British Youth Band Association
The British Youth Band Association, or BYBA, was formed in 1974 by David Loader, John Johnson and Glen Carter. It aims to promote the marching band activity, to encourage the social aspects of bands and to enhance personal development through all aspects of bands. BYBA has also set up rules for contests, and divided all marching bands into classes. The 1992 season saw 117 units marching across the Novice, Contest, Championship and Premier Classes. By the 2003 season, the system had changed into 40 units marching across Divisions 1,2,3,4 and the Cadets league. The 2007 season saw Division 4 renamed as the Junior Division, and the introduction of the Associate division, allowing for units of any age. As of the 2008 season, BYBA runs eight summer contests annually, as well as the National Championships, an Individual & Ensembles Showcase, the 'On The Road' Tour, the Festival Of Fun & Music, and three regional concerts (Northern, Southern, and Midlands). In 2014, The class system was changed to the Premier Class, Championship Class, Associate Class, Traditional Class and Cadet Class
2016 Bands
Premier Class
- Beeches Performance Ensemble
- East Coast Elite
- Liberty Drum Corps
- Revolution Show Corps
- Phantom Knights
Championship Class
- 10th South Shields
- Concord AllStars
- Comets Performance Ensemble
- Dynamic Vibe Performance Ensemble
- Halifax Boys Brigade & Girls Brigade
- Nexus
- Spalding Marching Ambassadors
- Stafford Brigades
- Trinity School Showband
Associate Class
- Cadence
- Derby Midshipmen
Cadet Class
- Cadence Juniors
- Stafford Brigades Cadets
- Thurrock Marching Brass
Traditional Class
- Barnsley Sea Cadets
2014
The 2014 season culminated at a new venue, The New Bucks Head Stadium in Telford. The Premier Class saw East Coast Elite crowned champions, 2nd Revolution, 3rd 37th Kingswood, 4th Stafford Lancers, 5th Cadence, 6th Beeches Performance Ensemble and Liberty Drum Corps came a very close 7th. The Associate Class finished with Upton in 1st and Polesworth Pioneers in 2nd. The Championship Class crowned Phantom Knights as the new champions after dominating the season, in 2nd was Lanesfield Boys Brigade And Girls Brigade, 3rd Trinity School Show Band, 4th 1st Ibstock Scouts, 5th The Comets Performance Ensemble and 6th was Halifax Boys Brigade And Girls Brigade. The Cadet Class had 2 corps in competition this year, the newly formed Liberty Juniors and last years winners Cadence Juniors, this class finished with both bands as joint winners.
2015
The 2015 season started in Bradford with Revolution Show Corps hosting Music Revolution. Beeches Performance Ensemble started the Premier Class season with a 1st place and 61.80 points with hosts Revolution Show Corps coming 2nd with 58.95 points. Raining champions East Coast Elite settled for 3rd place earning 56.80 points, 5 behind winners Beeches. In the Championship, Stafford Brigades again started a season well, this time receiving 42.45 points, last years runners up Lanesfield Boys Brigade And Girls Brigade came way with 36.44 points and 2nd place and BYBA old boys Halifax Boys Brigade And Girls Brigade came 3rd with 32.45. The Traditional Class saw two bands perform for the first time in a BYBA competition, 1st place went to 10th South Shields Boys Brigade And Girls Brigade with 50.70 points and Barnsley Sea Cadets came 2nd with 30.90 points.
The East Midlands Showdown was the second show on the BYBA calendar this year and Revolution Show Corps went one place better than in the previous competition with a 1st place in the Premier Class earning 61.15 points, 2nd and 3rd place was a very closely fought battle with last years championship winners Phantom Knights just coming 2nd with 49.90 points ahead of Stafford Lancers in 3rd taking home 49.27 points. In The Championship 1st Ibstock Scouts won with 37.70 points, 2nd went to Trinity School Show Band with 35.52 points and The Comets Performance Ensemble came a close 3rd receiving 34.60 points. The Associate Class had 1 competing corps this competition and that was Dynamic Vibe (Formally Polesworth Pioneers) who earned 29.95 points. The Traditional Class also saw 1 band compete in which St Peter's Whetstone went home with 55.30 points.
The First Half Of the 2015 season finished in Daventry, Northamptonshire at the competition titled 'Summer Rhythm'. The Premier Class was the best so far this season with 5 bands competing, Beeches Performance Ensemble secured 1st place with 67.32 points followed by Revolution's 63.98 points in 2nd, Phantom Knights came 3rd with 55.37 points, 4 ahead of the 51.80 points earned by 4th place hosts Liberty who also won the colour guard caption, rounding off the Premier Class in 5th place with 50.92 points were Stafford Lancers. With a very rainy start to The Championship, Stafford Brigades fought through and came away with a well deserved 1st place and 50.33 points, 2nd Went to Lanesfield Boys Brigade And Girls Brigade with 48.82 points and The Comets Performance Ensemble came 3rd with 47.40 points. The last corps to compete were Liberty Juniors in the Cadets Class, they received 47.70 junior points with their western themed show.
