Vanguard CEO resigns

[jjeffeory]

6 hours ago, Chief Guns said:

You are 100% correct. I live in Murrieta and my both my kids went to Vista Murrieta, my son was in the band all four years and is class of 2022. 

I have to ask my son, but I believe Vista Murrieta was supposed to Grand Nationals in 2020, but Covid hit. 

My son's sophomore year in 2019, Vista did go to San Antonio and did quite well. I believe they finished 17th out of 80+ bands. I heard the Texas crowd showed them lots of love and they were a crowd favorite. What's interesting about 2019 as well was that Ayala went to Grand Nationals and I remember hearing they did very well. Vista and Ayala duked it out multiple times during that season out here, and they traded wins by tenths of a point, so i wonder how Vista would have done had they went to GN that year too. 

But in the grand scheme of things you are spot on. 

Then there's the San Diego bands like Rancho Bernardo and that huge Diamond Bar marching band.

These bands are very good, but that doesn't seem to translate into Grand Nationals Success for the schools, which in turn doesn't seem to benefit any of the California corps anymore except for Blue Devils. 

So, I don't think being located in the bay area just because there are a lot of bands in California is a draw, but I do respect 2muchcoffeeman. I just want to point out a pretty big issue I saw historically.

Even the powerhouse from Utah, American Fork, hasn't made GN Finals yet, and Vista Murrieta has been rapidly improving, but hasn't made it yet, so maybe they'll be the second "Western Band" to make Grand National finals, which was a little light this year, btw....

[jjeffeory]

6 hours ago, Chief Guns said:

My Auntie was in the RCC (Riverside Community College) color guard in the late 80's early 90's. Back then I remember hearing that RCC was known as "Blue Devils South" because over half the band marched for BD in the summers, and a vast majority of them were SoCal kids who would migrate up to Concord. No idea if it's still like that today for RCC. 

It was like that for the drumline and staff too, especially in the 2000s.

[TOC]

37 minutes ago, jjeffeory said:

Even the powerhouse from Utah, American Fork, hasn't made GN Finals yet .

Do they still have BD staff/tech's on their staff?

[OpenClassAlum]

This notion that CA talent isn't as strong because the schools don't bother heading east for some national competition is very strange to me. Who cares? Why would a CA HS band want to spend it's resources dragging kids to the Midwest? Honestly I'd argue your average WBA competition is enough to handle the most competitive and invested of HS student needs, and a trip from Broken Arrow, OK to Indy isn't all that longer than a trip from Santa Rosa, CA to Disneyland. Starting from Santa Rosa to Indy? That's a 36 hour trip with no stops. And for what?

Even with as bad a shape as open class is in right now IMO, better to send your excited about marching students to go march an open class corps than pay out the nose for a trip to *checks notes* Indiana. The same is true with sending your best to be in county, Northern/Southern, and state honor bands.

Also, are there even that many high schoolers marching the top WC corps anymore? I'd figure the West Coast Universities on the quarter system is more of an issue for membership than high schools not doing national competition.

Edited March 23, 2023 by OpenClassAlum

[Chief Guns]

43 minutes ago, OpenClassAlum said:

This notion that CA talent isn't as strong because the schools don't bother heading east for some national competition is very strange to me. Who cares? Why would a CA HS band want to spend it's resources dragging kids to the Midwest? Honestly I'd argue your average WBA competition is enough to handle the most competitive and invested of HS student needs, and a trip from Broken Arrow, OK to Indy isn't all that longer than a trip from Santa Rosa, CA to Disneyland. Starting from Santa Rosa to Indy? That's a 36 hour trip with no stops. And for what?

Even with as bad a shape as open class is in right now IMO, better to send your excited about marching students to go march an open class corps than pay out the nose for a trip to *checks notes* Indiana. The same is true with sending your best to be in county, Northern/Southern, and state honor bands.

Also, are there even that many high schoolers marching the top WC corps anymore? I'd figure the West Coast Universities on the quarter system is more of an issue for membership than high schools not doing national competition.

Well I obviously I am not and won't speak for everyone, but I just talked to my son and confirmed that Vista Murrieta was indeed supposed to go to Grand Nationals in 2020 before Covid wiped everything out. And the Vista kids and the staff cared. They wanted to go and compete. Again that's just one SoCal school, but they cared and had their reasons for going. 

[Slingerland]

22 hours ago, jjeffeory said:

Because it's too administratively expensive to be there?

I've lived in California more than any other state in the last 20 years, but there are some interesting things to consider about California:

There are numbers in California, but their bands, as good as they are, don't seem to fare that well at Grand Nationals. 

Spending the money to send kids from California to Indiana in the middle of November is a huge waste of money. I find it unbelievable that anyone not already in a midwestern community would give it a second thought, to be honest. 

[DFA1970]

From the SCV CEO resigns to bands......I'm taking a you'ie...anyone try the Double down from KFC?

[jwillis35]

On 3/23/2023 at 10:13 AM, jjeffeory said:

There are numbers in California, but their bands, as good as they are, don't seem to fare that well at Grand Nationals.  Other than Ayala, I don't recall seeing a finalist from California. Buchanan never goes. James Logan never goes. Vista Murrietta hasn't made Grand National finals. Nor has Chino Hills, Chino, Mission Viejo, Upland, Hart, or even Arcadia.  All that "talent" that doesn't ever get compared to the other regions of the country directly.

Texas, on the other hand, compares very well to the Midwest bands.

Good points, and I agree. Likely most of those bands probably have no interest in going to BOA Grand Nationals. Once in a while if they can afford it is nice, but most years it's likely not a priority. And if they do go but do not make Finals that is not necessarily a knock on the talent but usually on show design and teaching. There are likely many talented kids in those California bands. 

I suppose a lot of this talk about where to find talent is part of our (all of us) effort to figure out how to bring SCV back to the field.  Santa Clara Vanguard is still a major brand name in DCI circles and even the entire marching arts platform. So once they feel confident financially and can agree upon a cost for the members, a feasible tour schedule, staff and other needs they will have NO PROBELM in attracting members. It's a BIG brand name. Getting the World Class Corps on the field will not be the biggest problem. They may have to raise tuition. They may have to scale back on how much they tour out of California, and they will have to carefully determine design and instructional staff. Members will still come from all over...certainly from California, Texas and other western States. 

But the point I was trying to make in my earlier post is that if the SCV org wants to truly build their local base from the ground up then SCV Cadets and other local ensembles need to become a focal point. They need a Youth Arts Initiative for local youth that the community and schools can get behind. You need local help, local parents, local support for bingo, and local instructors for many of these initiatives. If you really want to raise money then it starts at home...and the people who support your home base want to know you are doing something for THEIR kids and not a bunch of college kids coming from all over the country. Times are changing and I really believe having a local base and programs that support local youth will be the way forward. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by jwillis35

[OldSnareDrummer]

1 hour ago, DFA1970 said:

From the SCV CEO resigns to bands......I'm taking a you'ie...anyone try the Double down from KFC?

There's not nearly enough cholesterol in those for me. Maybe if they used a thicker cooking oil, I'd give it a try. 

[Slingerland]

1 hour ago, DFA1970 said:

From the SCV CEO resigns to bands......I'm taking a you'ie...anyone try the Double down from KFC?

Think broader - I also think sending the B corps from Vanguard to Indianapolis was a huge waste of money. BD went local with the B corps a few years ago and is doing it again this year, and don't seem to be having a problem finding kids to be in that corps.

Is that better? 😄