2025 CHAMPIONSHIPS DATES FOR AIA NORTH AND SOUTH ARE: MARCH 29th & 30th
WGI RULE CHANGES FOR 2025 SEASON: COLORGUARD / PERCUSSION / WINDS
AIA ANNOUNCEMENTS:
* 2024 AIA Annual Meeting RSVP :
AIA Annual Meeting: Sunday, September 22nd, 2023, 1:00 – 5:00 PM
2 part registration:
1.) Sign up your delegate for voting privileges at https://forms.gle/rjbXsHW8iTnwSATA7
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- Only 1 voting delegate per organization – see below
2.). Register for the meeting: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1644420136861493334
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- Multiple people can attend the meeting per organization, but only 1 can vote.
The AIA annual meeting will take place on Sunday, September 22nd at 1:00pm. We will be utilizing a virtual meeting format through GoToWebinar and voting through Competition Suite. In order to utilize the Competition Suite voting process, each organization will need to RSVP to the meeting so the EBOD can set up your designated staff member in the system to represent your organization as the “delegate.” A person may only represent one organization, so if you are the director of multiple organizations you will need to make sure you have another person in place to represent your other group. (A reminder that votes are counted per organization, not per unit. If you have both a guard and a percussion unit under your school name/membership you will only be able to cast one vote for the organization). Your choice for delegate MUST be listed in your competition suite staff list in order for the EBOD to select them through the program, and all delegates must attend the online GoToWebinar meeting for their vote to count. RSVPs for the Annual meeting must be turned in by 11:59pm on Saturday, September 21st in order for us to have time to input the data into Competition Suite.
*How to add a staff member to your competition suite account:
1.) Have an administrator of your account logon to www.competitionsuite.com
2.) Click on your group name on the left-hand side of the screen.
3.) Click on “Staff Management” along the top of the screen
4.) Enter staff email address and then click “Add staff member”
*How to vote in competition suite during the meeting:
1.) Open Competition Suite in a web browser (either a mobile or desktop web browser will work, however the app will not work)
2.) At the top of your Overview home screen you will see “AIA Annual Meeting 2024” and then your organization’s name listed below – click on “Launch Ballot”
3.) Your screen will show “There are no open items to vote on!” until the EBOD triggers the voting process during the meeting. When voting is open you will see the options “Yes, No, and Abstain.” Please select your vote for your organization by clicking your response to the proposal on your screen. You will have the ability to change your vote until the EBOD closes the vote for each proposal.
4.) Votes are automatically tallied by the competition suite software.
If you have any questions about this process please contact your regional president – carly.philp@atlanticindoor.org (North) or les.simms@atlanticindoor.org (South)
* 2024 Colorguard Classification Promotions:
Congratulations to the staff and performers on an outstanding 2024 season in AIA. The promotion policy consists of a review process in order to determine which groups are indeed ready to move to the next class at the end of the season based upon assessment of the group compared to class paradigms. This was done to ensure groups do not get moved prematurely to a higher class that they couldn’t be successful in. Based upon viewings of the groups throughout the season and their achievement in their current classification, AIA is recommending promotion to the next classification for the 2025 season.
Congratulations to the following groups on your successful promotion to the next level of competition!
AIA South:
- SRA2 to SRA1: Franklin County HS
- SRA1 to A3: Enloe HS, Apex Friendship Blue
- A3 to A2: Holly Springs Purple
- A2 to A1: Green Level HS, Carteret Collective, Swansboro HS
AIA North:
- SRA2 to SRA1: Freedom HS, Fairfax HS, Independence HS JV, Virginia Beach Combined Schools
- SRA1 to A3: Deep Run HS, West Potomac HS, Lightridge HS JV, Washington-Liberty HS
- A3 to A2: James Madison HS, Mt. Vernon HS, Yorktown HS, Powhatan HS, South County HS
- A2 to A1: Lightridge HS Varsity
Promotion recommendations were based on the following criteria by the Chief Judge and various judges on the promotion committee who viewed these groups throughout the course of the season and championships:
- Performance / Scoring at Championships
- Performance / Scoring throughout the competitive season
- Readiness level demonstrated by performers and staff compared to criteria reference / class paradigms.
Promotion Rule for 2024 Season
3.2.1 All color guard units who win their respective class at AIA Championships will automatically be promoted to the next higher class for the next competitive indoor season. These classes will include Scholastic Regional A2, Scholastic Regional A1, Scholastic A3, and Scholastic A2. All remaining finalists from these classes will be reviewed by the AIA Chief Judges and they will determine which groups, if any, are deserving of being promoted for the next competitive season. The director(s) of any group that is to be promoted shall be notified directly no later than May 31st of that same year. Upon this notification, each director shall also receive a letter or outline explaining the qualifications for the promotion. If the director feels the promotion is truly unwarranted for valid and supported reasons, they may appeal with a declaration stating all reasons a promotion is not warranted. This appeal must be submitted by no later than July 1st. The AIA Chief Judges will then have 30 days to review the appeal and respond accordingly.
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* 2025 Event Partner Applications:
Applications for North & South Event Partners for the 2025 season will open at noon on Thursday, May 23rd, 2024. Please make sure you are taking the time to submit complete applications with pictures and correct information, as incomplete applications may not be considered. Please see information below from our Contest Host Manual about the selection process.
The following considerations are reviewed when the North & South EBOD’s are selecting their respective event partners:
- Completeness of the event partner application.
- Timestamp in the event that a parameter is needed to determine a host location.
- Quality and location of contest site. Site specifications should be able to accommodate guard, percussion, and winds units at their facility.
- Ensure the event partner can provide enough volunteers to adequately run a successful contest.
- Review of the previous indoor season’s event feedback questionnaires to take the AIA community input into consideration.
- Input from the Judge Coordinators.
- Needs of the performing community.
- Evenly distributed locality to accommodate various regions of our competing units.
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Health & Safety Updates (click for link)
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