Spartans pave path to World Class, will kick off transition year in 2025
At the Drum Corps International Annual Meeting & Rules Congress in Indianapolis on Thursday, the Spartans from Nashua, New Hampshire, presented a formal petition to join the World Class division.
DCI’s voting membership approved the petition, marking a significant step forward for the defending Open Class champions. The Spartans outlined their intention to become a full-time World Class corps in 2026 and will utilize the 2025 DCI Tour as a stepping stone to that goal.
As part of this transition year in 2025, the corps will follow a “hybrid” classification structure and remain as an Open Class corps, but will compete in eight events, including the DCI Eastern Classic, where they will be judged alongside their World Class peers. An official vote at DCI’s postseason membership meeting in the fall will ultimately determine their World Class status for 2026 and beyond.
According to Spartans president Paul LaFlamme, despite the corps’ organizational growth — especially over the past handful of years, which has seen the corps expand its size and touring capacity — his team is unified in maintaining the corps’ identity while continuing to fulfill the organization’s mission.
“We’re still going to work hard to give the same educational experiences that we give, the same life experiences on the road that we do now,” he said. “We’re going to hopefully attract the same students that we do now and still offer that same Spartan-esque experience.”