In DCI, the age limit to be a marching member is 21, (22 if you are born on or after June 1st). Research and medical journals show that in almost every other sport, the highest performing athletes are in their mid to late twenties. In a post pandemic era, corps are struggling to fill vacant positions while continuing to look for new ways to evolve the marching arts and push the boundaries of what’s possible each year. Dropping the age out rule would help these efforts, as well as many others, such as allowing equal access to the education marching Drum Corps has to offer.  It would also increase the amount of talent being displayed and expand every groups opportunity to recruit. 

    In order for DCI to fully abide by their own core values of diversity, equity and inclusion, those in charge of drafting the rules must seriously take a look at how their age out policy actively excludes more and more members of the community from participating each year. Organizations like WGI color guard have dropped the age limit for the world class division  in the past, and as a result, the art has been able to develop and evolve in ways it never had before. It’s time for DCI to do the same. 

    In order for DCI to uphold its core value of pursuing excellence, they must not ignore the scientific research behind age and athletic performance. Articles in Sports Medicine highlight the fact that identifying peak performance ages can be useful for talent identification. The Journal of Human Sport and Exercise has published articles identifying the mean ages of peak performance in 27 different Olympic sports where all but two of those mean ages land between 22 and 32 years of age. 

    In order for DCI to allow its marching members to exercise their core value of commitment and dedication, they must allow their member corps to audition and march all age groups. There is no age out for commitment and dedication. On the week of June 13th, 1 week before the start of the 2022 competitive season, there were about 470 open positions looking to be filled. Every year, DCI’s age out class pushes about 100+ members. Dropping the age out this year would have allowed over a 1,000+ aged out members from the last 10 years, ages 22-32, the opportunity to return and close those holes. It would also open the opportunity to those who are more financially independent and could not afford to do so right out of high school.

     Everyone involved in the marching arts has a passion for it that is undeniable at any age. If there is something we can do to help grow the activity we love, there’s no reason we should not pursue it. It is up to our elected DCI Board of Directors and Corps Representatives to open up the conversation about dropping the age out rule as soon as possible. DCI has not yet reached its full potential and will not until all members who want to march, can march.