'85 years of history': The Boston Crusaders win their first DCI World Championship
The Boston Crusaders, founded in 1940 and a founding member of Drum Corps International, have spent the 53 years since the competition began chasing the opportunity to be dubbed one of the best drum corps in the world.
The closest the Boston Crusaders had ever come was in 2022 and 2024, coming in second behind the Blue Devils three years ago and the Bluecoats last year.
'Winning this World Championship is surreal,' said Boston Crusaders executive director Chris Holland in an interview with DCI.
'For the performers who made this happen, this is all about them. We're a proud organization with 85 years of history, but that 85 years is about creating an experience for them. What they did this summer, what they did in Indianapolis, is pretty incredible.'
Many in the audience, on the field and in the announcer booth cheered loudly when the Crusaders were announced as this year' new champions.
"I think that was the loudest crowd reaction to a show I've heard since Spartacus in 2008," said Dan Potter, one of the DCI announcers.
Typically, the team that wins the General Effect and Visual award is dubbed the winner of the show, according to Steve Roinero, one of the announcers of this year's DCI World Championship.
However, this year's General Effect and Visual award went to the Bluecoats from Canton, Ohio, who wound up losing the championship to the Boston Crusaders by 0.175 points.
The Boston Crusaders also took home the awards for best color guard, best brass and best percussion.
For the last two and a half decades, the Boston Crusaders had been within striking distance of earning a spot on the winners' podium, usually finishing somewhere in the top 12. But since 2022, the Boston Crusaders have shown why; they have the reputation of "the corps that would not die."
"Part of our core song is 'We will never die,' and we try and portray that every single day," said Boston Crusaders drum major Wes Booker. "Every rehearsal, we push our best and every show we give everything we've got."
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