Lancers History
This is where you can find the low down on each and every year of The Lancers existance, the results, the highs and the lows. "Once a Lancer, Always a Lancer"
EVITA
Position:
BYBA Division 3 FINALS - Runners Up
BYBA Division 3 League - Runners Up
Music:
An array of tunes from the award winning musical
Drum Major(s):
Sean O`Neil
2008 was also to be a year of flux for both Lancers, BYBA & DCUK........
At Lancers the Guard saw three instructors taking the helm at various stages. The drumline too had a change of instructor halfway through the winter programme and we promoted some longstanding members to the instructional team throughout all sections.
The BYBA (British Youth Band Association) introduced the long awaited new judging system based along the lines of the DCE (Drum Corps Europe) system which worked well. Plus for the first time in season promotions started happening cause all sorts of confusion due to the tolerances being set incorrectly based off the old system.
Lancers stayed associate members of ever shrinking DCUK; but did not take part in any of its competitions for a second year running and for the first time a DCUK show was staged at a BYBA event.
During the winter Lancers managed to secure a grant to have its truck overhauled, re-sprayed and sign written, plus purchased a professional pop up display system for use at school presentations and for promoting the Corps.
Musically during the winter period our new show "EVITA" was taking shape and made its first airing at our Annual Winter Showcase the Midlands Region Concert once again held in Bedworth Civic Hall.
As always we looked forward to the start of the new season and right from the start were at the top end again of our Division, narrowly missing out promotion whilst three of our closest competitors were bumped up to Division Two.
The 2008 season will also be remembered for the awful weather which dogged everyone through both rehearsals and shows. Indeed one contest has to be cancelled half way through the day, the first time this had happened in many years. BYBA National Finals was also badly affected with what can only be described as the worst marching surface any Lancers Corps has marched on. Our home town show Brass Explosion also came close to being washed out were after several days of heavy rain it stopped just in time and kept our record of it never having rain on the day of the event!!
All season long our EVITA show had failed to really catch fire or come alive despite everyone’s best efforts and no doubt the weather. Yet despite this we still managed to secure a number of wins and second place in the league.
The week before Finals everything just started to click and the final performance of the weekend was just fantastic. The day of National Championships came round filled with grey skies and rain just for a change.
On a mud bucket of a marching surface Stafford Lancers took to the field ready for the final performance and a shot at taking the Div Three title for a second successive year.
In the end it was not quite enough and we were just edged out to take Runners Up spot something that we have excelled at over the years.
So we will no doubt look back with pride at putting EVITA onto a marching field in full for the first time in the UK.
Marching Membership
BRASS: 18
PERCUSSION: 11
GUARD: 10
TOTAL: 40
2007 Contesting Season Noteable Results
BYBA Finals - Runners Up
BYBA League - Runners Up
BYBA Nothern Star - Runners Up
BYBA Academy Magic - 3rd
BYBA Somer Sounds - Winners
BYBA Brass Explosion - 3rd
BYBA Midlands Impact - Winners
