Beyond the Confetti Cannons and a Sold Out Arena

It's that time of year again. It's proposal time. Now I'll be the first to admit that in my 20 plus years in the activity I've only submitted one proposal. Proposals I submit, if I have anything to say, occur at the local level where I feel I can make the most difference. Most of the time I do what most of us do. I sit back and watch to see what happens. I'm not afraid to put in proposals, I just can't be there to defend my ideas and I don't want anyone speaking for me. I think there's a lot of people out there like that. I also don't get a vote. I'm allowed to speak my peace...any of us can speak our peace...but not all of us can vote. Actually, most of us can't vote. This year however, I do have something to say and the really great thing about this new age of technology we are in, is that any of us can take to social media to voice our concerns. We can write blogs and create petitions. News travels at the speed of light and secrets don't really exist anymore, when those at the meeting can text those of us not at the meeting. This past weekend, I got to listen to and participate in a pretty heated discussion about the WGI proposals that specifically impacted the A Class. Many different voices were heard and many of us had little fear in expressing our voice. At the end of the day however, I don't get a vote as to how MY A Class guard is treated at the national level and most of the people in the room don't either. Our trust is in those representing us, who often have conflict of interests. I don't get a vote in how WGI spends MY guards money and I don't get a vote on where MY guard performs. I don't get a vote on what age the A Class should be capped. Whether it's the age of 20, 25, or 45...I still don't get a vote and to be honest...no one ever asks me or my colleagues before many decisions are made. So with this, I would like to spend this post voicing MY opinion on the proposals and as they make me say at work on my Twitter account...

"The opinions expressed in this article are mine and solely mine and don't represent any organization I work for."

Every year it seems that the proposals at the WGI level take on the same tone. They are worded differently, but always seem to have similar ideas. How will we seed prelims and semi-finals? Are we going to change the age out rules? How many do we take in finals? Who should or should not get promoted and how will that happen? Who should be allowed to judge a power regional? Can the World Class drop flying turkeys from the ceiling on their abstract idea of great sitcoms of all time, to an obscure piano concerto written by Prince?

It's seriously a circle without end and each year most of us sit back and wait until the middle of summer when the board meets to find out how our individual color guards are impacted. When writing this article I found that I wish I could go and reference past proposals and tally up how many different ways we have seeded nationals and changed who makes finals and why. I wanted to find out how many different times we have discussed the age out rules. Mostly though...I wanted to find out how many proposals comprised the A class; voted on by the World Class. I don't have that information though and my guess is that no one has that either which is a shame, because I bet history would tell a very interesting story. So, I offer a recommendation.

Stop making decisions that impact the A Class, without first testing the waters through "well written" surveys, feasibility studies, financial impact studies, or a well planned A Class caucus. Wait a year or two while you study and pilot new ideas. Create greater transparency when making large sweeping changes that impact most of the activity. Right now WGI has a perception problem. The perception is that many...MANY...A and Open units feel disenfranchised. Many feel that in recent years the World class is hijacking the activity for reasons that vary depending on the person you speak to. This year for example, many guards felt screwed by being at Millet Hall, as well as having finals at the Nutter Center...back to back to Open Finals. I have yet to find anyone who thought that was a good idea that isn't on the World Class Board, but I speak only for myself. I'm sure those people are out there somewhere. Many people are questioning whether or not there was a financial gain or loss to the system this year. Many people are wondering why the world class has a semi-finals show that takes place in the arena, when there really isn't a justification for said show.

What's interesting is that when you look at World Finals, everything seems so happy and good. The confetti cannons are fun. A sold out arena, with undeniably amazing guards. Is it, though? Is everything good or is it getting a little harder to survive both competitively and financially each year? When you look beyond Saturday night, what do you find? Do you find well trained judges and guards at both the local and national levels? Do you see an increase of safety concerns as we increase skill base at the lower levels? Do you see a stressed out A system with too many units travelling on small roads to Millet Hall or to Cincinnati? Do you see an increase of young people instructing in a world where risk has increased? Do you see an arena where police officers are screaming at young people, because the arena no longer fits the activity it serves? Do you see a trust in the system or have we turned a blind eye to those that built the activity from the ground up? 

When WGI took away the age out back in the late 90's (ish), many people felt we would lose the youth aspect of the activity and we did to an extent. I don't think any of us could have seen though, how it would filter into the A class in terms of the yearly incremental increase in skills expected and demanded as the A Class started to populate itself by highly designed and expensive shows taking its lead from the now ageless World Class. I don't think anyone could see how the demand in skills would then filter down to the local level Regional A units. When the rule was changed to allow for 40 individuals allowed on the performing floor in the World Class; many people saw that by giving the World Class and extra 10 people, then good kids would get sucked away from the Open and A units, where many of those kids might have gone; thus impacting the Independent A bottom line as well as their skill base. Additionally, I'm not sure anyone has truly asked the A and Open units if there was an impact? We then took away one thing that all of us certainly love. We took away the arena. Now some people say that this was done to accommodate the A Class units ability to serve more guards in finals...maybe. I'm not sure that's it though, especially when you look at how World Class guards get a semi-finals show, without a significant number of units to truly warrant a semi-finals event and if we were to be honest; Why 15 in finals in World Class? The numbers don't truly warrant that either. However, the answer for that will be that everyone wants to see World and no one wants to see A or Open. (I wonder about that as well) People would say that it's World Class that draws the guards in. Is it? I've also heard that the World Class guards can now only fit in the arena since they write for the arena only...and by the way...they aren't the only ones who write for the arena. To be honest...I don't know the truth and no one seems to know either, as the answer is different depending on who you ask on the Board. I will tell you though, the perception of it all looks bad out here in the real world. 

So I'm forced to come to a conclusion. It seems that we have a history of increasing the benefits for the World Class, while eliminating the benefits for the lower classes...to accommodate the World Class. If I'm wrong then I'm wrong, but perception is a bitch isn't it? I also must conclude that the activity at both the local and national level is growing too fast for the system we have. The arena, city, and system is no longer working for the amount of units we have nationwide. We can't even come to a conclusion as to what A and Open Class should really look like. Hell...we don't even discuss it openly. We probably have too many guards coming to Dayton. We might need to look at capping it or placing a score that you must reach before you are truly eligible. We may need to look at another city. We may need to look at putting World Class back on Sunday. We may need to look at moving A Class to a completely different weekend. We may need to look at starting on Wednesday. We may need to look at a complete restructure of the Board of Directors. (now that's scary isn't it?) I hear a lot of people complaining, but the real problem is not this faux issue of how we seed semi-finals or whether or not the A Class should perform on Friday night. If we want change, then we have to look at change over the course of time and not from season to season and be willing to change. You can't make a change with a multi-million dollar organization like WGI, without taking into account the entire make up of the activity. The issue we truly have, is a city we've grown out of and an activity that has grown up that reacts before it studies. It is not just international, but being touted as a reach into China. China? We can't even fix our home yet. Do we have the capacity to expand at the rate we are expanding? If I could write a proposal and be in Vegas this weekend to defend it; it would go something like this.

Let's cap all proposals and expansions for two years, while we hire an outside and independent consulting firm to take the pulse of the activity through a well designed and totally transparent study of the bylaws and make up of the Board of Directors and all affiliations. The financials of the activity will be scrutinized for waste and Board approval of capitol expenses, staff raises, and raises in membership dues. It will look at the education process for new board members, judges, and instructors. This study will take a hard look at the make up of the Independent Classes in terms of who is designing, teaching, and performing. It will analyze data and survey/interview staff. The study will look at local guard budgets and talk to circuit boards to find out about what works and what doesn't work. Judges would be interviewed without fear of reprisal. Scholastic unit directors and instructors would be interviewed; along with their parents to gauge the impact of the financial and rehearsal burden on the family unit. There would be a strong look at the diversity make up of leadership. The independent research firm would then submit recommendations for changes going forward.

Financial Impact: A lot, but a hell of a lot cheaper than this constant revolving door of changes in how, who, and where we compete; along with a stronger base of trust throughout the nation.

This however, will never happen. I'm living in a dream world, because we all know that if my proposal were to pass, then we would all have to sit back and wait to see what came back. I work for the government and I see it all the time. "Let's spend a million dollars, because this looks cool without testing the waters of the public first!" People want "it" and they want "it" now, regardless of long term impact. However, there are some really great nonprofit's out there that do what I'm proposing about every decade or so. They look at where they were, where they are, and where they are headed. They put the breaks on, before moving forward. It's simply smart business.

