GOSHEN —
Members of the Goshen High School Winter Guard are working hard in preparation for their last regular season invitational. And that event will be a big one.
Set to kick off Feb. 25, at 11 a.m. in the Goshen High School main gym, the massive invitational will feature 45 teams from across the state competing for a chance at winter guard glory.
Volunteers will keep the traffic in the parking lots and hallways flowing in the right direction as hundreds of parents and participants stream into Goshen to take part.
According to GHS Band Director Josh Kaufman, winter guards are essentially a winter version of the traditional marching band color guards found at most colleges, universities, high schools and middle schools across the country.
During their performances, color guards use flags, sabres, rifles, batons and numerous other props, as well as a mix of various dance forms in order to convey their visual message while being confined to the gymnasium floor. Kaufman noted that traditionally, marching bands and color guards perform outdoors during football games at halftime and as part of band competitions.
Winter guards take that color guard performance style indoors during the winter months for a dynamic season of competition that’s all their own.
“They use flags, rifles and sabers like are used in the marching band color guard, and they perform choreographed routines to recorded music, but that’s all done indoors on a gym floor,” Kaufman said
The range of music selections used in winter guard shows can often be much broader than the music used during traditional color guard shows. “Most of them also have big tarps or mats they put down, sometimes painted to correlate with the theme of the show, which they perform on,” Kaufman said.
Most winter guard teams are made up of 20 members on average, Kaufman said, though that number can fluctuate from as many as 30 members to as few as six. According to Kaufman, the GHS Winter Guard team is a 15-member varsity squad, a 14-member junior varsity squad, and a 20-member Cadet squad, each of which will be competing at the upcoming invitational.
“We have 45 groups that are going to be performing at the invitational,” Kaufman said, “and each group will have an eight-minute time slot. So usually the shows are about five minutes each.”
During the invitational, each of the 45 competing groups will be divided into classes that are determined by the level of difficulty of their routines.
“The top three classes are World, Open, and A, and in those classes they will be given placings,” Kaufman said. “Then there are other classes that are less accomplished technically — AA, Regional A, and Cadet — and they don’t assign them placings. They’re put in a special category, like the Gold or Silver categories you see at the ISSMA competitions, but not put into a placing.”
As the last regular season invitational before state qualifying tournaments begin, Kaufman said placing well at the Feb. 25 competition is very important for the squads as their score will help influence how they are seeded as they head into the tournament season.
“It’s the last regular season invitational before they go into their state qualifying tournaments,” Kaufman said. “At the invitational, each group is given a ranking based on their performance. Then the following week, it’s just the top six groups in each class that are able to progress further.”
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Members of The Goshen winter guard practice recently in the Goshen High School gymnasium. Sam Householder
Goshen winter guard members preparing for their big show
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