The 13th edition of the Brass Explosion competition in Stafford saw the second half of the 2015 season get underway. The Premier Class was a very tight between the top 3 and the bottom 3, Revolution Show Corps won with a score of 77.70 and overtaking Beeches Performance Ensemble who came 2nd with 76.03, East Coast Elite rounded off the top 3 scoring 75.20, 4th place went to Liberty Drum Corps who scored 61.05, they overtook Phantom Knights who were in 5th and scored 60.45, Stafford Lancers were very close behind in 6th with a score of 60.30. In the Championship Class, The Comets Performance Ensemble took home a surprise 1st place with a score of 58.40, they beat Stafford Brigades who scored 56.02 and Lanesfield Boys Brigade & Girls Brigade who scored 54.50, 4th place went to Trinity School Showband who scored 50.50, 5th went to Ibstock Scouts who scored 49.88 and Halifax Boy Brigade & Girls Brigade scored 40.01 and came 6th. The Associate Class saw Derby Midshipmen come 1st with a score of 52.02, beating Dynamic Vibe who scored 51.50.
2015 Finals were held in Telford for the second year running, East Coast Elite won the Premier Class by just 0.08 over Revolution, scoring 80.75, Revolution were 2nd with 80.67, 3rd were Beeches Performance Ensemble with 79.57, Stafford Lancers were 4th with 69.20, 5th were Phantom Knights with 67.88 and Liberty Drum Corps the only corps with no adults in this class came 6th with 64.80. The Championship saw Lanesfield BB/GB win with 66.80 points, Ibstock Scouts were 2nd with 64.37 points, 3rd were Stafford Brigades with 63.25, The Comets Performance Ensemble Came 4th and scored 62.78, in 5th were Trinity School Showband with 60.25 and Hailfax BB/GB with a score of 50.40. The Cadet Class saw two corps compete, the 23 members of Cadence Juniors against the 10 of Liberty Juniors, Cadence Juniors Won with 62.75 and Liberty Juniors were Runners Up with 57.88. Dynamic Vibe Won the Associate Class with 58.55, they were the only corps competing.
Scoring
For the 2008 season, the BYBA scoring system was revamped to bring it more in line with the DCE system. Units are now marked on the following captions:
- Musical Effect
- Visual Effect
- Field Wind
- Field Percussion
- Field Visual
- Musical Ensemble
- Visual Ensemble
- Colourguard
- Turnout
Winners
2011 -
League
- Div 1 - 37th Kingswood
- Div 2 - The Pacemakers Drum and Bugle Corps
- Div 3 - Cadence Drum and Bugle Corps
- Cadet Class - 37th Kingswood Cadets
Finals
- Div 1 - 37th Kingswood
- Div 2 - Beeches Cadets
- Div 3 - Cadence Drum and Bugle Corps
- Juniors - Kidsgrove Juniors
- Associate - Spirit Of Coventry
- Cadet Class - 37th Kingswood Cadets
2012 -
League
- Div 1 - East Coast Elite
- Div 2 - Cadence Drum and Bugle Corps
- Div 3 - Liberty Drum Corps
- Cadet Class - 37th Kingswood Cadets
Finals
- Div 1 - 37th Kingswood
- Div 2 - Cadence Drum and Bugle Corps
- Div 3 - 4th Uckfield
- Associate - Derby Midshipmen
- Cadet Class - 37th Kingswood Cadets
2013 -
Finals
- Div 1 - East Coast Elite
- Div 2 - Stafford Lancers
- Div 3 - Phantom Knights
- Associate - Spirit Of Coventry
- Cadet Class - Thurrock Marching Brass
2014 -
Finals
- Premier Class - East Coast Elite
- Championship Class - Phantom Knights
- Associate Class - Upton
- Cadet Class - Liberty Juniors/Cadence Juniors
2015 -
League
- Premier Class - Beeches Performance Ensemble
- Championship Class - Stafford Brigades
- Associate Class - Dynamic Vibe Performance Ensemble
- Traditional Class - St Peter's Whetstone
- Cadet Class - Liberty Juniors
Finals
- Premier Class - East Coast Elite
- Championship Class - Lanesfield Boys Brigade & Girls Brigade
- Associate Class - Dynamic Vibe Performance Ensemble
- Cadet Class - Cadence Juniors
See also
- Hertfordshire Showband
- Distant Thunder
- Trinity School Showband
- The Pacemakers Drum and Bugle Corps
- Nexus Drum and Bugle Corps