27th March 2001
British Championships Report
The big day had arrived and the culmination of nearly 6 months work would now be on show at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Due to the travelling distance our two coaches set off from Brighton at 5am (which was really 4am as the clocks went forward!!!) and so this was going to be a long day for all involved.
The day started with the Open Class preliminary contest and the Seniors all looked up for the challenge performing to music by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet. Although seeded third, the 9 girls had never actually beaten three other units and so in real terms they were sitting in 4th Place out of 8 with at least 2 other Guards hard on their tail. A good performance at Prelims kept them in 4th Place for the evening Finals contest but only by 0.1!!!!
The next part of the day was the Cadet Class Championships with the 16 members of the Rugrats seeded in 5th Place out of 11. This Guard has really grown in confidence over the part couple of years and their Angels production, performing to music by Robbie Williams, has been a real tear jerker all season and Finals was no different. Loads of feathers to add to the atmosphere and a nice solid performance helped keep the Guard in 5th Place and congratulations to all the members on such an entertaining few months.
Next on was the Junior Class Championships and the Cadet Guard have really had a ball with this years 'Summertime' production. Going in Finals they were seeded 4th out of 11 but, as with the Seniors, had 2/3 other units very close behind them. The 11 members did not let themselves down and performed an excellent show with all the bounce and excitement they have shown all season. This was all obviously noticed by the judges as moved up the rankings into 3rd Place. A marvellous achievement and well done to everyone.
Following the A Class we moved onto the final event of the day, the Open Class Championships and the Senior Guard looked well focused on the job ahead of them. Could they hold onto the 4th place they had held all season? A new pose at the beginning and you could see the girls were 'up for it'. This determination really showed through and they put on a great performance - but would it be good enough? Time for the results and a sign of relief as we were announced in 4th Place and to add to this excitement we then found out that we only missed third place by 0.1. An excellent result in our first year back in the Open Class since 1991.
Congratulations to Vicki Longley on being awarded her 10 years patch by DCUK/WGUK and to Carla Norris for her 5 years patch. These awards are given out to recognise continuous service by marching members by competing in the Winterguard circuit in the same organisation. Well done to them both.
During the day the members thanked their instructional staff by presenting them with gifts as mementos of the season and the staff gave all their members presents as a thank you for their hard work, however a huge thank you to all the support staff (administration, costumes/dressers, scenery/floor crew etc) for all their help and assistance as without these people the Southern Knights simply would not get on the road.
Finally thank you to the parents, relatives and friends who have come along and supported the Guards over the past 3 months - it really makes a difference to the members and we hope we entertained you and you enjoyed what you saw.
Another season over and only 6 months before it all starts again. Onto our summer schedule now with local performances and preparing for Winterguard 2002.