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Excitement is in the air, as earlier today the World Drill Championships confirmed there is a pending entry from a foreign country. Which, in turn, would validate the competition's status as a WORLD level event. The only confusion is where the competitor is from.
The original post stated, "We have a pending entry from the ROK military in 2018...so strap it up.boys and girls, this is going to become a WORLD championship next year...." which seemed to infer the Republic of Korea, aka South Korea. This would not come as a surprise to many, as the American military has such a large presence in the country, and they have their own style of exhibition drill. The contradiction comes from another source high up in the hierarchy of leadership of the World Drill Championships. This source identified the competitor as a member of the Republic of China (Taiwan) military, but is later identified as a member of the Chinese military, so the true country of origin is unknown. A Chinese competitor would be a little bit more surprising, as the Chinese are not known for what we would call "exhibition drill", although many Eastern countries such as Taiwan, the Philippines, and South Korea are. Watching and competing against an international competitor from a country who's style of exhibition drill is widely unknown would be a fascinating experience, and lend credit to the name of the competition. Interestingly enough, there are also some reports of competitors from Taiwan showing interest in entering the competition, although this has yet to be confirmed by a Sports Network International or World Drill Championship official. Many have asked in the past how the sport could spread, and this provides a unique opportunity that WDC has been waiting for for 11 years. For the average driller though, the best thing to do is to provide exposure for the competition, share the videos, pick favorite drillers, represent them in a way you would any other professional team or player. Build a culture that other people want to be a part of. Every share, every comment matters. And arguably most important, SHOW UP. If you're in Daytona during WDC, and you aren't in the stands watching, barring any team events, you are only doing a disservice to the sport. When an outsider watches those videos, and sees a large engaged crowd, it's much more likely they will get involved too. Mob mentality goes a long way. Show up, cheer, get engaged. There's a possibility of this really becoming something special, don't miss out. |