In the end, many of us might not like what is found and the changes recommended, because change is hard. Everybody would lose something and in the end we might find that A Class is best suited for the Nutter Center or we should completely remove A class from Dayton all together, but at least we would know. We might find the bylaws and Board make up no longer fits this international activity of ours. I ask this all the time as I live in a data based world...Wouldn't you like to know what is really happening out there by the numbers? Wouldn't it make you feel good? It's comforting to see real studies independently done and not independently done by a friend of a friend of someone that marched in the activity? A true independent study. There's a peace to it. However, that peace comes from mature thinking and the understanding that all stakeholders would have to make some hard choices and then live with it. 

I'm willing to give it a shot and try, but I know as I write this I'm in the minority. We should never fear change, especially when we as an activity are growing so well. In the end, we should all want what's best for this wonderful activity of ours and right now what is best is taking a breath to assess before we respond.

What I Have Learned About the A Class Sheet by Spending Three Years Teaching Independent A Class

I have no clue. Looking for answers along with the rest of the A class community, most judges, administrators, and performers. If you have any, please contact me at Shelbaparadigm@gmail.com

The Greatest Love

Some things change, they never stay the same. Life goes on and as the old adage states and many who come of age headed to the downward slope of their lives; you can never go home again.

Dayton not the city, but what we call WGI is the epitome of the cliché’ of just about every life quote, motivational poster, and famous poet that ever spoke of the struggle of life. The city of Dayton has gone through many transformations and as much as things change, some things have stayed the same. For instance, the roads in Dayton have been under construction for well…ever. What are they doing? The Hara Arena for example, where many of us practice and many of us premiered our first shows back in the 90’s is still cold as ice as it’s well…an ice rink. Edwin C. Moses Blvd is still there and that exit is a big deal for those of us driving down from the airport on our first day in Dayton. For those coming from the south, it’s the witnessing of the Cincinnati skyline for the first time coming over the bridge. The planes to Dayton are filled with kids in guard jackets. That will never change. There is Needmore Road, South Patterson Blvd. and the Denny’s. The Denny’s? Yes the Denny’s. It’s the hell hole food many of us have eaten after hungover from Saturday night. I was shocked to see that they closed it. Now it’s just a memory of once was. That piece of crap, bad service Denny’s was one of our hangouts. The Marriot. Next year at this time it will look completely different. Al is still there. Al. He is the bartender that has worked headquarters for a decade. He is just as much a part of the WGI experience as the guards themselves. Every year Al tells me that I’ve added wrinkles around my eyes or I look haggard. I love Al. He tells it like it is. He makes me laugh and knows my drink without pause. He’s the consummate bartender.

It always rains in Dayton. Always. It always seems to rain in Dayton at the most inconvenient time for the guards. This year is snowed. We’ve seen snow, but this was new. We were covered in it. I slid on ice driving to A finals at the Nutter Center. I was like, “Damn…I certainly want to live to see finals.”

Things change and they can never stay the same. There’s no use in holding on. Life is like that. Those of us who are old are desperate for the past and those who are young don’t even grasp it. They just want to move forward.

I guess this is what brings me to the point of this post. It’s important that life moves forward and we as an activity keep evolving and growing and changing, but this year there was something missing and many of us old timers’ seemed to feel it. We couldn’t put our finger on it, but throughout many conversations in many different arenas, many different people and many different cocktails; I’m going to try to pinpoint it.

We feel…we the people…we some of the people maybe…feel that tradition has gotten lost in the income generating empire WGI has become. No one and I mean no one wants to go back to a time when only 100 guards came to Dayton. We love seeing a sold out crowd on Saturday night, but we want some of the aspects to never get lost in the rush for money, marketing, and advertising.

I’ll start with this. Lynn Lindstrom. The First Lady of WGI. Her picture should have been hanging in every arena, in every city. Her tribute should have reached to Cincinnati to Millett Hall and the Marriot. Wouldn’t it be nice to see tributes to guards of the past in the form of pictures or old clips, because we are all here today, because Anthron did something really weird back in the 80’s or Alliance came out of the tunnel with tents and a gypsy show. We are here, because many of us were forced to age out and teach at the age of 22. We are here today, because Ernie announced the guards and his voice was truly something special for those of us striving to reach finals. We are here today, because people sat in board rooms, bars, and circuit shows trying to find new ways to give the best experience to kids. There is no single person that owns the activity. We all do. We feel that…no not we…I’ll just say I, because I don’t believe in speaking for others. I feel, that we are losing our traditions and that they are being swept to the side like some glitter left over after a New Year’s Eve party in the race for whatever gains income.  

I felt awful for the A class guards. They pay their dues, work just as hard and populate the entire activity at the local and national level, yet this year it just wasn’t the same. Part of the tradition is the tunnel. Kids for years have worked just for the privilege of walking down that tunnel. Some years you make it and some years you don’t, but trying to get your props down the tunnel without losing control of them is something everyone should experience at least once. That little side room is another tradition. What it looks like though, is that the World Class now owns the arena and just happens to give it up on Sunday morning, because they are tired. It wasn’t lost on many of us that Independent World went on at night in the arena every day of competition. It wasn’t lost on most of us when the predictability of few people showing up for A finals. That was a shock…not. Did the kids have a good time? Of course they did. However, Friday night use to be theirs. We use to even give them Triple Finals on Saturday and the World class went on Sunday. Now both Open and A go on back to back Saturday morning. That makes me sad. I overheard a WGI staff member at Nutter complaining that they weren’t working the arena. See, even the contest staff would rather be at the arena.  That actually made me cry, because it sounded as if we were second class and for many of us it’s the contest staff’s faces from our local circuits that makes us feel comfortable at WGI. That’s a me thing I guess. There is nothing more special than seeing that kid who walks on the floor at A finals for their very first WGI. Nothing! I also must say that there isn’t anything more special than watching a young instructor get to experience it as well. I wonder though, if we are losing it all in the quest for more.

Things change I guess. Being in Dayton for A and Open is hard. It’s hard to plan for and it’s a constant level of stress involving much travel, to multiple cities, at absurd wake up calls. We do it though, because we want our kids to experience Dayton. We…no I…understand that the activity has grown and we most likely have grown out of Dayton, but I know it has to grow. I know it can’t be like it used to be. I mean this year there were police monitoring the hallways at the arena. Not security. Police. One of them yelled at a kid in the hallway for just standing….and he yelled. It’s just not the same when we need police for crowd control. I don’t think I liked that, even if the insurance company did require it.

I don’t profess to this day understand why the activity has become a classical music, piano concerto, wine and cheese toss fest. It has though. I made a joke during finals and said, “Oh my God could someone come out and just do Beyonce’?” When I got in the car to come to the airport on Sunday, Beyonce’ was on the radio. I laughed. So o.k. Piano concerto’s it is. When they changed the age out to no age out many years ago, many of us complained. Many complain to this day, but there is no denying the athleticism, talent, and skill that comes from 30 year old adults who have honed their skills over a lifetime. I still like watching the kids, though. The real kids. It makes me happy. It’s my thing, I guess.

I remember when the judges could hang out at headquarters and weren’t sequestered. I get it. It’s the world championships. I can still miss it, though. Those judges are our friends, colleagues, and sometimes family. We never get to see them anymore and many of them are even afraid to speak to us. I feel that we’ve created a divide and somewhere along the line, WGI has lost the voice of the people, the ones who don’t sit on the board made up of World Class guards and those of us that don’t earn shares at the end of the season after all the dollars are counted. There is an overwhelming feeling of us vs. them…people are just afraid to speak it out loud. Someone used the phrase this weekend that the 1% now truly owns the activity as we watch percussion commercials between shows. We have to make money to grow. We all understand that. It’s how we are sustained. However, I do have to ask this. Doesn’t  A Class and Open Class sustain us at some level? I mean there’s only about 50 or so World guards. Let’s be honest here. I’m no mathematician, but somehow the math doesn’t work. I guess the advertising dollars are so great it really doesn’t matter. I don’t know. I do know regardless of the math, that the A class pays into the system at a much higher rate both locally and nationally. There is just simply more of them. Everyone pays their entry fee’s. There were 200 A Cl;ass Guards at WGI this year out of a total of 350 or so guards. ( I think I counted 346) So what is that…58% of the entire world championships? O,pen Class comprises 28%, so total the Open and A teams and you get roughly 86% of the World Championships and the argument is that it’s the World Class that sells out the arena. No one debates that, but it doesn’t change the percentages, because if even half of THAT 86%, chose not to attend, then the tide would most certainly turn.

