The Past, Present, and Future 2010-2011

As 2010 comes to an end, I have decided to take a look back at the season, while looking forward to our season about to begin - a bit like Janus, the Roman god after which the month of January is named.

2010 Review
2010 was ATX Winterguard's second competitive season. After much positive feedback in 2009, we were looking forward to maintaining and expanding the expectations we had created, and for the most part we did.  Our A guard membership grew by 60% to 15 performers. We brought back the same staff from 2009, and added a few new faces as well.

Unfortunately, situations changed, and people moved, etc. It's the way life is.  Halfway through the season we had to say goodbye to two staff members, and 3 performers. But, we fought the hard fight that we within ATX believe in - no excuses, no regrets. Don't give in to your problems, find a way to overcome them.  And we did, to the best of our abilities.

For the second time, the A guard made finals at the WGI Austin regional. We attended the Houston WGI Regional and the Dallas WGI Regional, and although we didn't make finals at either, our scores were still nationally competitive. We received a lot of positive crowd response, and other performers told us how much they enjoyed our show.

2010 season ended interestingly - we took our first trip to Dayton, OH for WGI World Championships. Boy was THAT an adventure!

• Don't stay at Jenky Hotels (we learned from this lesson - never again!)
• Don't believe a certain airline when they tell you it's fine for a performer to join you on the 2nd leg of a trip if they aren't with you on the first...yes DELTA, I'm looking at you.
• Friendly's Ice Cream is NOT worth the wait, especially when you don't get what you ordered
• Buy SMART snacks! Don't buy crappy snacks and expect to have energy for the whole day
• Bring money for souvenirs, or to buy a new sabre or rifle and save on shipping costs!
• Pride of Cincinnati performers are really fun, nice people!
• One day, after you've taught many, many guards, a former student might just end up performing at finals and smile at you during their whole performance, and it will make all the frustrations melt away :-)

Our performers learned a lot about the world of colorguard beyond Texas. They learned that dreams can come true. (Most had dreamed about going to Dayton to watch, few had ever imagined performing there.) They made new friends, and most importantly, grew in their knowledge and understanding of what it takes to make it to finals.

But that wasn't the end for 2010.  We still had celebrations (our annual BBQuet), times to hang out and watch the WGI videos, go to the San Antonio DCI show, and to look forward to 2011.

2011 Prospects
Our 2011 season is full of promise, as this year we present not 1, but 3 winterguard programs. With the introduction of ATX Jr, we have enabled two high schools who could not bring out winter programs to allow their students the opportunity to continue in the activity they love while improving their skills and education in the performing arts.  ATX Sr allows more seasoned performers to continue staying active in an activity they enjoy while expanding their education base. It also creates a low-stress way for newcomers to the activity to learn what colorguard is about while performing in front of welcoming fans.

This year ATX Winterguard will compete in two circuits (TCGC and TECA) in addition to WGI. Performing in TECA allows our performers in ATX Sr to perform competitively against other senior guards. ATX A will join them in a show of support throughout the season.  ATX A will continue to compete as a member of TCGC, joined by ATX Jr. 

ATX A and ATX Jr both plan to attend the Austin WGI Regional, with ATX A also attending the newly established WGI Elite regional in Dallas, as well as WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio.

It creates an extremely busy schedule for performers and staff members, but all are committed to making it as successful as possible. 

Stick around for more news as the season progresses, and until then,  HAPPY NEW YEAR! and best wishes for 2011!!