My most confident and comfortable winterguard show by Helen Willis - 9 January 2010

Kidsgrove Scouts Winterguard 2010 started back in late October. It is now January and there so much we’ve done together, both socially and on the floor. The show is now finished with just some minor ‘tweaking’ needed before the preview. We have had some mishaps along the way, especially with our props. I’ve already managed to break a wooden plank, and a few other planks have fallen over, almost knocking a couple of people on the head! Nothing like a few injuries to laugh about… including my black eye, some bruised fingers and a huge amount of stubbed toes on those planks!
I have been marching drum corps for some time now, but this is only my third Winterguard season. I was therefore very pleased with this weekends full run through, which I felt was my most confident, comfortable yet. This is also the first year where there hasn’t been a screen or prop that I could hide behind or use when the going gets tough.

There has been moments where everyone has had a wobble… Personal frustrations, tiredness, hangovers! But I can honestly say that the people at Kidsgrove are the most friendly, easy going bunch I have had the pleasure of marching and spinning with.

Recently we have had a little help from across the pond. Mark Laydon has joined our staff and has been a great help with technique and body conditioning. Although I’m sure if you’d have asked any of the members they would claim it was actually some form of torture!

I think a few of us are a little nervous going into the preview show and the Cannock show the following weekend, especially as it seem to have come around so quickly. And with less than ten weeks to finals, I can’t believe where the time has gone. But this winter is going to continue to be lots more fun… I can just feel it!

Winterguard Finals Weekend by Gemma Comer

Friday…
After spending the whole week jumping with Finals nerves and excitement, which judging by everyone’s Facebook statuses was shared by the rest of the guard, I put on my night-time best and headed to the disco/pyjama rehearsal. Sarah “space cadet” Cotton out did us all by interpreting disco as cycling wear, rave wraps and bikini bottoms worn over the top of her lycra trousers! Rehearsal went well and everyone seemed quite relaxed. Then we helped load the “Wag wagon” and I got into the fun bus with my bus buddies Sam, Sarah, Crez and Boony, and we enjoyed the trip to Brentwood at supersonic speed accompanied by Boony’s ‘distaste’ CD collection. An evening of serious preparation ensued once we arrived at the hotel…in other words, we headed for the bar and played bingo!

Saturday…
The day started bright and early with the usual show day texts- some people even received them from the person they shared a bed with! Then a quick breakfast before we headed to rehearsal. We only had a short time in the gym, and in true Kidsgrove style it was at sauna-temperature! Everyone pulled together and worked really hard as we rehearsed to the sound of High School Musical, then we finished it off with an awesome run-through- a sign the day was going to be a good one. We headed off to Prelims and were soon in warm-ups, where we ran through what we needed to. The Prelims performance did not go as well as the run-through in rehearsal, I wasn’t really disappointed but I definitely knew we could do better. Back at the hotel, we did our thank you’s and gave out the presents we had for each other. I loved all the presents, it seems the credit crunch forced us all to hand-make them, but that just made them even more special. Sarah surprised us all by giving us six inches badges, and I think some of us still can’t believe she came up with the idea by herself! Next, I headed to the pool where the more competitive members, like Sammy D and Rich, raced each other, and the more lazy members (myself!) enjoyed the Jacuzzi. After a quick nap, it was time to get ready and straighten the curls, then head to the bar to watch Laura’s horse win the Grand National sweepstake and have a team make-up session. We headed back to the gym for our last ever rehearsal (accompanied by Olivia in her mini uniform!) before getting changed and having some final team photos. Then it was off to the finals venue! I was pretty nervous by this point, but Miss Wag calmed me down in warm-ups and we went through the show together. By the time we lined up to go on I was just really excited, and couldn’t wait to get out on the arena and feel the Finals atmosphere. The performance felt amazing; the crowd gave us a great reaction, and when we stepped over the red line, we could see people on their feet and the staff’s faces showed we’d pulled it off. After leaving the arena, I fought back the tears (of happiness!) and we all had a team hug- we’d saved the best performance until last. I went into the stand to watch the last couple of guards, and then it was time for retreat, which could only mean one thing…pegging! Celebrations aplenty followed in the bar, as well as far too much excitement about the booster seat in the toilet, Sam on the baby-changer and a poor random man being accosted by Tanya and Boony who salsa danced with him (though Boony claims HE accosted THEM). Impressively, I was among the last survivors, but after we started singing old Winterguard shows I decided it was time to call it a night.

Finals weekend was a great finish to a season that has been really tough at times, but also amazing fun. It was definitely a great show concept for us, and I’m really going to miss marching with the Team (but am glad to see the back of those screens!), and am really proud of every member- I think we rock!

Love Little Gem xxx

In Grantham, on the 11th January 2009, the Kidsgrove Scouts brought to the floor their 2009 show "Inches"

The show weekend started on the Saturday morning in our sports hall, with some not so good news. We unfortunately lost a member of our team during the week, and were all feeling pretty gutted about it. On top of that, we had Tan and Disco suffering with the flu, Becca with a bad back, Wag sunning it up in Australia and I personally had knocked something out of place in my shoulder!  After a motivational pep talk, we stretched out and then got stuck into rehearsal, adjusting parts and adding people in to cover the 2 gaps. What could of been a dismal day, turned into one of the best rehearsals we have had so far this    season. Everybody in The Team really pulled together and worked hard. Our first full run through was solid and I felt pretty good with myself. Our 2nd run through was in full   uniform and was even better than the first! All the staff were pleased,  members were pleased and we went home  to rest and get ready for the showdown in Grantham!

Sunday morning started with the traditional McDonalds breakfast stop. Nothing like 2 hash browns to kick start your day!! I arrived at rehearsal, and joined the queue of cars    outside the gates waiting to get in. We went straight into stretch outs, and the mood was pretty relaxed. I wasn't feeling too nervous, just excited! We went through the show in chunks, and rehearsal passed by quite quickly. I was confident with my show and looking forward to getting to Grantham! We all jumped into cars and stopped at McDonalds again (yes, the same woman served me). By some way of a miracle, I didn't die when a truck pulled out in front of me, we all arrived at Grantham around about the same time and    nobody got lost!!! We had plenty of time to chill out, get something to eat and drink, watch some other shows and get ready slowly. Sticking with tradition, we took over the bar area to get ready and stretch out. I was feeling really calm, and had a good feeling about the show we were about to do. It was then time to go into the warm up area, where we had our own time to do what we needed to do. I went over a couple of things, but then just chilled out. If I go over things too much, I start to do them wrong and panic! And then it was time to go on to the arena. We all gathered in the hallway behind the arena, and   Martin gave us an emotion filled talk. We were all ready to go out there and do it for The Team!! The show then passed in a blur, as it always does for me. I do remember thinking:“I don’t remember these trousers being so slippy in rehearsal!" and also feeling it was going well! Looking at everyone around me really  going for it, fired me up! The post-show critique from our staff was that it was a good performance, and the majority of members were really happy. There were of course mistakes, and silly things that went wrong that had never gone wrong before, but what's the point in having a perfect first show? We were really pleased with the 5th place result and also with being so close to Guardsmen!! A huddle and high five session after retreat, and then it was off to speak to the staff, get changed and head back home.

At our next rehearsal , we look forward to Wag returning and the 18th spot being filled!

Bring on the regional!...

Boony xx