BYBA News from the Chair

I’ve just returned from a busy, but fantastic weekend full of BYBA. On Saturday BYBA council met at Warwick Corps of Drums HQ, where we had a very positive meeting looking at long term planning and training for the Association.

You’ve told me you want better transparency and communication, and I’ll aim to try to sort this out first. We’ll be looking in further detail at the 2019 calendar during July; this will include contest dates and training events.

We hope to be able to offer you a Music and Visual Design day later in the year, looking at how to write/arrange your music programme and visual/show for all styles of band. As well as writers this will also include judges, who will talk you through what they are looking for from a judging point of view.

Next spring we will be holding another Train the Trainer event, which I’m hoping a lot more of you will be able to attend; we’re also looking to run a members’ masterclass. This will not just be for the band members and we’ll be looking at safeguarding updates and band management training also.

On financial matters I’m happy to report that the Association, due to the hard work of Jon Haw, is now in a stable financial position, and whilst not rolling in cash, we do have the funds to run this season comfortably.

Sunday saw the first of the Judges’ training sessions with a live judging session on Phantom Knights in the afternoon. Thanks, Carl and team, for your welcome and allowing us the access to your Corps.

I can tell you that the judging situation is the best it’s been for several years, with current, returning and new judges. There were 9 judges in attendance with a further 7 wanting to join the panel (there was a total of 9 judges last season)! Some judges could not be there due to prior commitments; however these judges will be going through the full training process before the first show and during the season.

We’re still keen to build on this panel, so if you or someone you know feels they could step up to the mark we’d love to hear from you. You can contact either myself chairman@byba.online or Paul Cartwright performance@byba.online for further details.

A lot of you have told me you feel you need help and advice in certain areas and we feel it’s right as an association to give this advice when we can. So if you would like some advice, feel free to contact Tony Hendle or Paul Cartwright with your request and if we can help, we will!

Looking ahead in judging, Tony and his team are looking to developing a new judging system that will better suit the Associations changing needs.

On a final note, we’re also looking for bands to help and hopefully recruit if possible. If you know of a band near you that needs advice or help to keep them going, or you just think they may be interested in joining a fabulous organisation, then please contact me or any other member of the council so we can get in touch.

If you’d like to contact me for any reason or would like to discuss any matters, or even suggest an idea, please feel free to get in touch with your contact details to chairman@byba.online.

I look forward to seeing you all throughout the season.

Neil Wright
Association Chairman