When WGI announced the movement of A class to the Nutter Center on Saturday morning many people complained. I advocate for a living and in advocacy 101, you always learn to look at who is speaking and what interests they hold. You find the conflicts of interests and in that particular case, there were many. How many guards should go into finals? I don’t know. I guess 25 and 20 is a good number. It makes sense. It does. How do you make it happen with 350 guards? I have no idea. I know that using five facilities must be a logistical and expensive nightmare. I do think though, it was a rushed decision that didn’t really look at the impact it had on the crowds and the general feeling of “Well, that sucks. We no longer as an activity have an option to see all the finals performances if we so choose.” We all suck it up though, and move on. A decade from now no one will remember that A Class kids ever marched in the arena and we were able to choose to see all of the finals shows.

So here we are. Things have changed again. Just like television and technology. We grow and losteTriple Finals. We grow and lose the ageout tradition of leaving gloves on the floor. We grow and we lose the ability to make and watch video’s for years to come. We grow and many kids lose the arena. We may or may not get to see both finals ever again and that makes me sad, because many of us over the years have really tried to at least catch some of each of finals. That my friend is not a direction I’m willing to sit back and let happen.  In my vested interested in A class, it’s my job to advocate for a better system. I heard a lot of bitching this weekend. A lot! I heard a quote at the Nutter Center that just made me sad.

 “Well aren’t we the welfare children of WGI. Where is our block of cheese?”

Wow. Just wow. The benefit I have of being just a person in the stands and not sequestered or have special rooms at headquarters or attend private board meetings and have the cell number of important people, is that I get to listen and watch. I have the privilege as a writer of having people randomly talking to me. I watch and there is a feeling of us vs. them.  I don't get to sit like a queen on top of the arena watching finals. It is undeniable and as in all real change, at some point we will lose who we are and become who we will be. Let’s be careful though, because we don’t want to go down the path of major nonprofits, where we find out that the mission got lost in the quest for money…Red Cross, Salvation Army, Susan G. Coman, Untied Way. Their pocketbooks were hit hard from donations when the stories broke. 

And no. It wasn’t the same being at Nutter over the arena. It just wasn’t. They tried to sell that to us, but I know cow patties when I step in them. You know what would be amazing? Put World Class in the intimate environment of Nutter for Semi’s and I still bet the show would be packed as Semi’s would allow people to see the choreography up close and Saturday we could absorb the ambiance of the arena and A Class could have Friday night back. A and Open could even take turns on Friday nights. Just a thought. World could go back to Sunday's. The options are limitless if we try hard enough. If nothing else, for the love of God, let's figure out a way to get each finals a suitable audience for a world finalist.

My hope, because I always end with a hope. My hope is that those that feel disenfranchised will speak up. You know the best way to do it? With your dollars. Change occurs when you hit the pocketbooks of people in charge. It’s how we achieved social change in the civil rights movement and the gay rights movement. If you want change, you have to stop bitching and do something about it. You can’t let fear of debate or apathy stop you. Someone asked me this weekend if I was afraid my guard would be impacted by speaking out? I was like…WHAT! No of course not. One…I trust the judges. Two…if that ever happens I’m done. This is why I write. I want to keep tradition alive, dialog moving, and a future that involves all the voices.

I love winter guard. I love the people. I love my friends. I love my lifelong friends. I love headquarters. I love the arena. I love the shows. I love to know that I was around when there were Sunday shows and Triple finals. I love having the history. I love Al at the bar. I love Needmore Road that we make fun of every year. I love the tailgating at World Finals. I love the hugs in the halls. I love the standing ovations (all be it they are becoming less and less). I love the parties. I love the debates on the direction of World Class. I love that I hate that I’m tired for a week after WGI. I love the memories that carry me in the hard days of real life.  I love seeing my friend’s judge, work the shows, and walk on the floor with their guards. I love that there is such a bond between all of us, even when we are sometimes irritated and mad at each other. Mostly though, I love the traditions. Such as the oranges. You must eat a Dayton orange.

When I marched Pride we had a tradition of singing a song. “The Greatest Love of All.” There’s a line in it we must never forget.

“I believe the children are the future teach them well and let them lead the way.”

In the end, this picture below will get lost in a sea of Dayton's and 2016 will be a memory we will barely recall. The big scandal of the A Class NutterGate will be forgotten. All that will be left is a piece of confetti some young A Class performer picked up off the ground and tucked away in their memory box. We have to though, keep striving to make it better and reaching for different avenues of performance. We can't rush big decisions and have keep the mission always in our minds. We must listen to our instincts, lose our ego's, and include all the voices. It's not just about our future, but it's also about our traditions and our past, because without the past, we will lose the spirit. This is for all of us those that own a piece of confetti called the sport of the arts.

If I Were The Bartender At Headquarters

It's coming up on that time again. In just a few short weeks, we will all be settling into our digs at headquarters sharing that first cocktail with friends and teammates from years past. I have always wanted to be the bartender at the Marriott during WGI. I think it would be a blast. In fact, I have always felt as if the bartender should be some old performer from 1984 State Street or from the Miller's Color Show and their only job is to be the purveyor of the drinks. Picture it.

"Hey girl how are you doing tonight?"
"Oh you know. Not what I thought it was going to be this year."
"Who are you with?"
"Bahama Independent."
"Oh yeah, I heard. Saw the recap. Here you go. There's an extra shot in there for ya."

I mean...how cool would that be! The bartender at headquarters should always be some old guard queen from the 80's that once wore sequins and had red prism tape wrapped around the tip of their rifle. Or...wouldn't it be cool to have Marilyn from Miamisburg or the girl from Field of View who screamed, "Youurrrreeee Fiiirrre (D)!" The bartender should always, always, always be a person who marched at least 20 years from the current season. As the weeks goes on, the bartenders become part empath, part historian, and part entertainment.

If I were the bartender I would create drinking games for every time we heard the phrase, "The judges." Then we would take a shot for every person who walked in the door wearing more than one medal around their neck. There is the obligatory shot any time someone cried or the twenty something who wore a tux to A Class finals on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. in the Nutter Center and still wearing it at midnight. I mean...the possibilities are endless. There would be a round of free drinks when you heard the phrase, "Oh I don't care about the placement...as long as the kids enjoyed themselves." As we all take a drink, we would all raise our glasses with a collective, "Yeah...o.k." We would all drink when someone debated what entertainment really is.

My ultimate act of bartending would be to create a special WGI menu of drinks. Your order would reflect day of the week, placement, mood, and age.

Wednesday Night

The Parrot--Here's the thing. You made it this far. I don't care if you are a competitor, judge, or the contest staff. If you are physically sitting in Dayton, then it means that you made it. You need this great cocktail made up of Malibu Pineapple Rum, strawberry puree, and orange juice. It's light and bright and drink up, because you have no idea how this week will turn out. By the end of the week my friend, you might be drowning your sorrows in a rum based Dark and Stormy.


Thursday Night...Prelims Day

Shiraz--This nice glass of Shiraz is for the Semi-finalist who still needs to get up tomorrow morning for practice  and then fight through the muddle of other semi-finalists for the ultimate hope of not being the first guard out of finals, because well...that really sucks.

Sam Adams--You can't go wrong with a Sam Adams when you still have a semi-finals run tomorrow. You are well placed and should stand strong against the other 12 guards in the neighborhood of 7th-18th. Be careful, though. You don't want to be the guard who drops their rifles all the way out of finals.

Old Fashioned--Today was rough. We feel ya. We've all been there. This is what you need. It's the cocktail of the ages and the story of Dayton. This wasn't your year. Whiskey and Bitters. You can't go wrong. Drink up and then have two more.

Margarita--Yes Girl! This is your year. You are solidly in the top 3 and you can feel that medal around your neck. Enjoy the tequila, but be careful sunshine...One well timed drop on the 50 can send you flying from second to fourth in a heartbeat. Good luck with that.

