Where did World Class members audition before landing with their current corps?

[Gantang]

I'd like to see a survey (anonymous) of every marching member to learn where they auditioned before they settled on their current corps. It would be informative to see where kids would have preferred to march had they been offered a spot. It could be done online with a sign-in code given via email to each kid. 

Current corps:
Hometown:
Age:
Years of DCI Experience:
Auditions attended:
Positions offered: 

EDIT:
Question: Will a kid go to the highest-placing corps that offers them a spot? Does winning matter when they make their decision WHEN given options?

Thesis: Kids care about competition, and they will accept an offer from the corps that placed highest in the last Finals. Audience approval is less important than placement. 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Gantang

[MikeRapp]

DCI used to publish this info, and I wish they still did. I suspect they don’t publish it anymore because it would be obvious how winning is directly correlated to those numbers.

[Gantang]

1 hour ago, MikeRapp said:

DCI used to publish this info, and I wish they still did. I suspect they don’t publish it anymore because it would be obvious how winning is directly correlated to those numbers.

But there's nothing wrong with that. 😉 I'd like to see how the Bay(ish) Area kids decide where to audition. Sacramento is a bit over an hour to Concord and 2 hours from Santa Clara. SC is 2 hours from Concord. The reality is that there are 3 top 8 corps in that less than 2-hour triangle.

Madison, La Crosse, Rosemont, Dubuque, and Rockford are all within a few throws of a stone. 

Talent distribution is an interesting metric. 

[Chief Guns]

5 minutes ago, Gantang said:

But there's nothing wrong with that. 😉 I'd like to see how the Bay(ish) Area kids decide where to audition. Sacramento is a bit over an hour to Concord and 2 hours from Santa Clara. SC is 2 hours from Concord. The reality is that there are 3 top 8 corps in that less than 2-hour triangle.

Madison, La Crosse, Rosemont, Dubuque, and Rockford are all within a few throws of a stone. 

Talent distribution is an interesting metric. 

I know the NorCal corps get alot of talent from SoCal. Exactly how much, I don't have the numbers. 

But I will say this, if Pacific Crest was able to throw a net over SoCal like the USC Trojans used to do in the Pete Carroll days in college football to keep the homegrown talent local..........PC might be a top six corps. 

[C.Holland]

i think this all depends on what the member can afford.   flights and tour fees are the big items.   I have many students who spent a few seasons in DCA, or Open Class, and then went to world class for 1 season, maybe 2.  I only know a small handful of students who marched 4 or more years, and even less who marched more than 2 seasons in world class.  Most opting to march 1 WC corps for 1 season, then move to another for their ageout.   $5000-6000 plus flights to/from camps is problematic when you can only work so much being a student. 

[Jeff Ream]

i have seen several DCA corps offering wishes of luck to alums now competing in DCI this week

[CAtenhut]

3 hours ago, Gantang said:

But there's nothing wrong with that. 😉 I'd like to see how the Bay(ish) Area kids decide where to audition. Sacramento is a bit over an hour to Concord and 2 hours from Santa Clara. SC is 2 hours from Concord. The reality is that there are 3 top 8 corps in that less than 2-hour triangle.

Madison, La Crosse, Rosemont, Dubuque, and Rockford are all within a few throws of a stone. 

Talent distribution is an interesting metric. 

1 hr or 2 hrs doesn't mean anything. Corps have monthly weekend camps, and kids from all over the nation fly in for the 3 days, then fly back home. That's how it works with most corps today. While some kids will choose to march more locally, the vicinity of the corps' headquarters is mostly irrelevant.

Edited August 11, 2023 by CAtenhut

[CAtenhut]

2 hours ago, Chief Guns said:

I know the NorCal corps get alot of talent from SoCal. Exactly how much, I don't have the numbers. 

But I will say this, if Pacific Crest was able to throw a net over SoCal like the USC Trojans used to do in the Pete Carroll days in college football to keep the homegrown talent local..........PC might be a top six corps. 

A lot of talent from Southern CA, Utah, Colorado, and Texas.

[Gantang]

2 hours ago, C.Holland said:

i think this all depends on what the member can afford.   flights and tour fees are the big items.   I have many students who spent a few seasons in DCA, or Open Class, and then went to world class for 1 season, maybe 2.  I only know a small handful of students who marched 4 or more years, and even less who marched more than 2 seasons in world class.  Most opting to march 1 WC corps for 1 season, then move to another for their ageout.   $5000-6000 plus flights to/from camps is problematic when you can only work so much being a student. 

Where did they audition, who offered them spots, and where did they decide to march?

[C.Holland]

1 hour ago, CAtenhut said:

1 hr or 2 hrs doesn't mean anything. Corps have monthly weekend camps, and kids from all over the nation fly in for the 3 days, then fly back home. That's how it works with most corps today. While some kids will choose to march more locally, the vicinity of the corps' headquarters is mostly irrelevant.

exactly.   There's LOTS of members from texas.  and when i say LOTS i mean every corps except for a few Open Class corps has Texans in their ranks.  There's lots from Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, and California.  Because those are the band hotbeds.  So the students (or their parents) pay, and pay and pay and pay and pay and pay ...   to send their kids out to groups all over.   There is a reason that much of the top 16 corps, and now some open (who are not based in texas) host at least 1 camp in texas.