July parade. It will be interesting to see how it works out.

I suppose this is happening in many cities right now. It just hurts more when its your hometown and you have a great home town Corps. But, as another poster has stated, the top corps are basically college aged kids that come from all over the WORLD to try out, so the lack of local talent might not 'hurt' the overall talent of the corps - just hurt the local support of the fans.

[burgerbob]

Out of the four years I marched at the Casper Troopers, I was the only person even from Wyoming in the hornline for three of them.

There have been a couple guard/pit in those times, but I think the maximum number was six. Only last year did someone from Casper join for the first time in probably a decade.

[kickhaltsforlife]

I remember when I auditioned in 08, there were bus loads of people coming from the airport. And they borrowed Colts and Pioneer's? busses to shuttle people from a bus stop to the school. A lot of people from Texas. And a lot just from all over the place. In fact I ran into someone I went to HS with by surprise.

When I went to Crossmen, I traveled with a lot of the remaining East Coast members and staff. But mostly everyone else was from Texas. A few members from other southern states and other random states. And one kid from Italy...........

I think the corps is still mostly Texans. From all over the state. But I don't know where other people are from.

It was a fun group in 08 and 09 though. Just imagine the culture difference. And a brass caption head from Boston.

[fsubone]

I honestly think the California corps are the best represented in terms of home state members. Just because of the numbers and band programs and drum corps in the state. I know a huge chunk of BD and SCV are California kids, and I assume the numbers in Mandarins, PC, SCVC, and BDB are even higher. I assume most of the Open Class corps are all local kids, with maybe one or two from other places.

[IllianaLancerContra]

During the 70's-early 80s', many, if not most, DCI corps required that at least 75% or so of members be 'local' (definition varied between corps) so they would be available for parades and other performances during the off season.

When locals stopped being the majority of the corps, the corps stopped off-season performances (who wants to see (for example) Phantom with, say 40 members?). And that contributed to the loss of local sponsors. And the curent cycle began.