Winter Guard International

Winter Guard International (WGI) is an American governing body that sanctions championship events for three competitive performing arts activities: winter guard, percussion ensembles, and indoor wind ensembles. WGI was founded in 1977 in response to inconsistent adjudication and rules of competition which made it difficult for color guards to compete nationally. Today, WGI publishes and maintains an adjudication handbook, with an accompanying "Rules & Regulations", that has been widely adopted.

WGI championship events are hosted from January to March and conclude with WGI World Championships in April. The first World Championship was hosted at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on April 15, 1978. World championships for percussion ensembles began in 1992, and indoor marching bands, called winds, in 2015. A series of field band competitions, promoted as the WGI Friendship Cup were hosted from 1997 to 2003. The next World Championships is scheduled for April 2024 at UD Arena.

A majority of WGI's championships are hosted in the United States, however regional championships have been hosted in Japan, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Philippines, and Costa Rica.

History
Prior to the formation of WGI, national color guard championships, or other high-prestige championships, were held in conjunction with drum corps or marching band championships, such as: VFW, American Legion, CYO, or DCI World Championships. The quality of hosts varied widely, as did as the quality of venues and adjudication. As an example, the 1977 "national" color guard championship was held in conjunction with DCI World Championships in Denver. The venue was far too small, there was no functional air conditioning, and the performance area required color guards to maneuver around structural columns.

In 1977, then director of the Seattle Imperials, Stanley Knaub, secured a sponsor—Western Youth International—and a potential venue for a new national championships. However, Knaub was encouraged to seek input from others in the activity by Shirlee Whitcomb and Bryan Johnston. Knaub invited color guard educators from across the country to a meeting on May 14, 1977 at the Sheraton Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Those in attendance included: Don Angelica, Marie Czapinski, and Linda Chambers, in addition to Whitcomb, Johnston, and representatives from Western Youth International. All agreed any future national championship should be held independent of any drum corps or marching band events. Knaub suggested scheduling the championship during the winter months when most color guards competed locally—after marching band season when scholastic bands focused on concert events, but prior to the drum corps season. Whitcomb, Czapinski, and Chambers, advocated for a regional championship system with a national championship at the end of the winter season. The name "Winter Guard International" was suggested by Don Angelica.

A follow-up meeting at the December 1977 DCI Rules Congress included representatives from thirteen color guard circuits and adjudicator associations. The representatives adopted a draft adjudication system and rulebook, as well voting on an organizational structure. Lynn Lindstrom, director of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit, was elected the first Executive Director of WGI. Four competition circuits each donated $250 to fund WGI's first competitive season of fourteen regional championships and a two-day national championship called WGI Olympics. The first WGI Olympics was hosted at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on April 14–15, 1978. In attendance were more than twenty-five color guards, fifteen advanced to the finals competition. The national championships would later become the WGI World Championships.

About
WGI is a nonprofit association governed by a board of directors, with an Executive Director, responsible for day-to-day operations. The board of directors are chosen from among the directors of competing groups, and at-large members are chosen from the community of color guard, percussion, and winds educators. The board of directors is legally and financially responsible for the conduct of the organization. In 2022, WGI's various programs and activities generated US$8.025 million in revenues.

Mission and purpose
The mission of organization is to provide a venue for young people to achieve the extraordinary through performance and competition. WGI organizes "high-energy and enjoyable" events for color guard, called winter guard, percussion and winds, divisions. The organization also aims to improve quality of the competing groups through leadership development and education. This includes standardized adjudication.

WGI frequently partners with companies that provide services and products to competing groups, as well as leading educators in other fields to highlight the activity. The organization is promoted using the tagline: Sport of the Arts.

Advisory Boards
Each of the three competitive divisions (color guard, percussion and winds) are led by Advisory Boards who are responsible for the "adjudication and competitive attributes" of sanctioned events. Advisory boards are also responsible for nominating and electing members to the board of directors.

The Advisory Boards meet annually, usually a few months after World Championships, to discuss changes to rules of competition, adjudication, and policies and procedures, and to make recommendations to the board of directors. The promotion of competing groups is also the responsibility of the Advisory Boards.

Membership
Groups that compete at WGI events are required to pay a membership fee, in addition to an attendance fee for each event. Only groups who compete in a regional, beginner, class with limited availability (Regional A Class) are excused from paying a membership fee. The fees support general operations, and provide capital for future events, educational services, and research and development.

