Fastest Growing Youth Activity in America?

[flammaster]

what I see is a whole lot of people who want it to die so they can say "see told you so"!

I'm waiting for the Benghazi defense it 3..2..1

[C.Holland]

many things helped the decline of drum corps overall. those I can think of right now are...

cities & schools offering more options for kids in the way of activities. (softball, soccer, hockey, lacrosse, football, basketball, art club, feng shui, kung fu...etc etc etc)

costs of corps operation rising. (gas, food, rehearsal space) and when a corps can't produce funds for themselves, they pass that expense onto members.

member costs rising to cover corps costs.

cost of show operation rising. (now its a $5000 buy in I think)

Arts grants decreasing or going away altogether for ensembles.

bingo's being less and less profitable every year.

marching band activities growing to a point where kids can get their competitive fix without having to spend extra in the summer. and some point, it was on par with, or more innovative than drum corps, so in some cases, some corps looked like they were years behind the marching arts in general.

shows declining in numbers, which means corps spend more to get from A to B without a bump in appearance fees.

DCA at one point was the big thing to do as it was more athletic than DCI/VFW style corps, and then that changed. Which helped kill some of DCA.

[C.Holland]

however, with sound sport actually showing you can do this activity for a reasonable cost, with minimal space. i hope they continue that. it seems to be working to help grow the activity.

Edited July 14, 2015 by C.Holland

[ajlemm]

No it isn't. His comment is right on point. Sorry if the truth is a downer, but that's just the reality of the situation. For someone who wants us to "Keep it real on the DCP', you sure don't want it real.

You speak as if you know what the truth is. What you are commenting on is opinion, not "truth".

[bill]

I don't think you and I will be able to have a fruitful discussion on this matter, since we clearly don't employ the same basis for evaluation.

I sense you are correct----a generational gap perhaps, inasmuch some have lived what many have only read or heard about.

[Northern Thunder]

IIRC Brian Tolzman(sp?) has a list from his work over the decades.

PS go with my old man.... surprised the activity still exists..... especially with the time and $$$$ needed...

I see my name, and I come running. (It's Tolzmann.)

I do an annual North American junior corps census for every year DCI has been around. This takes into account corps that have been documented as being active, either competing, doing parades or performing standstills, etc. Jim is referring to some published data that I did some years back. I have since expanded the census to include those corps that didn't perform on a field. This gives a better indication of just how many units are really out there. Let's face it, there are corps with no aspirations of being field competitive, and simply exist to offer young people a chance to be a part of a corps.

There were 97 North American junior corps in 2014. There 125 in 2004, 177 in 1994, 262 in 1984 and 624 in 1974. This will give you an idea of active numbers in 10-year spans.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Northern Thunder

[Eleran]

I sense you are correct----a generational gap perhaps, inasmuch some have lived what many have only read or heard about.

You know, one harsh reality I had to face as I grew up: when viewed with my adult eyes, I found that my father wasn't nearly as smart as I had always thought he was when I was young (despite him having an advance nuclear engineering degree). And ironically, the older he got, the more he seemed to think that his opinions were infallible.

Living through something may give one a unique opportunity to absorb the facts as they happen. But whether any such individual actually benefits from that opportunity is always an assumption I find dubious.

[xandandl]

I see my name, and I come running. (It's Tolzmann.)

I do an annual North American junior corps census for every year DCI has been around. This takes into account corps that have been documented as being active, either competing, doing parades or performing standstills, etc. Jim is referring to some published data that I did some years back. I have since expanded the census to include those corps that didn't perform on a field. This gives a better indication of just how many units are really out there. Let's face it, there are corps with no aspirations of being field competitive, and simply exist to offer young people a chance to be a part of a corps.

There were 97 North American junior corps in 2014. There 125 in 2004, 177 in 1994, 262 in 1984 and 624 in 1974. This will give you an idea of active numbers in 10-year spans.

You are amazing with the time and energy you have passionately put into this over the years.

The one thing that immediately strikes me when looking at the number of units is also the difference in the size of units.

In 1964, a superlative corps would have had but 36 horns, a battery of no more than a dozen usually, no front ensemble, and a guard of 17. The numbers come from looking at the photos of the American Legion and VFW national contests.

With the advent of DCI and because of the size of the St. Andrew's CYO corps in Bayonne, NJ (known to most as The Bridgemen), DCI set the maximum competing number of 128 members, what could be packed into 3 standard coach buses. Now that number is 150 members.

[in full disclosure, I voted in that DCI Rules Congress which set the maximum membership back in the 1970s.]

Thus for every corps competing today in 2015, that membership would have filled almost 3 corps in 1964.

There are non-competitive corps still that small size in 2015. And there are the Racine Scouts.

Edited July 14, 2015 by xandandl

[N.E. Brigand]

Back in 2008, when my boys started high school, a friend of theirs from band told them about this thing called drum corps. In 2009, my boys, started their DCI careers. Even their older brother marched with them that year. In a high school with about 1850 enrolled, they were the only 2. As their passion for the activity spread among their band, along with an awesome band director and a Cavalier guard alumni, the excitement of the activity grew. This year, not only are my 2 still in the activity, (aging out this year), but there are 5 other former marching band alumni marching in DCI. Between the 7 of them, Colts, Boston, Phantom, Crown, Cavies, and Madison. And someone thinks this is a dying activity. Just don't tell these awesome, talented kids pouring their heart and souls on the field.

That's great to hear. But as the saying goes, the plural of anecdote is not data. As for as we know, for every positive story like yours there are two other schools where drum corps participation has dropped by an even larger number.

[TroopAlum12]

however, with sound sport actually showing you can do this activity for a reasonable cost, with minimal space. i hope they continue that. it seems to be working to help grow the activity.

WGI Winds is now starting up as well, with the same basic premise during the winter season. IF (and that's a big "if" that I again do not believe will happen in the foreseeable future) DCI were to fall because of operating cost overloads, I think the member corps would bail out into these two activities, keeping it alive in at least some form.