DCA Finals in Rochester, NY

     I just got back from the Drum Corps Associates finals in Rochester, NY! Drum Corps Associates is the national all-age drum corps circuit. DCA hosts over 25 competitions annually and has 27 competing corps. I compete with the Hawthorne Caballeros from Hawthorne, NJ
The Hawthorne Caballeros were founded in 1946 by James J. Costello, Jr. Since 1946 The Caballeros "have won the DCA World Championship 9 times, the American Legion National Title 16 times, the National Dream Contest 17 times, and the New Jersey State American Legion Title 43 times. They have completed 5 undefeated seasons, consecutively in 1984 and 1985. They have placed in the top 3 placements at the DCA World Championship 31 times in 43 appearances, a clear indicator of the Caballeros consistency for excellence on the drum corps field."
     The Caballeros perform in around 10 competitions in a season. These competitions are all over the northeast in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The competitive season starts Thanksgiving weekend, after which we practice every 3 weekends. In March we start to practice every weekend until finals on Labor Day weekend. We practice Saturday and Sunday, usually for more then 8 hours a day, and we perform a show almost every weekend in the summer.
     The Caballeros have around 120 marching members from over 7 states and Canada. These include New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland. I personally drive over 4 hours every weekend to compete with the Caballeros. Sometimes when a show was farther away, I would drive over 7 or 8 hours.
     This weekend was the last weekend of the season. It was DCA finals hosted in Rochester, NY. It all started Thursday with a 7 hour drive to Rochester to my hotel room. Friday we had a 6 hour rehearsal followed by a 2 hour exhibition rehearsal in the city. Saturday we practiced 7 hours and then competed in the preliminary competition. Sunday we had the last practice of the entire season, which was only 3 hours, and then competed at finals. Thousands of fans come from all over the world to see the DCA finals. Finals was followed by an encore in the parking lot. We placed 5th in the country.
     Coming back home is so weird after such a long season. It's crazy to think I won't see my fellow members this weekend...

Here's a video of the cymbal line's (which I am a part of) finals performance: