With the start of a new season upon us, this is a debate that can be highly contested, and is usually the topic of many discussions.

Over the seasons, we have our traditional powerhouse leagues, CLASS and MAoMA. But beware, there are younger leagues on the horizon who are laying the foundation to make a serious challenge to the establishment, fostering young corps who are gaining world class status with the consistency of the established leagues.

First, the numbers don't lie. Following is a break-down from last season, based solely on top 12 final placements, within each and across all 3 divisions. Divisional ties have been decided by highest placing corps of said leagues within the division, while overall ties have been decided by the highest placing corps, regardless of division.

Division I

1st - CLASS (8 finalists)
2nd - Independent (2 finalists)
3rd - MDC - LC (1 finalist)
4th - MAoMA (1 finalist)

CLASS took 8 of the top 9, while having the top 4 corps, including the reigning World Champs
MDC - LC was the only non-CLASS league in the top 9, taking 5th
Division I had the only independent corps to make top 12

Division II

1st - CLASS (4 finalists)
2nd - MAoMA (2 finalists)
3rd - DCA (2 finalists)
4th - MDC - LC (1 finalist)
5th - CAMA (1 finalist)
6th - GEDC (1 finalist)
7th - LOJ - DC (1 finalist)

CLASS had 3 of the top 4, including the reigning World Champs
MDC - LC took the bronze with a 2nd season corps
MAoMA and DCA traded rank from semis to finals
Highest representation of leagues

Division III

1st - DCA (4 finalists)
2nd - MDC - LC (2 finalists)
3rd - MAoMA (2 finalists)
4th - AFADC (2 finalists)
5th - GEDC (1 finalist)
6th - CLASS (1 finalist)j

MDC - LC produced the reigning World Champs
CLASS' weakest division
DCA's strongest division - only league other than CLASS to have more than 2 finalists within a division

Overall - Regardless of Division

1st - CLASS (13 finalists - 2 World Champs - 5 medallists)
2nd - DCA (6 finalists - 1 medallist)
3rd - MAoMA (5 finalists - 1 medallist)
4th - MDC -LC (4 finalists - 1 World Champ - 2 medallists)
5th - GEDC (2 finalists)
6th - AFADC (2 finalists)
7th - Independents (2 finalists)
8th - CAMA (1 finalist)
9th - LOJ - DC (1 finalist)

So if you are trying to decide whether or not to join a league and which league to join, just remember, while a league can foster the spirit of competition through shows, it is not necessary to join a league to be a succesful corps. The league is only as good as it's member corps. It is ultimately the hard work and dedication of the corps that determine the success of both the corps and the league.

its probably worthy of note that CLASS hasn't lost a Div 1 World Title since season 27---and that corps was independent! So on one hand i do agree, that to achieve greatness, it isn't necessary to be part of a league. On the other, it will help you getting members of your league to your show and if they are higher influence corps that will help you raise more money which helps you rise up faster, however there are ways to achieve that outside of a league, just takes a little more work.

I don't debate actually that several leagues are up and coming, however its hard for me to feel that when they get to division 1 that they gain much traction against CLASS, again noting our last Div 1 loss was many seasons ago and the fact that 8 CLASS corps at finals really is becoming a standard and I dont believe we have ever had more than that. Heck I am still waiting for MAoMA to kick us out of the top, let alone someone else to jump into the ring. The problem seems to remain it takes a lot of dedication to get there. My last few seasons I wasn't able to hit my practices every 6 hours or less and it shows. You just cant battle for a medal in Division 1 at least with missing much practice time at all. My gut tells me, people in other leagues come and go or don't have the time to commit to it (or electronic abilities). Until that changes or someone defects from CLASS, I dont see much changing.

Contrary to some directors beliefs, I actually love to see the growth of other leagues and I really avoid trying to take away their top members when recruiting new corps for CLASS and instead look for independent corps who show promise. CAMA and MAoMA in particular always seem to get corps the minute they walk in the door! LOL so that can be a tough challenge in trying to find new talent. DCA also clearly seems to be doing a good job at recruiting new talent. CLASS is all about the competition, building relationships and betterment of FMA and other circuits. Seeing these other leagues grow only helps all of us get stronger and make the whole thing more interesting. However with more than 2X the next groups finalist across all divisions, I am not looking too closely in my rear view mirror just yet!!!

I encourage those interested in joining CLASS or any league to see what they are all about--determine if it fits with your corps goals and reach out to the president of that league. This is how we make it more than just "a game"....

The fall of [unspecified] is what opened the door for complete CLASS control. Mainly myself and Khaki were the best holdouts in another league. Chris leaving without handing over the reigns is the only reason for my switch.

unspecified was for sure an equal in many ways and probably (at least at the time) stronger in Marching Band and drum lines (cant remember Guard at the time I was not SWG)

I completely agree gcurrier. I was basing this solely on the past season's final 12. By far, CLASS has produced the most powerful corps. I dread when my groups move to DI as we just don't have the numbers to stack up. With work...the smaller/newer leagues can rise in the ranks provided everyone remains active and stays with their league.

For a long time MAoMA was a very small league where we only had a couple finalists each season and they always came from the lower divisions. In fact this in the first season that we have had two members looking to medal and at least two more in the wings trying to make finals. It would just take one really good season and MAoMA could take some of the glory from CLASS. The one benefit that CLASS does have is they have very consistant and dedicated members, gcurrier is also just a really good founder making CLASS probably the most well run league.

FMA Div. 1 is becoming more competitive at the highest levels with the addition of MAoMA becoming a force to be recond with ... Let's see how the next couple of seasons shake out !!!

I agree. Our league, MDC-LC had only one top 12 in DI, Meadowbrook. who was also the only corps to sit in the middle of CLASS' top 9. In DII, we took bronze with a true 2nd year corps, their 1st year in DII, while we hold the current DIII gold and had 2 corps in top 12.

No doubt CLASS is the most consistent. MAoMA is definitely rising to the occasion. DCA had a good turnout of finalists last season, while MDC-LC was very close behind overall, with the only gold other than CLASS, who had 5 medals overall, MDC-LC 2 overall, and 1 each for MAoMA and DCA.

MDC-LC is young, having our first full season of shows, and are producing high quality DII and DIII corps. We are probably where MAoMA was in their early seasons. Providing our members stay with us and put in the hard yards, we will eventually rise up. It takes seasons/years to build up to the calibre of the corps in CLASS and MAoMA.

You are right, gcurrier runs a class league, making CLASS a very attractive league to be a member of. With dedication, other leagues can grow to that level, which can only be good for FMA overall.

On another note, it would be cool to see an invitational competition of just the season's league champions against each other. Possibly as an opener for the following season, though some corps may move up a division by then.