Investing In A Winter Guard Program The best color guards on the marching field have winter guard programs. The reason is because winter guard provides additional training throughout the entire year. Without a winter guard, your color guard students will not touch a flag until August. I don’t care how good you are, it takes time to get back into shape and to re-train your muscles on how to handle the equipment. Equipment is about timing and muscle memory. Your muscle memory goes away when you take 9 months off. Winter guard will improve your color guard program dramatically. Students will learn and master equipment faster and will gain a better performance quality. Guard members are also more physically fit after winter guard season, and are more prepared for marching season then a student without winter guard. Winter guard is expensive and time consuming but it can also be very beneficial. A successful winter guard season will always make the band program look superior, and winter guard shows are great to perform in front of basketball crowds during halftime. It also helps in recruiting. Performing your winter guard show in front of 8th grade students will only draw more students into the auditions. It gives something for your guard to do if you have non-band members in color guard. If you have a winter guard, make the guard a class for a full year. It also improves the retention rate. This is for several reasons. 1) because the students wont lose interest and 2) because guard members absolutely love winter guard. My students live for winter guard. All of the girls have a blast and love to compete against other guard programs. Some of your students may stay in guard just because of winter guard. Winter guard is expensive, but it is worth the investment. Your color guard will be so much better when football season comes. One thing you must do first is to be sure you have an instructor to do this. Winter guard is not like football season. It takes time and a great deal of effort on the part of the instructor. If you are going to have a winter guard, make sure your instructor will be there to write it, teach it, and take your students to the competitions. So you want a winter guard. If you don’t have one the following information will help you better understand on how to start one. If you have one, than that is great and I encourage you to keep doing it, however the following information can be useful if you do not know much about it. 1)        What is Winter Guard? – In a nutshell, it is a competition season for color guard only. It officially begins with contest in January, however many guard instructors will start teaching their shows in November or December. Winter guard shows consist of 5 to 30 guard members performing a routine set to pre-recorded music. They do this in gyms. Like marching band, they have a set time of how long the show can be. The length of the show is based upon your class. 2)        Where are the competitions? – The contests are run by a circuit. There is a circuit in almost every major city in the United States. The United states is divided into smaller circuits. These circuits will pick the dates and places of every contest. You need to select the circuit that is closest to your district. The circuits are listed below. •        Texas Color Guard Circuit (TCGC) - The Houston and Austin color guards, and some San Antonio programs belong to this circuit. www.texascolorguardcircuit.org •        North Texas Color Guard Association (NTCA)  - They are based out of Dallas and Forth Worth and serve many of the color guard programs in that area.  www.ntca-wgi.org •        Texas Educational Color Guard Association (TECA) - They are based out of the San Antonio area. Color Guards out of San Antonio and south Texas near the Valley belong to this organization. www.go-teca.org 3)        How do I enter the guard into competition? – This is very easy, however every circuit is different. Go to the website of the circuit you wish to join. The website will inform you of how to join, how to sign up for competitions, and how much it will cost. You must be a member of the circuit to compete in competition. The process is different for every circuit so read the instructions carefully. For instance, the Texas Color Guard Circuit (TCGC) will charge a flat $450 for the entire season. You can sign up for as many contests as you like. That is also including championships. Make sure you pay attention to the deadlines. If you only want to send your guard to one competition, some circuits will charge you a flat $75 fee for that contest and you don’ t have to be a member. However, I would encourage you to have your guard join the circuit. If your guard is going to take the time to learn a show, than let them compete in more than just one contest. Let them get the full experience of winter guard is all about. 