Scholarships
WGI awards academic scholarships to members of competing groups, which are announced during awards ceremonies at World Championships. According to the WGI website, over US$35,000 is awarded annually, and US$1,000,000 has been awarded since 1978. Funds for scholarships are raised via raffles drawn during WGI events known as “Fifty-fifty”.

Hosted competitions
Using a competition-based approach for organizing events, WGI "aims to showcase youth activities" by pursuing a "high standard of achievement." More than sixty regional championships are hosted every year, from mid-January to the late-March. Many are hosted with the aid of WGI's regional circuit partners. Regional championships attract hundreds of color guards, percussion and winds ensembles, and thousands of participants. To qualify for World Championships, groups must compete in at least one regional championship.

World Championships regularly attracts over 350 color guards, 250 percussion ensembles, and over 40 winds groups. Championships occur over two consecutive weekends in early or mid-April. Future World Championships dates have been reserved until 2024.

Alterations due to Covid-19
In March 2020, the 2020 World Championships were cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 WGI season was conducted using online tools as a WGI Virtual Season. Participants were given the option to participate in solo, small group, and large group categories.

Winter Guard
Winter guard is the indoor variant of color guard and is a combination of the use of flags, sabers, mock rifles, and various other equipment and props. Performances include dance and other interpretive movement. Color guards are common among high schools, middle schools, some universities, and also some independent organizations such as drum corps, or they are community organizations. The term "winter guard" is taken from the season most color guards compete as single units, and not part of marching bands or drum corps.

Percussion
An indoor percussion ensemble or indoor drumline consists of the marching percussion (also called the "battery") and front ensemble (also called pit or front line) sections. Many ensembles, like color guards, are attached to a competing marching band or drum corps, but many are independent ensembles. Indoor percussion integrates musicality, marching and movement, and theater arts. The activity is referred to as percussion theater by WGI.

Winds
Winds ensembles are small marching music ensembles composed of a variety of instrumentations. These ensembles are distinct from field bands, or marching bands. Many take advantage of marching horns, as well as woodwinds, rhythm sections, and a pit ensemble. Unlike their outdoor counterparts, WGI Winds compete indoors on a performance area roughly the size of a standard basketball court. WGI's previous experiments in marching band competition were known as the Friendship Cup. Winds

Divisions and classes
Groups attending WGI events are organized according to a multi-tier system, placed in one of two divisions, and dozens of classes.
 * Independent Color guard, Percussion, and Winds divisions are reserved for groups composed of performers who are not associated with a particular school. Independent groups often draw performers from a large geographic area.
 * Scholastic Color guard, Percussion, and Winds divisions are reserved for groups composed of performers from the same high school, or high school equivalent, or a school within the attendance zone of that particular high School. The Scholastic division was created in 1980. Prior to the division's creation high school groups competed against Independent groups.

Divisions are further grouped into classes based on experience and achievement:
 * Regional A is for new and inexperienced groups. This class is not available at World Championships.
 * A Class, often referred to as National A or National, is for groups new to national competition.
 * Open Class is for groups who consistently perform at an intermediate developmental level.
 * World Class is the highest available class and is reserved for experienced groups. The World classes in both Scholastic and Independent are the most competitive and the highest prestige.

Historic classes and divisions
The following are the divisions and classes represented at World Championships.

Notes:
 * The tables below are simplified and do not reflect when specific competitive classes and divisions were defined in the WGI Adjudication Handbook.
 * Other classes and divisions may be represented at regional championships or other WGI-sanctioned competitions.

Adjudication
WGI Adjudication Manuals for color guards, percussion, and winds, championships divide scoring in set reference criteria known as captions forming a scoring rubric. Each caption is subdivided into elements such as performance analysis, design analysis, and effect evaluation. The adjudication manual is multi-tiered, meaning each competitive class—Regional A, A Class, Open Class, and World Class—has a set of scoring sheets listing differing criteria and descriptions for each caption.

Past champions
Source(s):

In Film and Television
"On Guard: A Story of American Youth" is 2023 documentary film directed by Allen Otto and executive produced by Jim Czarnecki. The film follows the journey of an all-female color guard team at Bel Air High School whose goal is to qualify for the 2020 WGI World Championships, which were ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a performance dedicated to the victims of the 2019 El Paso Shooting.

Contemporary Color is a 2016 documentary film directed by Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV featuring the performances of winter guard teams. The film was produced as a collaboration between David Byrne, Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey and Josh Penn.