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Just How Young Were Those Early DCI Champion Corps?


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In 1977 the Boston Crusader's were not a championship corp but we certainly put on a great show. My youngest brother was only 12 years old at the time and yet he was marching that year as a snare drummer for a Crusader drum line that came in 12th place. Even at age 12 he was one of the best if not the best snare in the section which is not in any way putting down the other members in the section he was just that good. That was the year the Crusader's carried Iso-Snare's which featured a snare drum with a mounted tom on each side. The poor kid had to lug them around all year which of course included parades and retreats. I still feel bad that as his older brother I didn't step in and convince the drum line to give him a break from time to time. I was a Soprano player living the easy life though those were the days of drum lines marching up and down the 50 yard line while the brass line and color guard were the ones scurrying around making all the pretty pictures. It was still too much to ask of a 12 year old especially with our Crusader "military bearing" which at times was a bit unbearable for everyone never mind a 12 year old carrying an Iso-Snare. He was beyond talented and went on to attend the New England Conservatory of Music. He played gig for Aretha Franklin in Providence R.I. when her percussionist had to beg off. He also did a gig for Carly Simon on Martha's Vinyard. He was a member of a great local Boston band called "High Function" that featured a lot of great funk music. What's he doing now? He's into computers of course and doing G.B. gigs.

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  • 3 months later...

My first year in Garfield ('83), I was 16. My son marched his first year with Surf when he was 12, and stayed for 8 of the 10 years he was eligible to march.

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The average age of most of the top placing Junior Corps in the East ( and Canada ) in the 60's and early 70's was probably just a tad under 20... as just about all of 'em were marching overage members back then... some as old as 24-25 in their Corps... and so that skewed the average age upwards more than what one might ordinarily think.

Edited by BRASSO
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The average age of most of the top placing Junior Corps in the East ( and Canada ) in the 60's and early 70's was probably just a tad under 20... as just about all of 'em were marching overage members back then... some as old as 24-25 in their Corps... and so that skewed the average age upwards more than what one might ordinarily think.

It's my understanding that if the "average age of the entire corps" in regards specifically to the Canadian corps was no higher than 21, a member could march if over 21; I may be wrong but thought that was the case with Canadian rules at the time. This was back in the 60's.

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It's my understanding that if the "average age of the entire corps" in regards specifically to the Canadian corps was no higher than 21, a member could march if over 21; I may be wrong but thought that was the case with Canadian rules at the time. This was back in the 60's.

Good question. I'm just not aware that Canadian Junior Corps in the 60's might have had such a policy, so I can neither confirm nor deny the factual nature of what you are stating here on this. Maybe somebody else here might know if this is accurate or not.

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In Canada, in the 1950s and 60s people over 21 were allowed to march in Junior Corps. e.g. Jim McConkey marched as DM with the Toronto Optimists in the early 60s. In regard to the question of this thread, although not a champion corps, the 27th Lancers marched quite a few kids aged 11 and 12 during the 1974 season. And were very glad to have them, too.

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I believe at least a couple of Canadian Junior Corps had ties to Colleges in Canada ( De La Salle, at one time perhaps ? ) As such, presumably if one attended college there, it is conceivable that one would be over 21, and could march if they wanted to.

Thanks for confirming that Canadian Junior Corps... whether connected to colleges or not... were permitted to march in the Junior Corps in the 50's and 60's if they were over the age of 21. I was not aware of this. I was aware however that when I saw a few of these Corps... even into the DCI early years..., that there was no question in my own mind that quite a few were no doubt marching over 21'ers in their Corps. But like I said, many of the USA top placing east coast Junior Corps were marching those north of 21 years old too in the 60's and then into the early DCI years of the 70's as well. DCI began the crackdown on marching overage marchers in the mid 70's, and that cut back on the level of overage marchers. Interestingly enough, DCI itself raised the age limit from 21 to 22 a few years back.

Edited by BRASSO
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It's my understanding that if the "average age of the entire corps" in regards specifically to the Canadian corps was no higher than 21, a member could march if over 21; I may be wrong but thought that was the case with Canadian rules at the time. This was back in the 60's.

When I look at old photos many DMs were over 21. DMs in Canada (late 1960's and early 1970's) were mostly corps directors or horn instructors or M&M instructors. I often wondered why my corps insisted I become DM April 1972. Perhaps the rules changed because of DCI and if we wanted to compete south everyone had to be under 21? I was 16 at the time and boom I was DM. Our corps may have been average age 17 or 18 in 1972. I know AAG had an average age of 16 and a half in 1977 because that was the only year the directors kept age statistics.

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