World of Pageantry

olledowerdna wrote:In all actuality, "Open" class in NCBA = "Open" class in WGI.

First off congratulations on the win yesterday. Didnt get a chance to see the show but heard some good stuff.

Secondly, Open NCBA ≠ Open WGI.

If NCBA were to accurately go on WGI open sheets, no one would break 90.

The scoring across high school divisions in NCBA is comparable. If NCBA were to give Foothill/Fairfield/Benicia ext a 79 or 80...some of the novice and intermediate lines would be getting 30s and 40s. They would stop coming to competitions. Not the end result I imagine NCBA is looking for.

Are NCBA scores inflated compared to WGI? Absolutely. Just as WGI scores are inflated compared to DCI. However, the scale is also smaller, a 1 point improvement on NCBA sheets is a bigger improvement than a 1 point improvement on WGI sheets.

Hope that clears a bit of stuff up. ^^

Best of luck with the rest of the season.

That makes sense Steve. Never thought of it like that....
thank you!

A couple thoughts on this topic:

I think perhaps some of us put too much reliance on scores in terms of how well or not it measures the quality of our groups. The number, regardless of the competitive circuit, is just a comparative number of the groups competing that day. The CCGC/WGI uses a progressive scoring system where scores increase over the course of the season. The NCBA treats each show as its own entity which is what generates the higher scores. Another important difference in the circuits is that in the CCGC/WGI, each competitive class has a different scoring rubric and truly is scored differently (in theory), thus making a number in Class A not comparable to the number in Open or World Class. This is not unlike the two-tiere scoring in the WBA during the fall season. In the NCBA, the scoring rubric is not diversified amongst the competitive classes (the verbage is, but not the actual scoring) meaning in most cases, from what I have always seen, is that the numbers can be compared from class to class. This is true in fall (field and street) and the winter season. Knowing this, I am not surprised that the scores are higher in the NCBA. My groups have competed in the fall in both WBA and NCBA, and in the Winter both CCGC and the WBA, for years and I have grown accustomed to the different scoring styles. Each has pros and cons and I have learned to get a good sense of what my groups will likely get in each circuit at any given show. What I have always seen though is that all of the above mentioned circuits way more often than not, get the ranking of groups pretty correct at any given show and in any given season. In the end, the numbers just add to the fun of the whole activity. It is my job to help my students understand their personal and group growth. A score at a competition does not do that; it merely shows who you beat and who beat you.

Joe Kelly
Instrumental Music, Fremont High School

Well said Joe!