Cosmopolitan--This is the drink for anyone who came to the realization back in February that their guard will be lucky if they even make it to Dayton with the rickety old bus you had to rent, because half of the performers failed to pay their dues. Here's to you. You made it to the end. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Zinfandel--Shhhh....You're a judge. We won't tell anyone you were here. Take this drink in this plastic cup and everyone will believe it's a Sprite. Don't make eye contact with anyone on your way out. "Don't anyone recognize them. Everyone look at your shoes!"

Friday Night...Semi Finals

Negroni--Girl you didn't make it to the big dance. Sorry. Really. We feel ya. You need this delicate blend of one part gin, one part vermouth, and one part campari. You of course want the orange peel garnish. Oh screw it. You don't need the garnish. Just the drink. Straight up and of course...we will keep them coming.

Cabernet--You made it to the big dance. CONGRATULATIONS! However, you are 20th place in A class...going on in the Nutter Center tomorrow morning and your wake up call is 3:30 a.m. Don't drink too much. We will see you tomorrow afternoon after your nap.

Planters Punch--You made it in! Yay for you! You are so excited, because you never thought they would make it. Go for it. Who cares at this point? You had 14 freshman, a percussion guy, and two trumpets that made up your guard. You go girl! Dark rum is for you.

Heineken--Because the contest staff and volunteers need a drink, too as they had to deal with the guy drinking the Negroni when they couldn't pull their floor off fast enough. Don't drink too much tonight, though. Tomorrow is the big day and it's Dayton so expect rain, mixed with sleet and snow.

Saturday Night...Finals

Saturday is split up into two parts. The first part of the day is the afternoon break before World finals, but after Open and A finals...whenever that's actually going to end. The cocktails in the afternoon are fruity and fresh. It's going to be a long night and you need to start light.

Madras--This drink of vodka, cranberry, and orange juice is a perfect starter to the final end. 30 guards to go and you are finished. Enjoy this cocktail with friends and celebrate a much earned summer break.

Screwdriver--This is another easy one. Enjoy it, but while you do it, stop talking about the amazing show you are doing next year. There is a reason you didn't make it out of Thursday. Shut up and drink.

Tom Collins--You missed finals by one tenth and well...you need this. Gin on the rocks mixed with lemon juice and sugar syrup. Have two. Oh hell...have three. This is going to be a long night for you.

Champagne--Your guard is the guard to beat. Congratulations! Although, most everyone hates you and wishes you would just go away somewhere far...enjoy tonight. World Class finalist. Celebrate with your staff and enjoy your success.

Midnight...Finals is over

Martini--Yaaassss! It is the night we have all been waiting for. This drink is for those that can hold their posture with grace and class. You didn't make finals. You were last place. You were first place. Who gives a shit. This is the drink for those who carried themselves with grace all week. Drink up!

Red Wine Sangria--Pure party drink for the big party going on in room 117. None of you have taught in 10 years. You're only here to see colorguard, old friends, and bitch about the changing culture. Enjoy.

Strawberry Mojito--This drink is all about the fun. Vodka, strawberries, limes, and a bunch of other fruity stuff. This is for the kids who just turned 21 and are prancing around in their costumes with their medals. In all seriousness...we are old and please come back when you are wearing Depends and remember the good old days.

Bad Girl Punch--Be careful of this one. This drink is for the world staff's that made it to the end. Good for you. When the rest of our weekends ended at 4:18 on Friday afternoon and we started drinking at 5:16 at the closet dive bar we could find...you pushed through. You made it. Now go out and celebrate your success.

X-Rated Punch--This vodka and X Rated Fusion Liqueur is perfect for the person who doesn't care anymore, but needs a little well..something else to make the weekend complete. Go ahead.

Sunday...the day after

Bloody Mary--Because damn....See you next year.

That's it folks. That's the Dayton cocktail menu in the world according me...the aspiring official bartender of the WGI World Championships. Look for me there. I'll be sitting at the corner table with my signature drink a double tall Madras with Absolute.

Letting Perfection Become the Enemy of Good

This is a topic that I have struggled with much of my teaching career. I am without a doubt, hands down the picture in the dictionary of a perfectionist. I struggled with it growing up and I have struggled with it as an adult. At my job, at work, as a parent, as a wife, as a friend, and most certainly as a color guard instructor; I have struggled. I use the word "struggle," because being a perfectionist is an internal struggle and it impacts everyone around you. Over the years, I've learned to contain it and harness the feeling of "it's not good enough and that's o.k." There's a balance though, and finding a balance of not good enough vs. it needs more work, is where I have done my most growth as a youth coach.

It's March and the end of the tunnel is within reach and in the sights of all involved, but there's a big job to do and to me, the hardest part of the season is upon us. This is where we as staff members must make some choices. Do we continue down the path we are on and just clean? Do we take out that one scary and not so successful moment? Do we water? This is the time to make choices and the choice is this. What is it that will make the kids feel most successful in the end and what design and cleaning decisions will get you the biggest bang for your buck?

The biggest question is this, however. How do you maintain high expectations, without compromising the original intentions of the program? Additionally, how do you do it without destroying the kids and program in the process? I believe March is what makes or breaks a program and I'm not just talking about the current season. You also have to think about the future in terms of retention and recruitment. I'll be honest with you. There are moments in my past as an instructor that I regret how I responded to bad performances at a show or regional. I let the idea that this one particular moment we had been working on for a week get to me, when that one moment wasn't at the success level of my expectations. As a young instructor and even as an old instructor, the balance in my brain is constantly fighting itself. I watch the guard from the top and have to divorce myself from the drop on the 50 or sabre feature that missed its mark in clarity, and find what's right...while finding what we need to work most on. The clock is ticking and it's ticking fast. This is the time of year we triage. What takes precedence and what part is bleeding the most?

If you don't have a staff to bounce ideas off of after a show, then you have a much harder road ahead of you and I know some of you are out there. Most of us though, have someone on staff we can ask the question, "What did you think?" If you don't ask the tough questions and get the perspective of someone else, then your brain will start to play tricks on you. What you see as a catastrophe, might just be a rough moment. What you see as great, could very well be what is denial. You need to talk to people and you need to ask for additional perspectives. You need to listen to your audio files. Remember, the judges don't always look where you do and they don't know what you worked on the night before. Also remember that the judges want you to be successful. They are not your enemy and only want the best, so listen to them as a trusted consultant. If you are in it alone, then find someone...a trusted parent of the program...a friend...a colleague...and ask them. "What did you think?"

The next question you need to ask is this. "Did we set the right goals and do we need to readjust those goals?" Going forth into March without assessing your goals is foolish. Going forth into March without assessing the minds of the performers and staff is also foolish. Where are the kids at? What will make them successful? How far should I push them? What will break them? Should I try to break them? Should I coddle them?

Let me be clear about something. Sometimes performers need the tough love at this point of the season and it is necessary. Sometimes they need just love. I can't answer the question for you, because this is where being a good coach comes into play. You need to know your kids and play to the place where their minds are at on the journey. Sometimes they get it into their heads that THEY are not good enough and their minds begin to play tricks on them. This is where the drops are tend to come from at this point in the season. This is where we ask ourselves as staff members, "What do I do with the soloist that has everything riding on their shoulders in the opening of the show with the sabre quad and she has now begun to drop it consistently?" I can't say I always know the answer. I get just as perplexed as the rest of you, but what I try to do is think, "What would have worked for me?" I was a perfectionist and I never truly felt good about myself as a performer. I never felt the show was good enough. I missed a hand placement, a count, or God forbid I dropped. When I use to tech in my early years, I missed so many great moments with my programs, because someone missed a hand placement, a count, or God forbid a drop. I missed the smiles or the great recoveries. I missed the energy or the kid in the back who finally caught her flag toss.

So this is my suggestion. Don't let perfection be the enemy of good. Don't! Find the good and assess the problems. Gage the energy of the performers as they come off the floor. Listen to audience reaction. Want to know a trick? After the show and after you have watched the show several times on video AND listened to your audio files; go back and play the video with head phones in your ear, close your eyes, and just listen to the crowd. Are they reacting the way you want? Many times, the audience will tell you what you need to fix.  I watch my video's several times. The following system is the order I do it in.

