MARCHING.COM: WGI expands 2011 schedule with new Elite Event regional championships

Elite series offers championship-style experiences for guard and percussion units

DAYTON, OH, August 27, 2010 — Winter Guard International, the world's premier organization producing indoor color guard and percussion ensemble competitions, has created a new series of regional championship events providing expanded performance opportunities as well as added services for participating groups.

WGI Sport of the Arts

Each Elite Event will be a two-day contest occurring the last two weeks of the WGI competitive calendar. Approaching each event as a "mini-world championship," groups can expect the same attention to detail that has made the Dayton events recognized among the best-managed marching arts events in the world.

"Our goal is to offer greater service and an elevated experience to nationally competitive color guards and percussion ensembles while allowing local groups to discover WGI in a unique and large-scale event," said WGI Executive Director Ron Nankervis. "I am most pleased that while the color guard division had the Power Regionals for a number of years, for the first time WGI will offer a similar type of contest for percussion ensembles."

Some features of the new WGI Elite Events are:

• Championship Arena Venues - Offers the performers the experience of that "big arena feeling" that sets it apart from regular regional or local circuit contests.

• Semi-Finals for Scholastic A - For Elite Events with more than 30 Scholastic A groups entered into the contest, preliminaries will be held at a second contest site with 50% progressing to semi-finals in the arena Saturday night. The top ten will then compete in Finals Sunday morning. Preliminaries for all other classes will be held in the main arena.

• Designer Overview Commentary - A current color guard or percussion designer will give "overview" commentary on the total program. Not as disciplined as the formal judging caption philosophy and more of a "consultation" with a fellow designer, trials of this new service have been met with much enthusiasm and should prove valuable to groups wishing for peer encouragement.

• Expanded Adjudication Services - All finals include a double panel of judges scheduled to travel to the WGI World Championships in Dayton. In addition, an expanded critique with the prelims judges panel as well as the designer providing overview commentary is another feature of the Elite Event. Each group will also receive a complimentary DVD of the their performance.

• Seeding Advantage - Champions in each color guard class will be seeded in the last performance time in their assigned round for WGI World Championships. This will not apply to percussion, as some classes are not seeded for world championships preliminaries.

WGI will offer five color guard and two percussion Elite Events in its inaugural season:

March 19-20, 2011
• Eastern Color Guard Championship - Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
• Southwestern Color Guard Championship - Thomas Coliseum, Dallas, TX
• Mid-South Percussion Championship - McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga, TN

March 26-27, 2011
• Mid-South Color Guard Championship - Lipscomb Arena, Nashville, TN
• Southeastern Color Guard Championship - Sundome Arena, Tampa, FL
• Western Color Guard Championship - Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, CA
• Western Percussion Championship - Coussoulis Arena, San Bernardino, CA

Visit wgi.org to view the complete WGI 2011 event calendar.

About WGI: WGI Sport of the Arts is the governing body for the indoor color guard and percussion activities. Hosting regionals, culminating with World Championships in April, WGI is the premier organization for pageantry and education. The Sport of the Arts brings music to life through competitive performance, creating a positive and exhilarating experience for everyone involved.

Source material and image courtesy of WGI.

Copyright 2010 Marching.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published or redistributed without permission.

Recent Headlines: 2012 WGI Mid-South Percussion Championship Photos | Winter Circuit Championship Schedule | Connect with Marching.com on Facebook

News Briefs

WGI expands 2011 schedule with new "Elite Event" regional championships