What to Watch For - WGI Winds 2023
We’ve recently spent some time breaking down WGI Winds, and explaining what sets it apart from its siblings in the WGI ecosystem. If you did not see that article and are unfamiliar with WGI Winds, take some time and check it out. The following is a curated list of Indoor Winds groups (one from each of the six classes) to be on the lookout for this winter season, most of them being new groups or recently reclassified.
SCHOLASTIC A - Bob Jones HS (Madison, AL)
February 25th - SCGC (Southeastern Color Guard Circuit) Bob Jones (1st, 74.70)
March 11th-12th - WGI Hattiesburg Regional (1st, 83.35)
March 25th - WGI Mt. Juliet Regional
April 1st-2nd - SCGC Percussion & Winds Championships
April 22nd-23rd - WGI Winds World Championships
Now I know what you’re thinking, who the heck is Bob Jones (AL)? They are the reigning 7A Alabama State Marching Champions, and despite their lack of presence on the national stage, having not competed in Bands of America, they have been one of the best band programs in their state for a while now. Not only this, but Bob Jones has had a strong presence in Indoor Drumline within their regional circuit (Southeastern Color Guard Circuit), placing top three in Scholastic A every year since 2013, only missing out on the gold in 2016, 2017, and 2019.
After a strong home show with SCGC, Bob Jones took WGI Hattiesburg by storm, clearing the rest of their field by over 3 points. They topped many of Mississippi’s top winds groups, such as Hernando (MS) and fellow 2023 Dayton attendee Brandon (MS). However, they will see most of their competition pre-Championships at this weekend’s Winds exclusive WGI Mt. Juliet Regional with Tennessee wind powerhouses Hardin Valley (TN) and Father Ryan (TN), the latter of whom is also making the trip to Dayton. After SCGC Championships, Bob Jones will conclude their season at the WGI World Championships, where they will be competing with groups from as far away as California to prove their newfound place in WGI Indoor Winds.
INDEPENDENT A - Ethereal Winds (El Paso, TX)
February 18th - WTCA (West Texas Colorguard Association) Field Day (1st, 62.50)
February 25th - WTCA Glory Independent Show (1st, 63.20)
March 11th - WGI Phoenix Regional (1st, 70.525)
April 14th-15th - WGAZ (Winter Guard Arizona) Percussion/Winds Championships
April 22nd-23rd - WGI Winds World Championships
If you are familiar with indoor percussion in the Southwest, you’ve probably heard of Sun City Independent, an Independent Open (recently reclassified from Independent A) group out of El Paso. Their parent organization, Sun City Marching Arts, decided to start fielding an indoor winds group for the first time this year, which is also the first winds group in the El Paso area. Ethereal Wind’s (TX) isolation from competition leads to long trips to Arizona and some funny-looking WTCA recaps (winds are scored with percussion on the recaps).
Ethereal will not be competing with a single other Independent A Winds group until Dayton, and since WGI Phoenix is not on FloMarching’s streaming schedule, few will get a read on what to expect unless you can see them locally. Come Championships, they will be thrown into the fire alongside 2022 Dayton veterans Vortex Indoor Winds (NY) and Empyrean Winds (VA), fellow newcomer Eva Independent Winds (NC), and others.
SCHOLASTIC OPEN - Corinth Holders HS (Wendell, NC)
February 18th - CWEA (Carolina Winter Ensemble Association) Mooresville (1st, 72.50)
March 11th - AIA (Atlantic Indoor Association) Panther Creek (1st, 75.80)
March 18th - WGI Clayton Regional (1st, 79.25)
April 22nd-23rd - WGI Winds World Championships
At the WGI World Championships in 2022, a new champion was crowned in Scholastic A, with Corinth Holders (NC) winning by exactly three points in finals. They and Dartmouth (MA), the silver medalists, were reclassified to Scholastic Open going into the 2023 WGI season. North Carolina is one of the emerging hot spots for Indoor Winds, with other groups pioneering the genre including SW Cleveland (NC) and fellow SO Cary (NC). Coming off of such a strong inaugural season, Corinth Holders hope to ride the momentum into a successful season in a higher class.
