I've been having issues finding the right color guard league. I was recently in WGI but the founder isn't on very often and the announcements board is pretty week, also they haven't posted a schedule for S39 yet. It seems that there are a lot of color guard leagues to choose from, but the bulk of them are dead, dying, or simply don't have much of an appeal to me (too few competitions, too many inactive members, copy accounts, etc.) Does anybody have any theories or suggestions? I want to be part of a league in which is active and people can voice their opinions and concerns in. I would make one myself, but I already run a drumline league and a drum corps league and if I make a CG league, I'll feel a lot like MDC-LC or CADA, which has a different leagues for each type of ensemble, all of which are universally unsupervised and uninteresting.

Anyways, let me know what you guys think.

I notice that too about WGI but I'm sticking with it. I've just done one season with them... it might get better

You can always go independent like me.

That's an idea Jhawk. Although I like to have the affiliation. It instills a feeling of belonging somewhere, kinda like being in a real band. It's not as fun if you're in it alone. Although I do respect that you're a bad ass lone wolf. I guess I'm more of a team type guy.

Mike, while MDC-LC may seem uninteresting to you, Darren has been busy as drum major of his band, in wich the season is over. The league is young, only 3 seasons old, as is his dl and mb leagues. His color guard league is quite well established. I am on the board for all except color guard. We have competitions every week, 3-5 depending on the league. I created forums in which to discuss issues, or just to say hi and introduce yourself. While I understand you can't please everyone all of the time, you can please some most of the time. I have not once seen you post in any of our forums to vent your opinions or concerns. If we don't know, how can we fix it?

I tend to post in other leagues forums because yes, our members just aren't that active in the boards. Just remember, posting is not what makes a league good though. For me, it has provided competitions I can enter, leading me to 5 world titles in 3 seasons. Winning isn't everything, though it does feel nice.

Before you start expressing negative oponions about a particular league, please exhaust all avenues within that league to bring to light your concerns, which you did not do.

I do hope that you find a suitable league for yourself. We will continue to grow and become stronger with quality members.

I sent a message to the WGI founder a few days ago and haven't heard anything back. I'm probably just going to go independent.

I've also noticed that it's difficult to fill color guard events...many groups don't even have guards.

That's so true, MrsRomo. I know some people are busy with real-life stuff. That's okay. It's a game. It doesn't mean that the people who do have the time to play shouldn't enjoy their experience; thus, you gotta make the decision to move on. No hard feelings. Many of these founders go inactive and don't even have the courtesy to notify the league or make arrangements to keep the league afloat.

I totally understand real life gets in the way sometimes. If I could come up with a clever league name, I'd start my own lol, but like I said above there doesn't seem to be too many guards out there.

I appreciate the input kiwi, and I will take your advice to heart. I understand people are busy, and I don't hate MGC-LC, I just don't agree with the way it is being run right now. There is a large influx of people, and plenty of competitions, but the atmosphere that medowbrook sets up is simply not of a personal sort.

You seem to assume that members must actively look for means in which to feel accepted into the league before quitting, but have you considered that the members should feel invited, unique, and welcomed from the minute they press the accept button? Creating a welcoming environment is key to retaining members, and I simply think that medowbrook does not do well at that.

Also, I would have posted in the forum had I known there was one. It is not mentioned ANYWHERE on the league site that there is a place to express concerns, nor was I sent a message or asked my opinion at all, and to top it off, I tried to contact the founder, LittleD via multiple PM and received no response. I waited for a little over a week for a message back before quitting. I have nothing against you or the leader, but perhaps now you can understand why I use MGC-LC as an example of what not to do. I'm sorry to say this, but having experienced MGC-LC personally as a new comer to FMA I can admittedly say with conviction that MGC-LC and it's affiliates are good at recruiting new people in bulk, but not much else. They lack the proper structuring for members to contact the people who run the league, and are poorly maintained. The lack of updating, informing, or even just evidence of activity in general is overwhelming and despite what seems to be an endless board of directors, Medowbrook fails to uphold any sense of dedicated leadership to the league other than posting competitions and updating the announcements on a seasonal basis.

I'm glad that you are dedicated to a league Kiwi, and dedicated members like yourself are what make FMA great, but if I were you, I would either kick the league into gear via radical reformation or abandon ship. I'd like to state that I'm not trying to attack your leagues, I'm simply stating why I refuse to be a part of them. I apologize if my reply comes off as being a bit bashful, but you had seemed boarder line mad at me for not seeking an alternative venue to contact you guys with, when in actuality the effort I put in to express my concerns was above and beyond what it should have to be. That's why I branched off and created my own league in which there are more ways than one to voice opinions and stay informed and up to date.

Anyways, I digress. I wish MDL-LC and it's affiliates good luck in the future.

My apologies Mike for coming off so hard. It was not intended that way. I had just woken and hadn't had my coffee yet. New Zealand time is very difficult trying to work in US time
I do completely agree with the above issues you have raised. Unfortunately, I am not on the BoD for guard, only the other three, and still being fairly new to FMA, I too have a steep learning curve. One, only yesterday did I learn that I can post to the league announcement board.

Anyways, I am trying to get some things going for the better, which there are quite a few. I do hope that all works out, for yourself and the issues I have at hand. I don't want to step on Darren's toes, after all they are his leagues, though I will do everything I can to help out. If things don't get better, then I will have a decision to make.

Best of luck on the upcoming season.

That's understood! No hard feelings at all! Again, I hope I didn't come off as being to harsh either. I understand that you're in a bit of predicament considering the circumstances, so you're going to need a lot of support and input to ensure a good outcome for your league, and so I wish you the best of luck in that aspect and if I can help in any way, let me know. And if things don't work with reforming the league there are many people, myself included, who would gladly welcome you to their leagues as an active board member.

Again, let me know if I can help,

Thanks Mike. Actually getting somewhere now, believe it or not. Ah, the PM's have already been flooding about leagues lol.

Ha ha! As the expression goes: "Build it, and they will come."

I am in the WRWWR Color Guard league. Now they aren't extremely active or anything which I wish would change, however if you're looking for a league with a lot of competitions then it's probably a good league to join. They seem to have a competition once a day all season. I'm not a huge fan of it because of the lack of communication, however if all you're looking for is a lot of events, then WRWWR could be a good one.

You know Mrs Romo you would make a good League Founder. I mean you personally brought IDEA back when I had some issues and couldn't update as much. And just so you know

Winter Ensembles Winning Everything... just think about it.

While competitions don't seem to be the biggest problem with most leagues, it does seems communication is. Another log on the fire for mass PM's to league members, though a forum can resolve that. Maybe on top top of a Founder and BoD's, an Administrator role would help. Someone to pick up the torch on the absence of the other. Better organizational skills. Oh holy sh*t, this list could go on and on...lol.

I have to take partial credit here Jhawk. Had I not poached on your league, you guys may have faded away! XD

Just kidding! But Mrs Romo may be a good candidate for running a league. If it's a color guard league, I would gladly co-find a league with you! I think that the two of us together would be unstoppable...

But I digress~

Now you see my point Kiwi! There's a lot to do and not many people are willing to do it, which is why we're having such troubles finding good leagues!

I'm starting to consider starting a colorguard league... Although there is a lot of reformation going on, the more I think about it, the better it sounds. Any input?