As many of you know, once you hit 21 (or turn 22 on or after June 1st) you are considered an age-out of Drum Corps International, due to the long-held age restrictions to keep drum corps an activity for the youth. This season, we saw some of the most competitive drum and bugle corps of the century due to just an outpouring of talent across the board. A lot of times, this can be correlated with age due to the sheer amount of experience and performance quality gained after one year of marching drum corps, let alone 3 or 4 by the time you're old enough to age-out. 

If you're thinking of auditioning in the fall for a drum corps, check out these numbers to see where you might have a better chance of making it due to less returning members. Don't forget, more open spots can also mean more auditionees, which can considerably raise the difficulty level of the first and second auditions.

Another thing to remember, for example, is that just because there are 30 age-outs in a drum corps, doesn't necessarily mean there are 30 open spots. People that may have marched in that corps in previous years and returns will likely have a better chance at getting another contract than someone with no experience in that corps. In the end, it comes down to how hard you're willing to push yourself and how excellent you're willing to be in November while getting better all the way through the following August.

Let's Take a Look at the Numbers

Open Class

DCI's Open Class is great for those marching arts performers who can't afford to give up an entire summer (including spring training) as well as the expensive tour fees associated with marching a World Class corps. Listed in alphabetical order on the left, you can find the number of age-outs of each corps. The average number of age-outs per Open Class corps is 7. 

Corps	# of Age-Outs
Blue Devils B	3
Colt Cadets	0
Gold	2
Guardians	10
Impulse	3
Legends	10
Les Stentors	0
Louisiana Stars	5
Music City	11
Raiders	2
River City Rhythm	7
Shadow	30
Southwind	4
Spartans	14
Vanguard Cadets	17
7th Regiment	6

World Class

With many more people finishing out their marching careers in World Class, the average number of age-outs in World Class corps was 32. Even more interesting is that the average number of age-outs in the Finalists corps is 42, with a total of 509 age-outs between the top 12 corps. All 24 World Class corps are listed in alphabetical order. 

Corps	# of Age-Outs
The Academy	45
Blue Devils	60
Blue Knights	35
Blue Stars	40
Bluecoats	54
Boston Crusaders	36
The Cadets	45
Carolina Crown	45
The Cavaliers	43
Colts	25
Crossmen	20
Jersey Surf	20
Genesis	9
Madison Scouts	30
Mandarins	13
Oregon Crusaders	22
Pacific Crest	17
Phantom Regiment	45
Pioneer	12
Seattle Cascades	21
Santa Clara Vanguard	56
Spirit of Atlanta	25
Troopers	22

Join The Conversation On Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloMarching
• Follow us on Instagram @FloMarching
• Follow us on Facebook: FloMarching

FloMarching's hottest content, delivered to your inbox

Don't miss breaking news, feature stories, event updates, and more. Sign up for the FloMarching mailing list today.