Winter Guard

Winterguard is similar to outdoor colorguard (marched with a drum corps or marching band), except the performances are indoors on gymnasium floors through the winter season. The traditional marching band music heard during fall season is replaced with a recording of various musical genres. The gymnasium floor typically is covered by an individually designed tarp (called a floor by members) that generally reflects the show being performed on it. The members often perform barefoot, but wearing jazz shoes or modern dance shoes is also a common practice.

Winter Guard International (WGI) is the "Sport of the Arts" in which teams of highly skilled individuals work to create and perform complex sequences of Dance, Music, and use of special Equipment, such as sabres, rifles, and flags, to compete by division.[1] This organization refers to winterguard as the "Sport of the Arts," due to the equally athletic and artistic nature of the activity. Co-founded in 1977 by six people, the goal of WGI was to organize and standardize the activity by creating skill levels, scoring systems, venues, and competitions.

Today, groups participating in a WGI event are placed into one of two categories:

  • Scholastic groups in which all members are currently attending a specific junior high or high school.
  • Independent groups in which members are not necessarily attending a specific junior high or high school. Members of this class could be college-age or above. There are age requirements in the A and Open classes.

The class breakdowns for these levels follow:

  • Cadet
  • Novice
  • Scholastic regional B
  • Scholastic regional AAA
  • Scholastic regional AA
  • Scholastic regional A
  • Scholastic A
  • Scholastic Open
  • Scholastic World
  • Independent B
  • Independent A
  • Independent Open
  • Independent World

WGI hosts many regional competitions which lead up to the World Championships, a three-day event in which hundreds of winterguard groups come together to compete.

Winter Guard Resources
  • Reynolda Winter Guard
    Reynolda Winter Guard is an affiliate of Wake Forest University and is based out of Winston-Salem, NC. The guard will compete in Independent A class during the winter season, with plans to attend two WGI regionals, as well as the WGI World Championships in April. The group is open to male and female performers ages 14-21. Students and non-students of Wake Forest University are welcome.
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