Ageout numbers 2022

[Boss Anova]

7 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

It’s always gonna be that way. I contend again that the final rankings are 80% in direct correlation to the average age/experience of each corps’ marching members.

.... and  fund raising endeavors and levels of financial  commitment and investment toward that hoped for on field performance competition success.

[Musicman1084]

11 hours ago, Boss Anova said:

Not surprising . The Blue Devils were chock full of vets , many with lots of experience marching DCI Drum Corps and/ or WGI units . New to BD . But many had secured their experience elsewhere . It was a mature group on the whole . Clearly talented too . 

^This is it. BD has every year's roster available on their website, and lots of members either include prior marching photos or little bios with prior experience. Not all members fill this info out, but it's usually a pretty good indication of how many have prior experience. This year there were 31 members of BD brass who had either filled out 2019 season experience with another corps or had a photo visible from another corps. This isn't including any vets that may have been around at BD in 2019, of which there were a few listed on the site. Even with incomplete information, that's a huge percentage of the brass with other drum corps experience pre-pandemic. Several from Bluecoats, Blue Knights, Boston Crusaders, Mandarins, Crossmen, etc., so they're certainly coming over as seasoned drum corps veterans.

For the drumline, I'm not sure about the snare line, but all five members of the quad line have prior experience (13 drum corps seasons) and all five members of the bassline have prior experience (15 drum corps seasons).

[craiga]

2 minutes ago, Musicman1084 said:

^This is it. BD has every year's roster available on their website, and lots of members either include prior marching photos or little bios with prior experience. Not all members fill this info out, but it's usually a pretty good indication of how many have prior experience. This year there were 31 members of BD brass who had either filled out 2019 season experience with another corps or had a photo visible from another corps. This isn't including any vets that may have been around at BD in 2019, of which there were a few listed on the site. Even with incomplete information, that's a huge percentage of the brass with other drum corps experience pre-pandemic. Several from Bluecoats, Blue Knights, Boston Crusaders, Mandarins, Crossmen, etc., so they're certainly coming over as seasoned drum corps veterans.

For the drumline, I'm not sure about the snare line, but all five members of the quad line have prior experience (13 drum corps seasons) and all five members of the bassline have prior experience (15 drum corps seasons).

I would be shocked if BD had even a single member who was an actual "rookie" to World Class DCI.  They had zero drum line vets (of their own), but it is my understanding that every one of them had multiple years marching with somebody else.

Am I complaining about this "BD Rookie/Vet" phenomenon?  Absolutely not.  They have been THE destination corps for decades, and deservedly so. It is up to corps like Boston to change that.  Will that ever happen?  Yes.  Can I predict when? No. But, trust me when I say, the folks in Hyde Park, Mass are absolutely focused like a laser beam on giving our friends from Concord a run for their money.

People said in '17 you can't go from 12th to 6th.  And they said in '22 you can't go from 6th to 2nd.  But, even a cursory viewing of this finals recap is instructive.   The Blue Devils won this thing fair and square, but look at what individual captions are telling us.   For the Blue Devils, this is tantamount to a Check Engine Light.

[Boss Anova]

Boston Crusaders 45 age outs . 

[Boss Anova]

20 hours ago, jwillis35 said:

The thing that makes all this difficult is that not all those "newbies" were young.  Many may have been 21. They were just new to BD.  There may be many 19 and 20 year old members who have had their fill of DCI and now need to focus on school or other things. 

Remember, not all kids that march DCI do so until their age out year. Some kids do a year or two of DCI and then move on to other things in life. So it's impossible to tell who is coming back and who is not. This goes for all the corps.  

You could have a corps that has 30 legitimate age outs, but they may have another 25 members who simply wish to move on to other things. They could have college internships to deal with the next summer or they could graduate early, or they prefer to work a summer job. DCI is expensive and taking part in the activity on a yearly basis can be tough on the wallet.

On top of that you will have kids who decide to march with someone else, or they do decide to come back to the corps only to realize they simply cannot afford it and need to work. 

So the age out number can give you an idea of how many may return, but in the end there are other factors to consider. 

So many variables . Some ageouts march just 1 year in Drum Corps . Some 18 and 19 year olders expecting to return to their corps   ( or another corps ) for next summer have already marched 5 or more years . Some high schoolers are uber talented in the current Corps . ( One of Boston’s featured Guard soloists in their closer is a Junior in H.S. from Massachusetts for example  ) Others in some Corps finally won a spot in line at age 20-21 for their age out year . 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Boss Anova

[Chief Guns]

2 hours ago, craiga said:

I would be shocked if BD had even a single member who was an actual "rookie" to World Class DCI.  They had zero drum line vets (of their own), but it is my understanding that every one of them had multiple years marching with somebody else.

