This summer was a very busy one for Stacey Ballard. He left Benton on May 24 and returned on August 10. He did not have a weekend off or even a day off. He traveled, by charter bus, over 14,000 miles. He worked every day outdoors, rain, or shine. He ate prepared food off of a food trailer four times a day. No, Stacey did not join the military- he marched in a drum corp. Actually, in the Boston Crusaders Drum Corps from Boston Mass. He was an elite member of Drum Corps International (DCI), in the World Class Division.

Stacey attended DCI’s Southwestern Regional Championship with his mom, Julie Swift, last summer and decided DCI was for him. Now Benton High School is not known for its flashy, great big marching band, but they have had many musical successes. This did not discourage Stacey; it actually made him more determined. He attended two different corp camps in the winter and was not accepted to either corps at that time. He was told that he needed to take a few lessons, practice, practice, and practice some more. Stacey did just that. After having private lessons with Chad Causey, Cope Middle School band director, and Jibri Houston, KeithvilleMiddle School band director, and devoting a lot of time to practice, he saw that Boston Crusaders were looking for baritone players in April. This was very late, as most other corps have their rosters intact and are practicing their marching drills by April.

The first week of April, Stacey and his mom put together a video audition and uploaded it to Boston via YouTube after he contacted the Brass director of Boston Crusaders. He was invited to the April Boston Crusaders camp in Orlando, Florida after that video was viewed. He was then invited to become a member of the Crusaders after two full days of playing, marching, and learning with them. He attended one more camp in Florida, then went to “move in” with the corps on May 24. (After missing a connecting flight in Detroit, he actually joined them on May 25). “Move in” was held in New Hampshire.

The first three weeks of “move in” were brutal. They had to put together a very fast paced and challenging field show and learn all of the music as well. The corps had to be ready to go on tour on June 13. After much hard work, they finally loaded the buses and took off. They stayed in the northeast region of the states for a week or so while doing the show at familiar venues and for scored that really did not count for anything.

The DCI competitions started the end of June. These competitions are all for scores that are tallied by DCI and eventually place all corps in a ranking system. The competition between the corps is very strong, but being in the corps- any corps- creates a sort of brotherhood, also. Over 8000 people, between ages of 16 and 21, audition for over 20 world class corps and only about 3500 actually march.

These competitions took the Boston Crusaders through many states including Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Ohio and Illinois. Although they did not actually compete every night, they practiced every day and practiced again on the nights they did not compete. They took off only two or three afternoons to do laundry or “restock” at a local Wal-Mart. Boston did very well in their competitions and surprised many people, including themselves. They climbed in the standing all summer.

The culmination of the summer happens at the DCI finals week. This is usually the first week in August. This year it was August 5-9 in Bloomington, Illinois. The first World Class corps competition is on Thursday with all corps marching. The field is cut to 17 and they march on Friday’s, then the field is cut to the top 12. The top 12 corps in World Class march on Saturday’s finals competition and a winner is crowned.

The Boston Crusaders were not expected to march past Thursday’s competition as they are experiencing major administrative changes and challenges. But the Boston Crusaders also have a history of being one of the most resilient corps in DCI. Boston not only advanced past Thursday’s competition, but marched in the Saturday finals and finished 10th!

Stacey Ballard is 16 years old now and has plans to be a Boston Crusader for quite a while longer. Stacey is a junior at Benton High School and a section leader in the Benton Tiger Band, led by Ted Beagley. The brass teachers that Stacey is taking lessons with…. Chad Causey is a 5 year veteran of the World Champion Phantom Regiment and Jibi Houston is a 2 year veteran of  the World Champion Cavaliers… these guys are no strangers to the drum corps.

Stacey will be recognized by the Bossier Parish School Board at a meeting in the near future. If you would like to know anything more about the Boston Crusaders or Drum Corp International or just hear the story of Stacey’s summer over and over, just let his parents know- They are so proud of him, they will talk about it- anytime.