• Listen to the audio files...take notes
• Watch the video for pure reaction
• Watch the video for cleaning purposes...take notes
• Watch the video for cleaning purposes...take notes
• Watch the video for cleaning purposes...take notes
• Watch the video to see where it is I'm irritated with the design (because well...it isn't a good week until I've made a designer angry at least once)
• Listen for crowd reaction
• Send the video to someone else...listen to feedback without defense
• Make a schedule that goes all the way to championships

It's amazing when you follow my system, that you will start to see more good than not. You will start to see that the show isn't perfect and it never will be. Your show will never be perfect. It won't be perfect at any show, at any time, at any point in the season. This does not mean that you don't keep pushing for the perfect catch and the perfect flag statement. It doesn't mean you don't keep your expectations high. It means that you keep assessing and cleaning and assessing and cleaning, but you never let perfection become the enemy of good. You assess and you clean all the way until the last moment, in the last show at warm up and when it's over, you celebrate the kids, your parents and your staff. You celebrate the good and then you assess for next season, but don't let that drop in the last show of the year, be your enemy that carries your program into summer.

Keep your expectations high and the kids will rise to the challenge. They want to rise to the challenge. When it's all said and done I want you to remember this. They are harder on themselves then you could ever be. As a perfectionist myself, no instructor was ever harder on me than I was on myself and I had some tough ones. I had Ping, David Baker, and Jeff Wroblewski. Great instructors all of them, but none of them were tougher on me than me. Let that guide you through March. 

Training! What does It All Mean??

"Individuals understand the introductory skills and achieve a consistent degree of uniformity in method and timing."

"The choreographed vocabulary contains a good introductory/beginning range with variety and some versatility."

Uh...huh. I've been in the activity a long time and I've taught and judged and taught and judged and used the judge words and put the numbers down and taught and judged. Today however, I was judging a unit that kind of stopped me. I looked at the sheet and then the sheet above it and I looked at the boxes and literally thought, "What the hell is an introductory skill?" What is it? If it's so easy to put these words on to a piece of paper and use it as criteria to rank and rate units, then why can't we actually define it? Why can't I come into a show as a judge and say the phrase, "Well low and behold look at this. You have demonstrated that this is clearly not an introductory skill."

What about this?

"The range of the choreographed vocabulary for this class is broad and well understood." Broad and well understood. Broad and well understood. Broad and well understood. Say it ten times fast and you know what will happen? You still won't know what broad and well understood really means. My personal favorite is, "Dynamic gradations of space, time, weight, and flow are usually achieved." Ummm....o.k. How do you quantify a "usually?"

Have you ever wanted to take 20 people and put them outside of a gym and bring them into the gym one at a time and say the words, "Show me a basic skill and then demonstrate for me a basic phrase on any piece of equipment of your choosing and when you are done with that, explain to me the training process you would take to get performers to understand a good degree of physical and mental development for that phrase." Now, what if 10 of those people were judges and 10 of those people were instructors of the Regional A and A classes, who were young and somewhat naive? What would we get? Now, what if those 10 judges were split between national judges and local judges? What would we get? Anyone want to play the game, because I'll bet my next paycheck on the fact that we would see 20 different approaches and 20 different answers. Until we acknowledge the fact that we still have not come to a consensus on what we are asking the young guards to achieve, then how can we sit and use the phrases such as, "Your vocabulary range doesn't fit the class or your training program doesn't fit the book the kids were given." I'll tell you what I think. I teach at various levels and judge all over the country. I'll tell you what isn't introductory or beginning...a back hand on flag release behind the back into an immediate release of a 45 toss out of it. Something else that isn't a basic skill...a quad with lower body contributions such as single foot balance or deliberate shift in weight, yet I see it all the time all over the country in the lower classes. However, when I teach my high school guard those skills and break it down and teach the techniques behind it, I start to think, "Well then...that wasn't easy." Am I a bad tech? Do I not know how to teach those skills? I'm not thinking that's the case. I'm thinking that we don't know what the hell introductory, beginning, and intermediate really are and the training process it takes to get them there.

I live in a world where everything we have to do is S.M.A.R.T. Anyone who has worked in the professional realm for longer than 8 minutes knows this acronym.

Specific...Measurable...Achievable...Realistic...Timely.

This is how our Regional A sheets should be created. A specific guideline that tells anyone who designs for and techs for these guards what is expected and the timeline for achievement. We act in this activity that if we were to say that a quad is an introductory skill or basic skill or intermediate skill or whatever, that somehow we would hurt the delicate sensibilities of the instructors and designers around the country. We go into these discussions that if we were to actually define introductory or beginning or intermediate that we would strip the design choices out of the hands of the units. Oh please. My philosophy is that Regional A is a training class and if your guard or you as an instructor needs to be in this class, then we need some more damn guidance than a sheet that reads like a toy given to a child on Christmas day that can't be put together, because the directions are in Japanese. I'll also tell you what isn't a basic skill and not even intermediate. It's equipment work that is manipulated by one hand that explores alternate angles by use of the wrist only. Have you ever seen a 15 year old girl who barely weighs 75 pounds wet try to manipulate equipment with one hand? Have you ever seen them disengage the body to just achieve? How do you train for that? Do we train for that? Do we really as an activity train to strengthen the wrist in this day and age of multiple one handed planal work? I said to a guard today while judging, that the wrist didn't support the work and more training needed to happen before the kids could achieve. After I said that I thought, "Bad Shelba. Bad." What I should have said was, "Take the damn thing out before one of those girls breaks their wrist!" But what does it mean anyway? It's so easy as judges for us to sit back and say that a guard needs better training, but what does it really take for a guard to be truly trained in one handed, end of pole, multi-planal work?

I want to sit with every downstairs judge around the country at the national level and ask the question. Do you know? What is the training for one handed, end of the pole, multi-planal work? I am personally mad as hell that we are given sheets to work off of, but they lack such specific guidelines that it forces the guards at the bottom to struggle in writing and in training. We are so afraid to define it, because then it would force us to meet somewhere in the middle and say, "You know what? Maybe one handed, end of the pole, multi-planal work is something that we should only do if a guard is shooting for the top 10 of A class." It also would force us to say, "To do that particular skill, we expect you to train the wrist in such a way that it builds the muscles around it to support in a healthy way the development of the wrist." It would force personal trainers to be hired at the national level to evaluate the skills. It would force risk managers to look at the skills and say "No way. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen."

Why are we so afraid to really discuss skill and training? I take pride as a judge the information I give to Regional A and A class units; specifically the ones not headed to Dayton or a regional. I love those guards. I love challenging myself weekend after weekend to make sure that what I say doesn't sound like I'm speaking at the U.N. to a group of delegates from China. Each week I strive to make sure that when I leave, the units in the lower classes get more than judge speak. I listen to a lot of audio files from many different judges and it makes me angry when I'm listening to an A class guard who clearly isn't a regional bound team and hear a judge say something like this, "The training doesn't support the dimensionality of the phrase when the body is in the bound position." Seriously? How about this? "Hey you guys, you are trying to constrict the body to create different efforts and I get it, but I if you want to do this phrase, the kids are going to need specific level body training in contractions to better understand breath and release." I know I know. We aren't supposed to be teaching the guards. However, I don't care what we are suppose to and not be doing. I don't care. Sue me. Don't bring me in again. What I care about, is that the instructor who is 25 years old on their first go round in the activity understand what the hell I'm saying and that when they hear my voice they get pointed information on what training means, so the kids are successful and feel good about themselves.

Being in the trenches is important. I pride myself on being in the trenches. I pride myself on not walking on the floor with 47 guards, but just one or two and building training programs that makes the kids feel successful.

So what is an introductory skill? What is it in movement? When we blend body and equipment, when does introductory move to basic and then to intermediate? Picture this. I'm teaching a guard who is in let's say the Triple A or A3 type of class. Kids who can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. We now know we are on the A sheet. Intermediate is a word we will start hearing and exploring. However, when we came out of Regional A, no one really told us what introductory or basic constituted. I start writing harder work. Judges are telling me the kids don't have the training to support the new one handed, off center work. Except, training was never really defined for me. Now the work is harder and I still don't know how to adjust the training program or even if I should. All the clinics offered in my area is based on design. I now know how to create an effect, because my local circuit paid some high priced designer to come in to teach how to build effect and create production value. Well this is what I say to that. Whoop dee doo! My floor looks great. That $2,000 was spent well. Wow! The costumes. Look at them. The effects. They were built so well and now I understand how to build effects like a pro, but wait. While building into the effect, the kids passed through planes they didn't understand, used methods of travel that challenges them, because they really don't know how to jump in the air and then come out of that jump and continue with a nice flow through the lower body, and when they got to the big toss they just chucked equipment in the air and caught. YAY! They caught! Good for them, but unfortunately the toss was thrown wrong, different elbows, wrist energy, and free hands, but good for me...I built an effect and the kids caught! Now...I can build effect. I'm a pro. Congratulations to me. My guard has now been promoted into the Double A class. My kids still have underdeveloped lower bodies and they don't toss well. I have now learned as a designer the concept of smoke and mirrors. And the cycle goes on and on.

Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Timely.

Specifically, there are skills that those of us on the true front lines know what is introductory and basic. We can measure it on a daily basis by the struggles of the young performer and the bad habits they build why we as an activity try to figure out introductory, basic, and intermediate. Achievement is confidence of knowing how to do your show with fluidity and breath. Realistic is setting goals of knowing when it is a young performer is to have learned and mastered a double, triple, and quad. Being realistic in knowing when to put in lower body blended elements. Timely. All of this should be timely in the fact that kids shouldn't have to wait until Championships to finally feel a small amount of success. It shouldn't take from band camp to April Championships for quads and leaps to become comfortable and achievable.

We are hurting the kids by not defining and having dialog about what these words mean and what training truly looks like. I'll tell you this, though. I talk about it. I talk about it all the time. I listen and teach. I teach how to read a recap for the  messages being sent. I teach instructors to listen to common themes on all 5 tapes. I teach on my tapes how to clean a phrase and what specific training exercises will help train the skill and one last thing. I have no problem telling them to take it out. It's about the kids and their feeling of success and to do that I want an instructor to understand how to create success and what success really means. Recently I heard someone say to an instructor, "All the criteria is on the sheet. You need to read it." Well how elitist of you, I thought. Later, I pulled that instructor aside and gave her my phone number. I told her to call me and that I'll walk her through the Chinese words written on the sheet and what they really mean.

Training. Criteria. Introductory. Basic. Intermediate. What do they mean and who are we serving by keeping these words in a nebulous of confusion?  When we decide to get in the mindset and understand the unique problems of these classes, then we will decide to have better dialog.

When Winter Guard Left the Kitchen Table for the Board Room

As of last weekend, the official start to the WGI regional season has begun. Before that though, guards started their season sometime back in August with the first drop spin on a football field or if you are an independent guard, the first press release announcing when auditions were. As an instructor, the regional is our way of figuring out if all the work was worth it. We do a lot of soul searching. We ask questions of ourselves. Where did we go wrong? Where did we go right? Is it really about the kids or are we happy, because we as grown adults have been validated by a panel of 5 who may or may not be the best at what they do. Still though, we have no problem justifying either way the score goes, be it good or bad.

I was in Houston this past weekend. It's the first time I've been to an out of state regional representing a guard outside of Florida in a long time.  Being in Houston was interesting. As a consultant for a guard, I was able to sit back and just enjoy the day. Teach a little. Watch a little. Talk a lot.

I find regional's an interesting test case of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's actually rather primal if you think about it and the more "actualized" you are, the more you are able to manage the stress. As least, that's the best analogy I can come up with. Everyone faces it. Judges, Contest Staff, Hosts, Instructors, and Kids. I'll be the first to admit that I would love to say I'm self actualized, but I've had my moments at a regional when I look at some volunteer sitting at check in and give her the stink eye, because she wanted me to wait for my entire unit, instead of just giving me my damn arm band so I could go to the bathroom. Those days, I'm glad to say are pretty much gone. Now I'm like, "Alright. I'll just go and pee at the McDonalds next to the school. Some french fries sound good while I'm at it. I hope there's a bar next to said McDonald's" Whatever. Rules are rules.

It has been an interesting season so far. While WGI's season just started last weekend, mine started last fall and will continue until Dayton...as did theirs. We forget sometimes that it's not just the guards that plan all year; the show sponsors do as well. The circuits plan. The boosters plan. We've all been planning and it's the first weekend in February where we all look at each other hoping the planning came together the way it should have. I've had a lot of conversations since the fall revolving around the concept of "where are we at as an activity?" It comes up everywhere. EVERYWHERE. In the stands. While judging. In critique. In the bar over cocktails. It comes up in rehearsals when we are trying to figure out what is it that really makes up an A class guard today. What is an intermediate or advanced skill? We'll ask ourselves, "Are we A or Open?" Everyone is talking about where the activity is going. "Why does world class look the way it does? Do I like it? Should I?" I just wish these conversations were more public. There appears at times to be a secrecy to the conversations. Why, I don't know. I was talking to someone this weekend and I said that my days teaching Independent World are most likely finished. Even the guards I'm involved with, if the day does come again that we reach World, I'm not sure I want to be a part of it. Making finals or not making finals doesn't scare me. Trust me on that one. I simply don't want to teach anyone over the age of 23. I just don't. It's not that I don't like 30 year old performers, I just don't want to do it. I think I have more to offer a 16 year wide eyed young person exploring the activity for the first time, than a late twenty something performer who has marched for over a decade in three or four different guards and drum corps. Some love being involved in the design process of World Class and others don't. Some would rather coach kids and others would rather develop the art. Neither is right or wrong and neither makes someone more or less talented than the other. In these conversations, I realized that the problem we have as an activity is the split in philosophy. At the heart of our soul, some of us feel that we are first a youth based activity and second a competitive art based activity and others see it opposite.

I'm going to say this out loud and put my cards on the table. It's something I wish more people would have the guts to do. I believe we are split as an activity and I believe that it will not get better until dialog, honesty, and humility become our mantra. Transparency is crucial to an activity trying to flourish like ours. People are being pulled in different directions and the secret text messages, public Facebook posts, and private bar room chats are a perfect example of it. There was a time many moons ago when you would hear stories of local circuits and even WGI counting the money from a show, while sitting at a kitchen table late at night hoping beyond hope that they at the very least broke even. I was teaching Shaktai, when it was the units that still hosted the regional's. I remember watching Ron Comfort count money at 3 a.m., hoping the gamble to host a regional was worth it.

We have changed. We have grown. We did what we all hoped would happen. We have truly become an international activity. We no longer count the receipts at the kitchen table. We are corporate based with high end sponsors, a lot of rules, and a lot of processes. With every season comes a new rule...A new way of doing things, but I'm not sure what the thinking should be or if we are on the same page with that thinking. Personally, I struggle to keep up. I've gotten to the point that I could care less how nationals is seeded or if we are going to have a black floor covering or tan one. I care about where we are headed and how we plan to get there. In the past decade, we grew faster as an activity than we ever did in the 30 years prior. There was a time we were smaller, people knew each other better, there were less guards, and at a regional you could smile and say hi to a judge without the judge or instructor feeling as if they had committed some major infraction. I get it. The more sophisticated we become, the more rules that must be in place. People though, a lot of people actually, miss those days. We know we can't go back, but many of us are trying to figure out how to have a marriage between the kitchen table and the board room.

Technology has changed the way we teach and judge. It has changed how shows are run and when there is a technology breakdown, all systems come to a halt. However, we know that there's no going back. Two weeks ago I judged in a local circuit and we laughed about the days you would get 50 tapes on two prongs and got excited as the night would go on and as the tapes became less and less. We know those days are gone and thank God for it. However, we still miss the sense of communication and togetherness.

Our split as an activity though, is not about technology or the fact that things happen at shows beyond the control of anyone's best intentions. We are split, because we are wondering how to hold on to the youth based, training base aspect of the activity, while embracing the growth of the art. I've worked my entire career in the nonprofit sector. I've seen nonprofits grow so fast that it fractures the organization and within that fracture is a loss of staff, volunteers, and oftentimes money. I've seen organizations have what's called mission creep. When I consult with nonprofits and see mission creep, I ask them if that's the direction they really want to go. I tell them that the money might be good, but they could lose their core base and the public attention might not be worth it. I ask them to be methodical in the communication process and strategic in how quickly or slowly they move. There have been a number of significant changes in the past 15 years or so that took us from color guard to international pageantry. We added percussion. We eliminated age outs. We added winds. None of it's bad, but with every significant addition, there has to be the infrastructure in place both nationally and locally to truly manage it and I see that we are at times functioning with a corporate mentality, but a kitchen table approach...hence problems at regional's that cause people to talk.

