Seattle Cascades

[JimF-LowBari]

2 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Maybe it is time to bring back the modern equivalent of 'Class A-60'.

I marched in such a Corps - we used to say that we didn't need 90 additional players to back us up. 

I was in a “not ready for DCA” circuit for a few years. Got to enjoy seeing a corps and thinking for example “not that big and horn line really unbalanced. Let’s see if they try to work with that or 🥴”.

[Poppycock]

5 hours ago, crownisking said:

Really disappointed to hear this. I can’t imagine how expensive it must be for those west coast corps to come all the way to the east coast every single year. And now that the big corps can field more kids, interest in the smaller corps is undoubtedly down. 

Families don’t have the disposable income and those who do are interested in getting the most bang for their investment. The affordable multiple years drum corps experience is declining rapidly, not to mention that the pool of available talent is both shallow and small. Those with the resources will spend it elsewhere even if it’s only for a one season experience. 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Poppycock

[corps8294]

10 hours ago, waliman4444 said:

 I thoight might crack the top twelve one day..

They did make the Top 12, once. If I recall correctly; it was 2002. 

[Weaklefthand4ever]

6 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Maybe it is time to bring back the modern equivalent of 'Class A-60'.

I marched in such a Corps - we used to say that we didn't need 90 additional players to back us up. 

I think Class A-60 would be a great option. Limited tour schedule etc. 

[sanjoseDCfan]

This is a bad year for DCI to raise the number of members to 165, instead they should have kept the corps size the same and raised the age to 22 for this year only.  Unfortunately, that decision will be part of the reason we lose a few more corps this year.

[SFZFAN]

23 hours ago, waliman4444 said:

Though I rarely had a chance to see them , except for finals week, they were one of the more entertaining corps that I thoight might crack the top twelve one day..Sad that they won't be available this year..And yes, it feels like dci is paying for it's sins of omission.peace

They did once I think.

[Tim K]

11 hours ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

I think Class A-60 would be a great option. Limited tour schedule etc. 

I would love to see a return of A-60, I don’t see it happening. I think the intention of A-60 was to strengthen the identity of smaller corps, but it turned out to be either a stepping stone for ambitious and often new corps, and a last hurrah for other corps. When finals was held in Foxboro in 1994, I spoke with someone I knew who marched with Blue Stars who was a volunteer instructor. His claim was that the corps was happy where they were and returning to the top 12 was not a goal. While I cannot claim to have talked to anyone associated with Blue Stars when they returned to WC competition, my guess would be that as the corps improved and rebuilt, goals changed. I think that happens. Jersey Surf was happy where they were but are now WC. Same is true for Genesis and Music City. Gold will make the move in a year or two, and depending on how Guardians re-emerges this year, I could see them moving up as well. 

[corps8294]

In terms of the Blue Stars; it was always a goal/dream to return the corps to the Top 12/glory days of the '70s. It took a long time; however the goal was achieved. There were some extremely trying years; but the corps did everything necessary to return to the Top 12. There were quite a few people, including former members and staff from the '70s era, that weren't happy seeing the corps fielding a little corps year-after-year. The corps became a powerhouse in A-60 and Div III; they also had success during their handful of years as a Div II corps. Along came 2006 and the Blue Stars were knocking on the door of the Top 12 again. After two years of placing 14 (2006 and 2007) and the 13th place finish in 2012; the Blue Stars have proven they are back to stay in the Top 12. 

[Boss Anova]

 I would imagine that there are more youth performing now in DCA, Soundsport, WGI Guard, WGI Percussion, WGI Winds, DCI Open  Class,  on a total collective numbers basis, than are now performing in DCI World Class units. 

 The Spartans ( Nashua, N.H. ) also seem to me to have developed a model for a Drum & Bugle Corps that works perfectly fine for them, and in keeping with their Mission Statement's Goals and Objectives since 1955 as near as I can tell too. The DCI Open Class Champion for 2019 stays within their means each and every season serving youth. As such, they have served far more youth in numbers over the years there than the dozens of former DCI World Class Division Corps that no longer serve any youth at all anymore.

[IllianaLancerContra]

2 hours ago, Tim K said:

I would love to see a return of A-60, I don’t see it happening. I think the intention of A-60 was to strengthen the identity of smaller corps, but it turned out to be either a stepping stone for ambitious and often new corps, and a last hurrah for other corps. When finals was held in Foxboro in 1994, I spoke with someone I knew who marched with Blue Stars who was a volunteer instructor. His claim was that the corps was happy where they were and returning to the top 12 was not a goal. While I cannot claim to have talked to anyone associated with Blue Stars when they returned to WC competition, my guess would be that as the corps improved and rebuilt, goals changed. I think that happens. Jersey Surf was happy where they were but are now WC. Same is true for Genesis and Music City. Gold will make the move in a year or two, and depending on how Guardians re-emerges this year, I could see them moving up as well. 

A-60 worked in part because the legendary Pepe Notaro was their tireless advocate.  

After he passed the advocate role went to Roman Blenski .  And then DCI forced the -'one national tour' model, intentionally killing DCM.

And that was the end of A-60.

Edited April 30, 2022 by IllianaLancerContra
speling