fsthnds Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 On 12/24/2019 at 2:00 PM, Geno55441 said: It might have already been posted but up here in Minnesota, MN Brass and Chops will be again going to Sound Sport and the Govies planning to return to DCA. The two major factors with Brass and Chops again going to Sound Sport is simply membership availability on Labor Day and Travel Costs. There are other factors involved but these two sealed the DCA fate for Chops and Brass. Speaking for Chops only right now, I can personally tell you it is demoralizing to a young corps to travel 20 hours to do one prelim show to a few judges, more instructors than fans, and a few people setting up their souvie booth only to be told that you failed and did not make finals -- plus you have to pay to watch the event the next day plus being excluded for the retreat. Being excluded in the retreat is not a positive experience to the membership and gives the members a feeling that they failed. Do you call the guy who finished 14th in the Olympic marathon a failure because he didn’t get a medal? He got to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies. I’ve heard comments that people don’t like to come and hear 35 member corps play – if that’s the case, don’t come to the show until you find a corps suitable to your liking. About small corps; yes, we work hard all summer like everybody else. We practice in the hot sun, the pouring rain, rehearsals in the middle of a winter blizzard. We get called out for missing dots, entrances, and step-offs. To me, that’s okay because Chops is a teaching corps. I don’t measure success with placement and awards – I measure success on how well my students progress, how much they enjoyed the summer, and how much they grow as musicians and students. Quoting Tom Cruise, “You don’t have to have stripes to have honor”. Just because we struggled with membership counts, a host of rookies who were just learning to play an instrument or never tossed a rifle, we can’t compete with the larger corps with 100+ members. We know we can’t and we don’t bother trying to. So what do we get for our teaching efforts is a penalty from DCA to be a spectator for finals and a bitter reminder that we are not good enough to play with the big boys. With Sound Sport, a corps of 40 members can again be competitive, relevant, and provide the same positive experience to the members that DCA did without punishing young and struggling corps. MN Brass and Chops finished 2nd and 4th last year in Sound Sport and both of our kids had a fantastic experience pus we saved both corps a ton of money on travel. Last summer, we performed to a packed arena with standing ovations and was competitive once again. My kids saw that there was a positive reward for their effort instead of being told they were too small, irrelevant, and basically to go home. My answer to the original question was if DCA will be around in 5 years is “probably”. As a drum corps who places our emphasis in music education to all skill set levels, DCA is simply not the right platform for us and I’m guessing the Brass would say the same thing too. I wish DCA well but I’m fairly confident that Brass and Chops will be headed down another path for the next several years since last year was a huge success story for us both. Have you considered WGI Winds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 1 hour ago, fsthnds said: Have you considered WGI Winds? Age limits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsthnds Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 (edited) 21 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: Age limits WGI Winds has had NO age limit since its inception. Winds Rules for 2020- 1.1 Winds groups in the Independent Class may compete with performers of any age. WGI Percussion is the only area that still has an age limit for all classes. Edited January 2, 2020 by fsthnds 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 13 hours ago, fsthnds said: WGI Winds has had NO age limit since its inception. Winds Rules for 2020- 1.1 Winds groups in the Independent Class may compete with performers of any age. WGI Percussion is the only area that still has an age limit for all classes. Ah I thought they mirrored percussion on that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsthnds Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 On 1/1/2020 at 1:46 PM, Jeff Ream said: Age limits I also find it very interesting how WGI introduced Winds and the following year DCI created Soundsport to compete against Winds. Still surprised DCA groups have in general not gotten involved with Winds. Several DCI Corps now sponsor competitive Winds groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geno55441 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 On 1/1/2020 at 11:37 AM, fsthnds said: Have you considered WGI Winds? Chops will consider WGI Winds .... perhaps in 2021. At this time, our focus is growing the existing performing groups that we already have. Once we have the organization membership back to where we would like it to be, we will definitely look at expansion. Many of our students are already involved with WGI Winds at their own high school so we continue to support and encourage their own performing groups. Our goal is to promote and support music education through the performing arts, even if it's not performing with us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfgang Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 hour ago, fsthnds said: I also find it very interesting how WGI introduced Winds and the following year DCI created Soundsport to compete against Winds. Still surprised DCA groups have in general not gotten involved with Winds. Several DCI Corps now sponsor competitive Winds groups. I would not say SoundSport competes against WGI Winds. One is a summer activity, one is a winter/spring activity and the structure of each is quite different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 11 hours ago, fsthnds said: I also find it very interesting how WGI introduced Winds and the following year DCI created Soundsport to compete against Winds. Still surprised DCA groups have in general not gotten involved with Winds. Several DCI Corps now sponsor competitive Winds groups. it was never competition. the calendar clarifies that. i am amazed winds hasn't taken off more in the north east Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Schehr Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 I was thinking this morning. If the other side of the activity passes woodwinds, DCA could use their all-brass exclusivity as a marketing tool! DCA: Still all brass in 2021. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said: I was thinking this morning. If the other side of the activity passes woodwinds, DCA could use their all-brass exclusivity as a marketing tool! DCA: Still all brass in 2021. And next question would be: Would that be more enticing to possible mms or audience? Probably a segment of both? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.