Crossmen Update

Just after 4 PM Saturday afternoon we had a telephone call from Josh who was in San Antonio. Just by the time he called we knew that something important was happening.

Saturday was the first regional event where all World Class DCI Corps were on the same field. Since most nights there are two, sometimes three, different World Class events taking place you cannot always measure yourself against all the other Corps. Different venues and sets judges become wild cards in trying to measure your Corps against the other twenty Corps that are marching this year.

There are to top six Corps that each year draw experienced marchers from other Corps. With their depth and experience the top six Corps consistently finish in the top five by the end of the season. With their experience, these Corps can have the capability to start with a more complicated drill and continue to make it more complicated as they hone it. These Corps have great intensity and are only for the most serious marchers. With about half of their marchers from places like Julliard, they have big sound and ensemble skills. Corps like the Crossmen with younger and less experienced marchers cannot match the top six groups.

Below the top six are four Corps that are excellent but are just not quite at the same level as the top six. Most years these compete to finish in the top ten. Below that level is a cluster of nine Corps that are competitive with each other. Their goal is not to make it into the top ten but into the semi-finals (top 17) with the ultimate goal being to make it into the final show of the year (top 12). The Crossmen with their relocation to Texas are younger and less experienced than many of their peers….and last year finished 16th out of 22 Corps that marched (not all Corps march every year).

For regional events are the opportunity to show a Corps’s stuff and see how you measure up against others who are at a similar level. The top eight Corps have a bye to the evening show. In the afternoon the remaining Corps compete for the last four positions in evening show. Josh called even as two other Corps were yet to perform because when they left the field the Crossmen felt excited by how they performed. An hour and half later he called back to say that they finished 4th in the afternoon and therefore had the 12th spot in the evening show.

Even at a distance we celebrated with Josh. The Crossmen making the evening show is a significant advancement. The score between them and the two groups behind them were close but they make it. Most group consider moving up two places a year as a major step forward. While they may not make the 12th spot in this Saturday’s major regional this Saturday in Atlanta or into the finals at the World’s, taking the 12th spot in San Antonio before a home crowd is encouraging. It enhances their motivation to clean their show and work through their daily exhaustion and muscle aches. It confirms that they Crossmen are headed in the right direction and that getting into the top ten could with the retention of experienced marchers and staff only be a year or two away.

By the way, at the beginning of the afternoon show, a member of the color guard dislocated her knee. A staff member and another color guard quickly helped her off the field. The color guard member who helped his peer off the field returned to field. When an injury like that happens, it creates a hole but the judges do not deduct because of it.

For the next few nights the Crossmen are in Kansas. On Wednesday night they start Atlanta. Following Atlanta they go into Tennassee before heading to Warrenton in the Washington DC area. Unfortunately I am in Atlanta when Josh is in the area...but I am going to Atlanta early to take in the show at the Georgia Dome.