Saturday 30th January saw all of the Southern Knights competing Colour Guards travel to Dagenham, Essex to compete in their first contest of the 1999 Winterguard campaign. A mixed set of results for the 3 units - bringing home two bits of 'silverware'.

Our first Guard to perform was the 'all new' Rugrats, performing to music from Walt Disney's Aladdin. A little bit of confusion at the beginning when the Guard were asked if they were ready to perform was soon forgotten and the 9 members seemed to be quite at home on the performance field. Although a little lacking in confidence, which will grow as the weeks go by, the Rugrats were placed 2nd in the Cadet Class.

The Cadet Guard, performing to the B52's version of The Flintstones Theme and competing in the Junior Class (this can get a little confusing!) were our next Guard to perform. Once again, the 6 girls were a little nervous but a very credible 3rd Place was an excellent start to the season. Well done to the two new members, Hayley Jackson and Kelly Barham, on their first contest appearance.

Finally, the 7 members of the A Class Guard took the floor. First time out for their new blue flooring (special mention to the 'humpers' who did an excellent job but will need to speed up a bit to ensure there are no time penalties next time!!) and performing to the Pet Shops Boys version of Somewhere from West Side Story. Although they still had areas of the show to 'finish off' they were a little disappointed to only be placed 7th, however, there is a long way to go yet until the end of the season and we have shown in past years what the Knights can do when under pressure. Special mention also to our newest member of the Guard, Lori Neal, who only joined us 3 weeks ago after leaving a message on the DCUK Web Site asking if there was a Colour Guard in Brighton!! Lori comes from the USA and is studying at Sussex University until June.

Next contest for the A and Junior Class Guards is at Leicester on 7th February and all three Guards will be in action at The Knights Winterguard Contest on 14th February at Worthing.