DCIAug 11, 2016 by Wesley Sullivan
Is The Cadets Top 5 Streak in Jeopardy?
Is The Cadets Top 5 Streak in Jeopardy?
The Cadets have been a corps by many names over their history. The Holy Name Fife and Drum corps, the Holy Name Cadets, the Garfield Cadets, the Cadets of
The Cadets have been a corps by many names over their history.
The Holy Name Fife and Drum corps, the Holy Name Cadets, the Garfield Cadets, the Cadets of Bergen County, and just "The Cadets." What has never changed is the corps history of innovation and excellence.
In 1982, the Cadets cracked the top five for the first time. In 1983, the then-Garfield Cadets shook the drum corps world by its very roots, becoming the first DCI champion from the east coast and launching a three year dominant period where they became DCI's first three-peat champion.
The 80's ushered in an era of success for the Cadets that allowed them to claim the company of Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard as one of DCI's elite drum corps. 1991 was the last time the corps placed below fifth. From 1992 to present the corps has five championships (93, 98, 00, 05, & 11), six second place finishes (92, 94, 95, 97, 01, & 07), six third place finishes (96, 02, 03, 09, 13, & 14), four fourth place finishes (99, 04, 12, & 15) and three fifth place finishes (06, 08, & 10).
So the prospect of seeing the Cadets fall below that top five threshold for the first time in 25 years is a daunting one. What has changed?
This year, Cadets lost two key staff members. Bruno Zuccla retired to spend time with his family. Jeff Sacktig took the year off to take care of his long -time partner Michelle while she undergoes chemotherapy. As a result, Cadets GE score has been way down. Did the show design suffer from missing these key components?
Cadets also saw an enormous turnover in color guard staff. Kristy Templin came in to take over the world class corps program after a year of success in DCA with Cadets2. The guard has not seen the improvement it hoped, slotting in mostly 8th place over the course of the season.
Another huge shift in the activity has been the rise of other corps. After five years of floundering around the bottom third, The Cavaliers have figured it out in a huge way this year. SCV, vastly underrated last year in this author's opinion, came back with a vengeance.
Competitive parity is perhaps the best it has ever been in DCI, and the Cadets' top five streak may be the victim of the activity's overall success.
The Holy Name Fife and Drum corps, the Holy Name Cadets, the Garfield Cadets, the Cadets of Bergen County, and just "The Cadets." What has never changed is the corps history of innovation and excellence.
In 1982, the Cadets cracked the top five for the first time. In 1983, the then-Garfield Cadets shook the drum corps world by its very roots, becoming the first DCI champion from the east coast and launching a three year dominant period where they became DCI's first three-peat champion.
The 80's ushered in an era of success for the Cadets that allowed them to claim the company of Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard as one of DCI's elite drum corps. 1991 was the last time the corps placed below fifth. From 1992 to present the corps has five championships (93, 98, 00, 05, & 11), six second place finishes (92, 94, 95, 97, 01, & 07), six third place finishes (96, 02, 03, 09, 13, & 14), four fourth place finishes (99, 04, 12, & 15) and three fifth place finishes (06, 08, & 10).
So the prospect of seeing the Cadets fall below that top five threshold for the first time in 25 years is a daunting one. What has changed?
This year, Cadets lost two key staff members. Bruno Zuccla retired to spend time with his family. Jeff Sacktig took the year off to take care of his long -time partner Michelle while she undergoes chemotherapy. As a result, Cadets GE score has been way down. Did the show design suffer from missing these key components?
Cadets also saw an enormous turnover in color guard staff. Kristy Templin came in to take over the world class corps program after a year of success in DCA with Cadets2. The guard has not seen the improvement it hoped, slotting in mostly 8th place over the course of the season.
Another huge shift in the activity has been the rise of other corps. After five years of floundering around the bottom third, The Cavaliers have figured it out in a huge way this year. SCV, vastly underrated last year in this author's opinion, came back with a vengeance.
Competitive parity is perhaps the best it has ever been in DCI, and the Cadets' top five streak may be the victim of the activity's overall success.