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

[Gantang]

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.

YES! The vicinity of the corps is mostly irrelevant!

My proposed survey would tell us whether kids care about winning.

I'm in the California North State, 2 1/2 hours north of Sacramento. Had I grown up here, I would have auditioned with BD, Mandarins and then SCV. If I had been offered a spot with BD, I'd have taken it. If not, I would have hoped for a spot in one of the other two. 

In the midwest, I would have auditioned at Madison only. Phantom wasn't my style of music, and Cavies...meh, not a fan.

Thankfully, I didn't have to audition because my work in a smaller corps spoke for itself and when I did change corps I was welcomed with open arms. BUT, I wasn't chasing a ring. It wasn't necessarily a thing "back in my day". 🤪

[Gantang]

48 minutes ago, C.Holland said:

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.  

Hi Chris, I was vague on purpose, but I thought my point would be figured out. I know that the DCI model has changed since I marched. Most kids stayed local BUT marched for the best corps they could. The pinnacle in Racine for guys was the Kilties, but there were lower-level corps in the city as well. Madison had the Junior Scouts, and Capitolaires, and Capitolaires Petites. Chicagoland was filled with corps, so my question would be the same back then as it is now.

Do members choose to march in a particular corps because they want to be competitive? Madison's philosophy that winning don't matter is BS. (Did any guys age out of the Junior Scouts?) Very few kids will choose to march in a corps that isn't within a few-hour drive unless they're a legacy or have a band director who marched or taught there. My thesis is that if a kid has to fly, they'll go where they have a chance to place high. 

I think knowing where kids audition and who they pick when they have several options would give an interesting perspective. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Gantang

[brassboy]

If I had to guess, I think it would be a pretty split result. There's no doubt some kids will want to march with the corps they perceive as the most competitive--after all, this is ultimately a competition-based activity. But I think there are many who will want to march where they've found elements that really connected with them, e.g. show design, instructional staff, usual musical style, etc. Sometimes what they've heard about the member experience can be more important to them than competitive outcome.

[Rylan]

We discussed some stats previously in the BD thread that I think might be helpful. At the DCI West picnic, BD said that out of 183 members (including alternates): about 100 of their members are from California, with the rest being from 26 other states, and 3 international (Japan, UK, and Netherlands). 

[craiga]

6 hours ago, Rylan said:

We discussed some stats previously in the BD thread that I think might be helpful. At the DCI West picnic, BD said that out of 183 members (including alternates): about 100 of their members are from California, with the rest being from 26 other states, and 3 international (Japan, UK, and Netherlands). 

I'm not convinced that your stats tell the whole story.  I know of several brass players from Texas and Florida who, after being given contracts by BD in December,  MOVED to CA in January.  While I do not believe this was any kind of requirement, it would obviously make them CA residents by summer, would it not?

[Rylan]

1 hour ago, craiga said:

I'm not convinced that your stats tell the whole story.  I know of several brass players from Texas and Florida who, after being given contracts by BD in December,  MOVED to CA in January.  While I do not believe this was any kind of requirement, it would obviously make them CA residents by summer, would it not?

I have no further details aside from what we were told at the BBQ. But being that camp is in Wyoming, I’m not sure what moving to California would accomplish for the MM unless they were already planning to do so for other reasons. Also, I would assume that there would be a preference for their state of origin in stats. For example, and also anecdotally, I know one marching member in particular who moved to CA for college but still reps Texas in their bio. 

[Gantang]

8 hours ago, Rylan said:

We discussed some stats previously in the BD thread that I think might be helpful. At the DCI West picnic, BD said that out of 183 members (including alternates): about 100 of their members are from California, with the rest being from 26 other states, and 3 international (Japan, UK, and Netherlands). 

Where else did the kids audition before being offered and accepting spots in Devils? 

[Rylan]

52 minutes ago, Gantang said:

Where else did the kids audition before being offered and accepting spots in Devils? 

They didn’t give us that info, unfortunately. They did, however, tell us that of the 183 members, 20 originated from BDB and 3 from BDC. 

[KVG_DC]

3 hours ago, Rylan said:

They didn’t give us that info, unfortunately. They did, however, tell us that of the 183 members, 20 originated from BDB and 3 from BDC. 

They need to write that little trumpet player from BDC in next year, Clara style.  Have him emerge from a prop and hit a screamer note.