Another problem with having division by talent is often schools may not have a finals for groups in the lower division because of lack of time. If they utilize both an auditorium and a gym it would work,
This is what the Crystal Classic has done. Utilized both venues to have simultaneous finals for both large mixed and small mixed.
There's nothing wrong with having classes (divisions) - in fact, I think it's a positive thing (just as there are JV and varsity athletic teams) - but it's how you separate them that makes a difference. I think separating by school size is not an effective way to do it. I'm sure the thought is that with a larger population of people to pick from you end up with bigger choirs or more talent, but it's not guaranteed. A large school could just as easily be heavily focused on sports and not have a strong arts department. Conversely, a smaller school might have a really passionate director who knows how to motivate the community, get more support, and grow a flourishing program. To put choirs in divisions where they're clearly under or over-qualified doesn't really make it fair for anyone.
The other thing I don't like about that style is that taking groups from every division to finals says you're judging them all against each other anyway, which negates the point of having divisions in the first place.
I think separating first by gender and then by skill is the best way to do it. When everyone is grouped by similar ability, the opportunity for recognition (awards) for each division still remains, but it's a more fair playing field and even the smaller groups their time in the spotlight.
I agree that separating groups by school size has started to feel "off" at times because of smaller schools starting to have quality show choirs. When finals started showing up about 80% of the groups that made finals were from either Class A or AA. You did have your exceptions such as Twinsburg or Teays Valley, who were in Class B, consistently not only making finals but winning. With the popularity of show choir rising that has started to change, but even today it isn't uncommon to see most of the finals groups coming from Class A. So although there may be those exceptions of smaller schools have great programs, it still seems as though larger schools make finals most often.
The change in how groups are improving regardless of school size is probably a reason why it looks like division split by quality of group is starting to be more popular. It is also a reason why it looks like competitions are starting to stop really having classes/divisions. I agree that splitting it by talent is a great way to go but that is not full proof either. Some groups could be content on dominating a lower division if their director feels they would not gain as much success in the higher division. It also could show adverse effect if there is a lack of talent in the higher division to the point that the top lower division choirs could actually make finals in the higher division. Even though having all groups judged against each other can seem redundant, it is cool to see surprise groups that are in a lower division make finals when they normally wouldn't. They may not be able to get a top 3 award by making finals (which is where they would get the recognition from the classes) but they could still make some noise by beating some of the higher division groups. You may also run into a debate where after the competition people might be like "man it would have been interesting to see group so and so compete in the higher division. I think they would have placed well".
Another problem with having division by talent is often schools may not have a finals for groups in the lower division because of lack of time. If they utilize both an auditorium and a gym it would work, but sometimes that isn't an option. They could also cut down on the number of higher division finalists to fit them everyone in the same venue, but I'm not sure how happy some directors would be with that idea.
There isn't a perfect way to do classes/divisions, which is probably why they don't exist at all a lot of the time. Both versions have their pros and cons but I do enjoy the way Ohio has done it.
Personally I still really like the classes, which could be because they had been a big thing when I first started following show choir. I always liked seeing how groups pitted up against each other during prelims, and seeing who got the captions for the daytime within each class.
There's nothing wrong with having classes (divisions) - in fact, I think it's a positive thing (just as there are JV and varsity athletic teams) - but it's how you separate them that makes a difference. I think separating by school size is not an effective way to do it. I'm sure the thought is that with a larger population of people to pick from you end up with bigger choirs or more talent, but it's not guaranteed. A large school could just as easily be heavily focused on sports and not have a strong arts department. Conversely, a smaller school might have a really passionate director who knows how to motivate the community, get more support, and grow a flourishing program. To put choirs in divisions where they're clearly under or over-qualified doesn't really make it fair for anyone.
The other thing I don't like about that style is that taking groups from every division to finals says you're judging them all against each other anyway, which negates the point of having divisions in the first place.
I think separating first by gender and then by skill is the best way to do it. When everyone is grouped by similar ability, the opportunity for recognition (awards) for each division still remains, but it's a more fair playing field and even the smaller groups their time in the spotlight.
Looks like school size to me (you can click on the school names and see how big the school is, in case that's not common knowledge). I think that's how Ohio usually splits things anyway.
Yeah it is school size. In Ohio we usually label them as Class C (smallest) Class B (mid size), and Class A (large) instead of the Tiers. There used to be a Class AA that included very large schools or community based show choirs but it looks like that has pretty much been phased out. There usually is a pretty set school size that is used for the classes, but some competitions can change the size requirement. All the choirs are competing for the 6 spots in finals and the top 6 scores overall are the ones who advance. The classes only really matter for prelim awards.
Classes used to have all awards you would see in finals (i.e. Best Vocals Class A, Best Choreography Class A, Best Combo Class A) but that has also started to phase out.
I believe the classes were started as a mirror to how the Ohio Music Education Association did their marching band competitions. For marching band competitions the bands are split into classes by school size. Currently it is set up as Class AA (enrollment 901+), Class A (enrollment 501-900), Class B (enrollment 301-500) and Class C (300 and below). Back in the day the show choir competitions, much like marching band competitions, did not have finals so the classes were a way to break up the groups and give them all awards. Marching band competitions can be much larger than show choir competitions (which might be the reason for a need for classes), and sometimes they only gave out class awards with no overall final award. I'm not sure if the show choir competitions ever were at a point that they only gave out class awards, but nonetheless the classes were still used.
When show choir competitions started to have finals it kind of lessened the need for the classes. The classes still stuck around in the same format of having all the caption awards, but it has started to become less and less important. That has led to seeing less class caption awards given out and it probably will lead to classes being eventually phased out all together. The use of the small and large division seems to have started to take place of the classes, but the classes are still kicking for now.
Personally I still really like the classes, which could be because they had been a big thing when I first started following show choir. I always liked seeing how groups pitted up against each other during prelims, and seeing who got the captions for the daytime within each class. It also gave even more drama to the announcing of finals. You could win your class and still not make finals, or you could not place at all in your class but still make it. It also gives some choirs that normally wouldn't make finals a chance to get some awards and possibly even get a GC, even if it is just in the class.
The other thing I always thought was that it meant getting more awards, and who doesn't like getting more awards!?
Has an explanation of the tiers been provided?
Looks like school size to me (you can click on the school names and see how big the school is, in case that's not common knowledge). I think that's how Ohio usually splits things anyway.
As the director of the Great Expectations, sitting at a lovely dinner while getting panicked text messages from directors about a rumor of only 5 finalists, I can verify there are 6 finalists and no drama at this point.
Thanks,
Randall S. Lanoue
Twinsburg Northcoast Invitational 2013
I think that's how Ohio usually splits things anyway.