Am I complaining about this "BD Rookie/Vet" phenomenon?  Absolutely not.  They have been THE destination corps for decades, and deservedly so. It is up to corps like Boston to change that.  Will that ever happen?  Yes.  Can I predict when? No. But, trust me when I say, the folks in Hyde Park, Mass are absolutely focused like a laser beam on giving our friends from Concord a run for their money.

People said in '17 you can't go from 12th to 6th.  And they said in '22 you can't go from 6th to 2nd.  But, even a cursory viewing of this finals recap is instructive.   The Blue Devils won this thing fair and square, but look at what individual captions are telling us.   For the Blue Devils, this is tantamount to a Check Engine Light.

Your comment is facts! Boston is here. And let me say I called this before the season started that Boston was a contender, and I was laughed at. Boston will win a title. It's not if..............it's when. 

However brother, I will push back ever so slightly in regard to the Check Engine Light for BD. In the last ten years, we have seen Crown and Bloo earn titles and do absolutely phenomenal in the individual captions. Each time, quite a few said this will impact BD in top two finishes etc. After Crown's title, BD goes on about their business and wins two straight in 2014-15. 

Bloo wins in 2016. And remember BD didn't take home any caption awards that year for the first time since 2005. Devils turn around and win three of the next four championships in 2017/2019/2022 with two of those undefeated seasons. 

Can Boston be different? Of course they can!!! But until someone "Consistently" threatens BD year in and year out in "ALL" the captions across the sheets to the point it's threatening their overall placement, BD shouldn't be looking under the hood of the car. It just might be time for the standard 3000 mile oil change and tire rotation. 

[craiga]

2 minutes ago, Chief Guns said:

Your comment is facts! Boston is here. And let me say I called this before the season started that Boston was a contender, and I was laughed at. Boston will win a title. It's not if..............it's when. 

However brother, I will push back ever so slightly in regard to the Check Engine Light for BD. In the last ten years, we have seen Crown and Bloo earn titles and do absolutely phenomenal in the individual captions. Each time, quite a few said this will impact BD in top two finishes etc. After Crown's title, BD goes on about their business and wins two straight in 2014-15. 

Bloo wins in 2016. And remember BD didn't take home any caption awards that year for the first time since 2005. Devils turn around and win three of the next four championships in 2017/2019/2022 with two of those undefeated seasons. 

Can Boston be different? Of course they can!!! But until someone "Consistently" threatens BD year in and year out in "ALL" the captions across the sheets to the point it's threatening their overall placement, BD shouldn't be looking under the hood of the car. It just might be time for the standard 3000 mile oil change and tire rotation. 

You get it Chief!  You are every bit as much of a class act as the Blue Devils themselves.   I think the Check Engine Light metaphor actually is appropriate, however... as you probably know, that warning light usually just indicates a loose gas cap.    But not always!  Lol!

[84BDsop]

3 hours ago, craiga said:

I would be shocked if BD had even a single member who was an actual "rookie" to World Class DCI. 

I was, actually....although that WAS 38 years ago.

 

I was a rookie to drum corps as a whole.   Coming from band programs that were squads of 4, facing direction of march, music on lyres, NO slides or backwards stuff, etc....it was a steeeeeeep learning curve even then.

Edited August 18, 2022 by 84BDsop

[NakedEye]

3 hours ago, craiga said:

I would be shocked if BD had even a single member who was an actual "rookie" to World Class DCI.  They had zero drum line vets (of their own), but it is my understanding that every one of them had multiple years marching with somebody else.

 

The guard had several who had not been in DCI at any level. A few had just been in their HS guards and the associated scholastic winter guards. I took note of it because you don't usually see that with BD. To me it said they were looking for the best talent, regardless of where they came from, and bringing in some younger kids to grow with the organization. It would seem to be a wise move after having to do an almost total reload of members this season. 

[MikeRapp]

I would guess that Bluecoats, Crown and SCV march mostly very experienced members.

Compare the athleticism of the corps at the bottom of the activity with those at the top. It’s a totally different activity. It is what it is.

Order of finish is directly correlated with age and experience of marching members. Always has been and I suspect always will be.

Edited August 19, 2022 by MikeRapp