World’s 2018 down to one Gr1 Ontario band
are seen by some as presenting an increasingly higher hurdle for the rest of the world’s pipe bands to overcome, with winning bands from other countries more frequently arriving at the World Championships finding that they have trouble even meeting the standard of the grade.
+ Blogpipe editorial: “Schooled”
Ontario does not own the problem of meeting higher standards created in the UK. For example, the likes of the United States’ Los Angeles Scots and Dowco Triumph Street of British Columbia increasingly using fly-in players to bolster ranks and quality. Dowco Triumph Street has qualified for the Grade 1 Final each of the last eight times it has competed at the World’s, while LA Scots last year had to take a year’s sabbatical.
+ Corkin signs on as Triumph Street L-D
The Grade 1 Simon Fraser University Pipe Band of Vancouver has perhaps set a world standard for maintaining consistent quality over its 40 years by developing a sophisticated private teaching organization, resulting in three other competing bands and hundreds of students learning through its system. SFU members also played a strong role with the British Columbia Pipers Association in negotiations for high school credits for piping with the British Columbia Ministry of Education, while other Canadian pipe band associations haven’t accomplished or even attempted such relationships with their provinces.
+ British Columbia government allows piping students to get high school credits
The College of Piping in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, worked with the PEI Ministry of Education to allow “external graduation credits” in piping and drumming.
In addition to the Toronto Police program, there are significant ad hoc Ontario teaching success stories. The Hamilton Police Pipe Band organization has a significant teaching operation in place, resulting in a steady growth in numbers across its bands. The organization’s Grade 3 band recently appointed former Grade 1 North American Pipe Band Championship-winning pipe-major John Elliott as its leader.
+ Elliott takes over Hamilton Police
The Peel Regional Police organization recently launched a concerted teaching program, planning to field a Grade 5 band in 2018, and, according to Pipe-Major John Cairns, hopes to have bands in both Grade 5 and Grade 4 in 2019.
Peel Police is planning to compete in Grade 2 at the 2018 World’s.
“We want to get back to the Grade 1 level one day, but the downgrade was a wake-up call for the band,” said Peel Police Pipe-Major John Cairns. “We recognize that we have things to improve on first and vying for the World Championships in Grade 2 will give us the time and an opportunity to do just that. How we fare against the best bands in the world in Grade 2 will be a clear gauge of when we might be ready to consider applying to be regraded back to the Grade 1 level.”
There are also consistent tuition efforts by the Niagara Regional Police and Kingston, Ontario-based Rob Roy organizations, among others, that have paid dividends.
The Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario has never had a concerted teaching program. The organization’s members voted at its 2017 annual general meeting to push the PPBSO to “investigate” starting an organized teaching program.
“Education and teaching are items of ongoing discussion within the PPBSO that have resulted in some recent initiatives such as the teaching symposium a few years ago and the successful pilot of “Let’s Try the Bagpipes!” at two Highland games . . .
NO COMMENTS YET