I spent last night looking around the web. I went on probably 10 different circuit websites give or take, as well as WGI's website. I read the mission statement of each organization...if I could find it. Want to know what I found? About half of the organization's don't mention the word "youth" in their mission. That is significant and it's huge. I make a living out of reading mission statements of nonprofits, because the mission is the core of what you're about. So I realized something. We are split as an activity, because we all didn't move in the same direction together. Is it the kids or the competitive pageantry? Is it both? It can be. WGI's mission statement doesn't mention the word "youth" at all, but it classifies itself as a "nonprofit  youth organization" in its "About" section. Does that matter? Some would say it's just semantics. As someone who works for a funder of youth services, the word "youth" damn well be in the mission somewhere. Some mission statements I reviewed mention education, while some don't. Some mention competition, while others don't. What struck me, was how "youth" was not a recurring theme that ran through all of them. North Texas actually had a great sentence in their mission and it included all stakeholders, such as band directors and parents. That was refreshing to see.

Does all this matter? Hell yes it does! It matters, because that's where the split in mindset is coming from. Some of us see our jobs as youth coaches, while others see their jobs as a financial venture to offer performers the opportunity to be successful in this wonderful and creative art. Neither are wrong and you can actually do both at the same time. We just have to recognize that there are two sides to this. There are kids involved in this activity and this activity costs a lot of money and manpower. There are people making a lot of money from those kids and off the backs of their parents. I'm not just talking here about WGI or consultants of programs. The money is also made by costume companies, equipment sales, and travel agents. This isn't new to youth sports by any means. Just look at little league baseball. Millions of dollars are funneled through little league baseball. Corporate sponsorship, private coaches, and travel teams changed the sport forever. They've learned to adapt, but it took a long time and there are people in that world who are still unhappy about it, because with the corporate sponsorship's came a loss of community based baseball.

In what I see in my participation in the activity as a judge and consultant, are a lot of young instructors struggling to survive in an era that's very different than when I was their age. Risk management is a lot different now then it was when I was a twenty something. For example, I wasn't background checked when I taught in the early 90's, but now we are all background checked, because a little girl was kidnapped and Penn State hosted a youth camp where boys were molested in the showers. When I came up in the activity, the design wasn't as sophisticated, so I could spend more time thinking about the program and technique. Things have changed, but we don't always address those changes and the impact it has at the local level. Some people think it's WGI's responsibility as the "premiere" pageantry organization to lead the charge for this new movement of pageantry. Some believe it's the circuit's job and instructor education should occur at the local level. Some feel that it's the programs themselves that should take their own responsibility, thus making this a true dog eat dog world. Whatever the answer, there are a lot of opinions on this right now and organizations are working against each other without maybe even realizing it.

This is what I would do if I were in charge. I would pull every mission statement of every circuit and color guard that had one and look at them for consistency. I would look to see how far apart or how close together we are in our thinking. I would ask through well conceived survey's of director's and circuit boards, where it is they see the activity headed and how they would go about it. I would get feedback. I would send a survey out to every judge, every director, every WGI staff member after every regional and start tracking what went right and what went wrong. Take the fear and ego out of it and carefully analyze what is working and what is not and just because a show on the front end ran well and the scores were just perfect, does not mean everything ran well for all involved. A well structured survey might identify that the staff of a guard did not read their packets and let's be honest; that's their own damn fault. However, if we know that enough young guard instructors don't know to read a packet or how to really read through the packet, then that's where we start the education process and this was just a simple basic example. If through the survey's we find out that everyone was pissed off at the sound system, such as the case in Houston, then the surveys give a good outlook on how to manage public relations so the gossip is stopped in its tracks. By the way, I would do this at the local level as well.

To think that we as an activity are not on different pages is naive and if we are truly in this for the kids, then we owe it to them to figure out how we went from the kitchen table to the board room and what that really means for the next 30 years of the activity. There are ways for most everyone to get what they want. We can go international, make money, and keep a side of the activity that is truly based on the competitive aspect of pageantry for those that want to win and keep the youth side for those that just want to stay local and build a little guard program that attends one or two regional's a year. We can do this. We just have to acknowledge it first and for the love of God...we've got to have open dialog with open minds and open hearts.

Finding Ghosts Among The Ruins Of Dayton

When you wake up on Sunday morning in Dayton and look out the window of your hotel room, you see a city that is brown and lifeless. The buildings are crumbling and the roads are under construction. Dayton, Ohio is not a place where one visits by choice or just for fun. Dust covers the ground on any given Sunday in Dayton, but when you wake up on Sunday morning after WGI, you see a city that came to life among the ruins. For four days, four very special days, the dust and dilapidated buildings shine with the glitter of ten thousand colorguards and within that glitter, are the whispers of the past, the exhaustion of the present, and the Dayton's yet to come. When you wake up on Sunday morning in Dayton and look out the window of your hotel room, the glitter is all gone. What you are left with is this indescribable feeling that the world all of a sudden seems a little less interesting and a little less fun and with that, you say goodbye to your heart. The best people you have ever known will board planes that will take them from the center of you. 

When WGI is over, all that is left is a file of recaps to study and a drawer of videos that are tucked away like a favorite charm given to us by a special lover from our youth. Old arm bands, programs, ticket stubs, and photos end up in boxes lost to our memory of once was and in the ruins of Dayton, our memories gravitate to a time not many can grasp or can even attempt to understand. If you listen closely, you can hear the ghosts of Dayton's past whisper their legacy. 

Sitting at World Class Finals on Saturday night I was struck by how many people continue to come to Dayton year after year. I met a great new friend this year in Dayton...another wonderful benefit of attending WGI. His name is Denny and he marched Emerald Marquis. He had not been to a WGI in about 15 years and watching his reaction to the World Guards was truly an unexpected gift. Where many of us have become jaded, Denny was overwhelmed and excited. It must have been like stepping out of a time capsule that left space dock somewhere in the late 90's, and all of a sudden he spies cell phones, the internet, and flying vehicles.  On the breaks between guards, I would think about guards past and the impact those guards made on the activity. I thought about a time when on Saturday night the World Class performers walked around dressed to the nines, while they watched an event called, "Triple Finals." I wondered how many in the arena remembered Triple Finals and how many actually grasped a time when finals was on Sunday. 

I thought about the guards and the people that made up those guards...many who were sitting in the audience watching their legacy come to life. They are the ghosts. The performers who stood on that arena floor in a time when it was not sold out in the round and a time when the activity was a little bit less commercial. 30 years I've been coming to WGI and in between guards, I thought of the wonder of our activity and the impact it has had on thousands upon thousands of people. As I watched the guards pull their floors to set for what would be their final performance, I thought of the shadows left behind. I remembered a time when we heard the phrase, "Let the ceremony begin," and then the rain fell and the house came to its feet.

There was a time when we saw an Irish jig and couldn't believe the immense talent that flowed from performer to performer. When a colorguard would present a final flag feature, my mind would gravitate to a flag feature that left us speechless. It was all white, developed from the back, and it was the first and changed the activity forever. On Saturday night if you closed your eyes and opened your mind, you could hear colors and their personalities being described to you and a rifle line entering on the color red. If you watched closely, you could see a gypsy caravan coming out of the tunnel. On Saturday night, I saw the flags of guards past. I saw Marilyn Monroe's skirt fly and paint being thrown. I heard the song, "Summertime," and then a score that would blow the minds of everyone in attendance that night. On one special occasion, we saw peacocks bring the arena to life, thus offering a new definition to the phrase, "Production Value." 

Each year on a Saturday night in April, we watch as the present merges with the past and wonder where the future will take us. The ghosts of the past grace the arena. They sit in sections 313 and 212. Some are sitting in the center with a recorder in their hands and others are standing at the top of the tunnel welcoming the present to finals. They are everywhere. They are in the tent and outside listening to the smokers mull over present day colorguard. They are in warm-up holding the hands of the performers as they struggle to get their nerves under control. They are on retreat waiting to place medals around the necks of the next generation of winners, asking those performers just one simple request. "Remember this moment and thank those that came before you." After the show, they are waiting at headquarters with a drink in their hand saying, "Welcome back. We've missed you." They are the voices of the past and all they want is to welcome us back to Dayton. 