Looking at their performance schedule, one of the most surprising things is a month break between their only WGI appearance and Championships in Dayton. They are not currently registered for either CWEA’s or AIA’s Winds Championships events, according to their websites at the time of writing this. That said, Corinth Holders had two head-to-heads with fellow Carolinians Cary, where they held significant leads at both events, boding well going into WGI Championships next month.
INDEPENDENT OPEN - LSM Winds (Downriver, MI)
March 4th - WGI Indianapolis Regional (1st, 80.25)
March 11th - MAPA (Michigan Alliance for Performing Arts) Carlson (1st, 76.85)
March 18th - MAPA Kent City (1st, 85.00)
March 25th - WGI White Lake Regional
April 2nd - MAPA Championships
April 22nd-23rd - WGI Winds World Championships
An organization that can trace its roots back to the DCA Corps, the LakeShoremen, LSM Winds (MI) is one of the pioneers of Indoor Winds, attending Championships in Dayton every year since its inception in 2015. Since then, they have slowly climbed up the ranks in Independent A, culminating in their first Championship title in 2022. Subsequently, following their historic season, LSM found themselves reclassified as Independent Open for the 2023 season.
This year, LSM Winds have a very dense schedule, with their only break being the two weeks between MAPA Championships and WGI Championships. With no direct competition within their state, their only interaction with a fellow IO group was against Valhalla Winds (OH) (also attending Dayton in April) at WGI Indianapolis, where they toppled their midwestern rivals by three points. Before they finish their seventh season in Dayton, they will have performances at the WGI White Lake Regional and MAPA Championships.
SCHOLASTIC WORLD - Lake Hamilton HS (Hot Springs, AR)
March 11th - AMAA (Arkansas Marching Arts Association) Greenwood (1st, 76.15)
April 1st - AMAA Championships
April 22nd-23rd - WGI Winds World Championships
In one of the most surprising reclassifications of the off-season, Lake Hamilton (AR) finds itself in Scholastic World for the 2023 season. Reclassifications like this are usually done in reaction to Dayton results, yet Lake Hamilton finished in sixth place at Championships last year, seven points behind gold medalist Miamisburg (OH), who remains in Scholastic Open. Similarly to the previously mentioned LSM Winds, the Power Band has been involved with Indoor Winds from very early on, participating in Championships since 2016, starting in Scholastic A and climbing the ranks over the years.
Their schedule is minimal, with only two local circuit events (one of which is the Championships, which they host) and then WGI Championships in Dayton once again. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Lake Hamilton has no direct competition within their state. With the absence of any streaming at their events before Dayton, we’ll have to wait until Championships to see why this veteran was reclassified to World.
INDEPENDENT WORLD - UTRGV Winds (Edinburg, TX)
February 4th - TCGC Edinburg (1st, 64.40)
March 4th - WGI Katy Regional (1st, 81.40)
March 11th - TCGC Edinburg North (1st, 84.05)
March 25th - WGI Edinburg Regional
April 15th - TCGC Percussion & Winds Championships
April 22nd-23rd - WGI Winds World Championships
Finally, to round out the article is the reigning Winds Independent World Champion, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. As I mentioned in my earlier article, I was present for UTRGV Winds’ WGI premier in 2019 when they were reclassified from Open to World between prelims and finals. Riding off this momentum through the COVID-19 pandemic, they became the Champions of their class just last year. UTRGV will be looking to defend their title, but this time with friends in both a drumline and color guard in their first year of WGI competition.
Like the other Independent groups on this list, UTRGV has quite a busy schedule and premiered two weeks before anyone else. The most interesting event on this schedule is this weekend’s WGI Edinburg Regional, which is only hosting a handful of Winds groups for the entire day as a way to push the new genre in one of the areas where a lot of these groups have sprouted up in recent years. Three weeks later, UTRGV finds themselves in College Station for the TCGC Championships, followed by their annual trip up to Dayton for WGI Championships.
That concludes this article detailing a handful of groups to look out for in the coming weeks leading up to Dayton next month. Expect more coverage of the competition and other interesting happenings as the season progresses toward a climactic finish in April!
Aaron Blackley is one of the original contributors for General Effect Media. Despite being young and fresh out of college, he has a vast knowledge and passion for the marching arts and has worked alongside the likes of HornRank as a ranker and moderator as well as the TxBands.com liveblog team since summer 2021. He can be found on Twitter as @GEMAaronB.