Jeff Griffith is a writer and columnist for FloMarching, and any perspective presented in this article represents his own only.

I was a witness to history.

I’ll never forget it; it was just the second WGI World Championships I’d attended in-person, and my first in six years. Looking on as Broken City was awarded its first WGI gold medal, with a record score to boot, I couldn’t help but pinch myself. What an atmosphere. What a moment. What a joy.

And it’s funny; every time I talk to friends about that experience, I keep calling it “last year.” I mean, yes, it was the last WGI World Championships. But it wasn’t just a quick 12 months ago.  

In that vein — I don’t know about you, but the person writing this and the one who sat in the University of Dayton Arena, witnessing life-changing moments firsthand at the 2019 WGI World Championships, are two completely different people. 

Just think about it. It’s been three years. Over a thousand days. 

Think for a second — really think — about each hour that passes in your day-to-day, and within it all the unique forms of stimulus and emotion, the rises and falls, large and small and in between. It’s been over twenty-five thousand of those since we got to see the WGI World Championships take place.  

25,000 hours of up, down, growth, evolution and I’ve changed. We’ve all changed. The world has changed. This activity and community has changed.

And here we are, on the precipice of more history. 

So, let’s talk about it, right? 

For starters, let’s cover some quick basics on what to expect from these WGI World Championships:

THE DATES: WGI Color Guard World Championships are set to run from Thursday, April 7 through Saturday, April 9. Percussion will run from Thursday, April 21 through Saturday, April 23, with Winds competition taking place on Sunday, April 24. 

THE VENUES: The Color Guard weekend and the Percussion/Wnds weekend will be hosted at three unique venues across western Ohio, southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. University of Dayton Arena will, of course, serve as the epicenter, with venues at Northern Kentucky University and Wright State University also providing space for both weekends of events. Xavier University’s Cintas Center will also serve as a fourth performance location for color guards specifically.

THE CLASSES: In terms of “levels,” it’s simple — World, Open, and A. Color guard, percussion and winds alike have independent and scholastic groups in each of those three categories, making for six classes each. On top of those six, percussion will also feature those same three tiers of competition for “concert” groups, which perform in a standstill setting.

Each classification — barring a couple of exceptions — will compete in Prelims, Semifinals and Finals competition, all scheduled out across various days in various venues. Each round will see its fair share of eliminations, the numbers of which will vary between classes based on different amounts of competing groups. 

To catch up on where we last left off in terms of competition, here’s a quick rundown on all the big competitive headlines of 2019:

Color Guard

• Pride of Cincinnati won its third gold medal in four years, with fellow medalists Paramount and Diamante each scoring about two points behind.
• In going back-to-back as Scholastic World champion, Avon H.S. nearly cracked 99 points, defeating the field of competitors by nearly three points. 
• George Mason University Winterguard, which has since moved up to World Class, put up the year’s only 99-point score by any WGI performing ensemble, scoring 99.000 to win Independent Open.
• Fishers H.S. — yet another Open Class champion that is now competing in World Class — made it two Indiana high schools to win gold medals, earning Scholastic Open gold by just over a point. 
• Fleming Island H.S. eked out a slim victory in Scholastic A, finishing just 0.130 points ahead of second-place Sunlake H.S. 
• Icon Winter Guard put up a stunning competitive performance in Independent A, cracking 98 points and defeating the field by nearly three full points.

Percussion

• Broken City took home its first-ever gold medal and earned an all-time PIW high score of 98.850. Pulse Percussion, Music City Mystique and Rhythm X were separated by just 0.375 total points in second, third and fourth place. 
• Chino Hills H.S. won its third consecutive Scholastic World title and its fifth in seven years. 
• Bakersfield College became the 23rd unique group to win Independent Open in as many years. Matrix Open, 2018’s champion, was just about half a point shy of repeating. 
• Sparkman H.S., now competing as a World Class group, won the Scholastic Open gold medal by the slimmest margin of any percussion winner that year, fending off Clear Brook H.S. by just 0.150. 
• Grand Blanc H.S. took home the Scholastic A class crown by the exact same margin, fending off E.D. White H.S. for first place.
• Unity Percussion ran away with the Independent A class title, topping the Finalist pool by two full points. 

Winds

• Rhythm X won its third straight Independent World wins title and its fourth in five years, defeating the field by just over 3.5 points.
• Cleveland H.S. became the fourth unique school to win a Scholastic World title since the winds category’s inception in 2015, fending off 2018 champion Flanagan H.S. by 0.65. 
• Chromium Winds earned an Independent Open “three-peat” with a score of a 93.150.
• South Jones H.S. made it five unique champions in five years at the Scholastic Open level, winning with a tally of 94.000.
• The top three Scholastic A class groups were separated by less than a point, as Valley Christian took home its second championship in three years. 
• With a score of a 92.300 and a strong victory margin of about six points, Daviess County won its first Independent A class title. 

Since it’s been so long since all of these results went final, this year could provide tons of competitive intrigue; who knows what could change over the course of more than two full years away from the floor. Year-over-year patterns can potentially be thrown out the window, which makes things all the more exciting. 

So, once things get rolling at the WGI World Championships — two weekends packed with Guard, Percussion and Winds — we’ll be right back in the thick of it like we never left. Both in-person and from home, we’ll be pouring over shows, scores, schedules, social media posts, photos, expo booths, merchandise, and more. It’ll feel normal. 

My advice — every chance you have, don’t let that be lost on you. 

For two years, there was none of that. There was no amazing action shot, brightly-captured against the jet black backdrop in UD Arena, that swept through social media like a wildfire. There was no exciting competitive race to the finish line that captivated audiences in Dayton and all over the world online.

There were no mass-hammerings of refresh buttons on scores pages, anxiously waiting to see which groups had advanced to the next round. There were no electric lot videos from the Dayton parking lot. There were none of those iconic audience roars that cascaded down the steep grandstand at UD Arena like an avalanche. 

In just mere hours, all of that — all the energy, the artistry, the life-changing memories etched in real-time — surges back to life. 

And that truth alone has taken so much hard work to make a reality. For two years, people in every corner of the marching music community have been devoting hours on hours, months on months, and monstrous portions of their time and energy to make all of this real. Performers, instructional and administrative staffs, office and event staff, and so many volunteers all make up the incredible machine that has brought events like these back to life. 

So, it’s simple, really. The fact that this is all about to feel like old times again is just such a special, special thing. 

And whoever you were three years ago had no idea. You had no clue that the 2022 WGI World Championships would be so meaningful and so joyful. But whoever you are today can enjoy every second of it.

That’s a gift. Savor it.