At some point during the weekend, we pay tribute to those we have lost by a simple toast of our cocktail and wish they were sitting with us. We tell old war stories like old men sitting on the front porch of a nursing home and we remember. Late Saturday night we say goodbye to our friends, give them a hug, and hope beyond all hope to see them again in this place we call Dayton. 

On Sunday morning upon the ruins of Dayton, we say goodbye as we pass the arena on our way to the interstate and say, "I'll see you next year." And with that, we say goodbye to the present and welcome the future and if you look closely, you can see a small piece of glitter glistening in the wind. In it is its echo, it simply says, "Thank you for your passion, your creativity, and you friendship for this thing we call winter guard. I will see you next year my friend."

Defining the A Class...An Instructor's Perspective

A Class. What does it mean? The WGI manual would describe the class in the following terms: 

• It’s the understanding and achievement of the tenets and principles in each caption
• Layering of equipment on some body and some phrases done while traveling.
• Staging choices will provide the performers with the opportunity to show growing comprehension of challenging spatial relationships, speed/method of moving and orientation
• At the highest level of A Class, those whose students have mastered basic skills will be offered the opportunity to demonstrate some intermediate Open Class skills

The actual sheets that reference the criteria uses the following words to describe the A class:

• Good
• Greater Depth
• Growing level
• Usually
• Some more mature approaches
• Good knowledge of the fundamentals of design
• Staging fully reflects the basic musical structure
• Arrangement displays a successful blend of design
• Adherence to style is good
• Methods and techniques reflect a good degree of physical and mental development

But what is A class, really? Is A Class the words on the sheet or the make up of the guards in the class? On the surface, it would look as if A Class is for a winter guard getting their feet wet in the activity for the first time or a guard that sets its goals based on organizational needs or barriers such as money, facility, time, or membership commitment. A Class on the surface, is the perfect place for a guard who for example, is struggling with an inconsistent membership. It's the place where a new designer can explore the possibilities of their creativity and talent. It's the place where a technician can learn more about the training process, cleaning, and working hand in hand with their choreographer. 

The "A Class" is an enigma and always has been. When you listen to instructors talk in critique or over a glass of wine, they compare the words on the sheet to the practicality of its application. What does "good" mean? They look at the top guards in the class and say, "No one in A class should be doing an ensemble phrase that ends in a triple salchow." (insert post Olympic humor) The guards sitting in the potential medalist spot respond back by saying, "We just want to medal" and "We would never survive in Open," when the Open Class is just as confusing. The conversation is a virtual mathematical given every February. But what is it and why can't we define it?

At the 2013 World Championships, the Independent A Class finalists were made up of 3 guards who came from current world class colorguards; Onyx, Zydeco, and USF. Other colorguards in the class list their staff of well paid designers who coincidentally come from some of those world guards previously mentioned. Other units are off shoots of drum corps and universities. Many have sophisticated websites, staff's, and some with financial backing. In fact, there were only 4 teams in finals that I couldn't identify of having assets of either a staff with a sophisticated history in the activity or organizational backing of a strong non-profit structure. (It doesn't mean they didn't have it. I just couldn't find the information)

So what do we do with this information? The reality is that none of us would pay to see finals at WGI if the guards on Friday night were doing drop spins and three count tosses. We can't fault the judges. They score based on the presentation of the guards of the day. If the guards are pushing the skills and achieving those skills, then the judge has no choice but to credit them. WGI is also in a difficult spot, because no one wants to create a mandatory skills list. If we do that, then we are walking the slippery slope of some Olympic sports such as ice skating and gymnastics. They can promote those guards, but what happens when they can barely survive in Open and end up back in A Class a couple of years down the road? We see THAT scenario all too often. Finally, we can't fault the units. Each year they look at the finalists and try to determine which skill set will be the most beneficial in the next season. The guards look at the finalists and know they are competing against longstanding world class designers, so they ramp up the skills. This in turn creates problems at the local level with guards who are just "doing too much" without the training to achieve.

On the surface it looks like there is nothing we can do. This sport, just like all others evolves and grows. What World Class is today, will be A Class in 10 years. Each year training for guards becomes more and more sophisticated to compensate for the system. Some guards are now requiring cross fit training. They have hired professional fitness experts and dancers to train their guards. This costs money. Dues go up. Rehearsal times lengthen and without even realizing it we have crossed into the world of sport over art. 

Each year I hear people try to blame WGI. I can't however, figure out what WGI is supposed to do. Do you tell Onyx they can't bring out three colorguards and take up space in three classes? Of course not. It's called free enterprise and may the best man win. We use to have a promotion system based off of a number every weekend, but the "bump score" was eliminated, because of the subjectivity of show dynamics and the fact that the bump score didn't take into account a number of issues that created scenarios where a guard might throw the show to avoid the bump score. What we have now is an even more subjected system with promotion by committee. 

So what do we do? What is the answer? How do guards figure out how to write a show that is supposed to be based on basic to intermediate skills and still survive? I can't tell you how many times I've heard an instructor say, "I just want to medal in 'A Class' and move on." Ten years later they are still waiting for that medal. I suggest the following:

• Start with education. Our education system for instructors is weak at best. Every sport I have researched has annual and sometimes semi-annual conferences. They have coach certification programs. They have money management, risk management, and board development classes they are a requirement to attend. Train the instructors how to read a recap. My God! Could we try to make that any more confusing for an instructor? Factor...don't factor...50/50 split...factor...don't factor. Why wouldn't they be confused? Teach them about how to work hand in hand with a judge at critique. 

• Create dialog. Encourage dialog. Seek dialog. Don't shut dialog down. If the A Class beyond finals is a catch all for guards who are still trying to figure it out, then why wouldn't we want to elicit as much feedback possible? Why wouldn't we want to know what they are confused about and then...why wouldn't we do everything in our power to make them successful?

If the education and dialog truly existed, then we might just see an explosion of guards into Open Class and less guards falling out of World Class and into oblivion. 

• Collect data and then share that data. If someone could really see that their dream of medaling at nationals is not and cannot be a whim that occurs randomly, then maybe they would see time as a tool that brings longterm success for their program. The evidence shows that finalists guards have years upon years of failure and success to their name. They have created organizations with a federal tax status and their instructional personnel are not fresh from the performance field. Show them that yes, there are outliers, but those outliers are rare in comparison to what really happens. 

To become a finalist in any class requires work that goes beyond good design and technique. It is pain staking organizational level work and steps cannot be missed or taken for granted. We don't always teach that and in fact, rarely have that conversation. Many people around the country have said that "A Class" is the cash cow for the activity, while the World Class gets all the perks. Being on staff at a program that has explored all realms of the classes, I can assure you that is not the case. I do however believe that there are decisions made to support the World guards that does not look at the consequences on the A and Open guards.  It's hard all over and the one constant that I keep coming back to is that without the three points made earlier of education, dialog, and data, then we will never build the cohesive understanding of the classes we are all so desperately wanting. 

This is a competitive activity/sport. It's expensive and the time spent on just one 5 minute show is absurd. So why wouldn't an instructor or director want to medal and medal now? In this 24/7 world of immediacy, it is really hard to slow down and say, "Wait! The world has changed and there are steps that are necessary to success and that success is pain painstakingly slow." We should stop and talk about what it is that's happening. I wonder the following. When we eliminated the age out rule in World Class, how did that decision filter into the other classes? If a guard has 60 kids show up to their auditions and half of those kids aren't kids, but 25 year old professional performers and the 18 year old who would have made the world class guard 10 years ago is put into the A guard, then how has that changed our current A class structure? Maybe it did and maybe it didn't?  When we instituted a policy where World Guards can march 40 members on the floor, did we create unintended consequences for A guards in the same area of the World units such as in Ohio? We can't possibly know without data. Maybe it's time we found out.

I'll end with this. Basic skills and intermediate skills are words we use to define the class and they are words that are similar to other sports that are subjective. In gymnastics for instance, a back handspring is considered a basic skill and the back handspring in isolation is done at the lowest levels. We all know that throwing a triple in second position, without anything following it, is a basic skill. So maybe, it's not skills we should be defining. Maybe we need to re-frame the dialog to not what you are doing, but what has it taken for you to get to this moment today and how can we move you forward?