4)        What do I have to do in regards to the show? – Nothing! This is the job of the guard instructor. You might have to educate your guard instructor on certain rules in marching band, however it is the responsibility of the guard instructor to know all rules and regulations associated with this activity. I say this, because there are an enormous amount of rules to follow. Things like the amount of time you have in show, the prop times, the boundary lines, and even how to put out equipment properly. An uneducated guard instructor creates upset children, which make upset parents, which creates more phone calls for you. If you would like to know more about the rules, read the bylaws and the contest rules for the circuit. Most circuits have this available on their websites. Most guard instructors already have an extensive knowledge of winter guard and how it is done. Designing and writing choreography to a show is not easy, but there are many guard instructors who are very good at it and know what they are doing. The best way you can support them is by purchasing the equipment they will need. For example we may need a floor, props, flags, or backdrops. Yes, it is expensive, but it is worth it. 5)        What is WGI? – WGI is Winter Guard International. This is the national circuit for winter guard. They create the rules that the circuits follow throughout the country. They are much like BOA. BOA will hold regionals around the country and one grand championship in November. WGI does the same. They hold regional competitions for color guards in various major cities and have one very large World Championship in April for both guard and percussion. Only the well-established guard programs will compete in these competitions. A first year guard would not be very successful at a regional. If you have a first year winter guard or a young guard, I would wait a couple years before I send them to a regional. 6)        Do I need to buy a floor? – The reason I bring this up is because this is a question that I have received many times in my career. Most band directors understand that the students need new uniforms. The students need flags, and they need money for fees and transportation to competitions. They don’t understand why they need to purchase the $1500 floor. Well, you don’t have to. There is nothing in the rules that says you must have a floor, however the floor can be an advantage in your show. A floor, along with backdrops, lets you turn a gym floor into a stage to perform. It enhances the overall effect of the guard show which only aids in the overall general effect score. It is expensive, but it is a wonderful investment for your guard program. 7)        I can’t afford to have a winter guard! – Yes it is expensive, but there are several things you can do to save money. 1) Recycle your marching uniforms. This way the girls don’t have to pay for a uniform and that money could go to paying for instruction or dues. Or they wont have to pay anything at all. 2) Recycle your marching show flags. A winter guard show is only 4 minutes in length. I usually only use one or two flags in a show. Use flags from several years past. 3) If you cant afford a floor, than don’t use one for the first year. Do some fundraisers and raise the money to get one next year. 4) Carpool. I don’t recommend this, but if you have to, then get parents to drive your students to the contest show if you cant afford the transportation. Be careful though, some school districts won’t let you do this. If you can get a bus, than I suggest doing so. Winter guard can be very expensive or it can be inexpensive. Either way, it is worth the time and effort of having one. Summary I hope the information that I have given in this article is helpful to you. Hopefully I have given you a better understanding of what color guard is all about and how to use the guard to enhance your program. I believe every one wants a great guard program, however it takes patience and understanding. Band directors, and even guard instructors, need to understand they will not have a James Logan, a Fantasia, or a Blue Devil color guard in two years. Give your instructor time and support them any way that you can. Building a color guard program takes time, patience, and a great deal of training. A band director can do plenty to help their guard programs, and they can do many little things that go a very long way. Support your guard in their efforts and praise them from the tower when they do well. Go to their winter guard performances, and congratulate them in front of the band students when they do well in a winter guard competition. Watch them in rehearsal from time to time, and get to know your guard students. Get to know their names and find out their interests. These are some of the little things you can do as a band director that goes a VERY long way. The more your guard feels appreciated by the band directors and the members of the band, the more they will feel part of the group. The better they feel, the more motivated they are to go home and work harder. The more you understand what they do, the more the guard will respect and appreciate everything you do for them. If you would like to know the companies that I use, or if you have any questions about this article or other issues in color guard, please e-mail me anytime. If you need a consultant, trainer, or choreographer, I am also available. I live in the Houston area and willing to travel if you need my services. I want to see our activity develop and grow, so I am here to help. My e-mail address is jmyers@magnoliaisd.org or at jmyers79@houston.rr.com Good luck with your color guard programs, and have a wonderful school year! Copyright 2005 by Jason Myers About the Author Jason Myers is currently an assistant band director and color guard instructor at Magnolia High School where he has a program of sixty members. Jason has taught high school band for 4 years. He has been teaching color guard for 9 years, with many of his color guards receiving numerous awards and honors. Jason earned his bachelors degree in music education from the University of North Texas where he studied saxophone and clarinet.   jmyers@magnoliaisd.org