18th February 2002
WGI Regional Contest Report
A busy day was ahead as all three Guards travelled to the Winterguard International European Regional being held in Dagenham, Essex on Saturday 16th February. Over 30 Guards were in competition including a number from Holland with the top few from each group, in the 3 higher classes, moving forward to an evening Finals contest. Judges from the USA and Holland were also in attendance for the Senior and Junior classes and so it was fairly unknown territory for these two Guards
First of our units to perform were the Junior Guard performing in the Regional A Class Preliminaries. There were 8 Guards in competition with 5 going through to Finals. Their 'Stars' production has really improved over the past month and their confidence level grown considerably which helped them into 4th Place and therefore into the Finals contest, along with three other UK and one Dutch unit.
Next up were the Senior Guard who had worked hard since Burgess Hill adding additional features and improving technique. They also had 8 units in their class with 5 moving into the Finals. Their 'Floor in 4 Acts' production, featuring different versions of the tune Windmills Of My Mind, is becoming a real classic SK show and with the top two UK Guards electing to compete in a higher class we held our position and were the top placed UK Guard and with 3 Dutch Guards scoring slightly above us meant the Seniors also won through to the evening event.
This was the second contest on the season for the Rugrats and they have come on leaps and bounds since Burgess Hill. Their 'Daisy' production, with music by Madonna, is by far the most competent show they have performed and they were awarded with a well deserved 2nd place (out of 4).
Just after 6pm, after a couple of hours break, the Finals event started and although the Juniors score increased and the Seniors dropped they both held their positions and ended the day in 4th place in their respective classes.
Well done to all three Guards and also thanks to the parents for bearing with us on this long day. Also well done to the floor crew for getting the floors refolded and ready for second performance in their normal unflappable manner. Special mention must also be made to the members of the Seniors and Juniors who, whilst waiting for the Rugrats Cadet Class awards ceremony to start held an impromptu dance session on the arena to keep the audience entertained :-).
All three Guards will be back at Dagenham in two weeks time but before that, next week, the Senior & Juniors will be spending the weekend in Bristol competing in their 4th contest of the season on the Sunday.