Mia Remer (12) steeled themself for the trick that would either make or break their routine—six rifle rotations with a double turn. They’d already been trying to catch the rifle to no avail, but this attempt felt different. Remer launched the rifle straight up into the air, immediately twirling themself twice before catching it once again. They smiled wide, realizing the rifle had completed all six rotations—the most Remer had ever accomplished before.

It was December 2022, and Remer was at La Cañada High School for a three-day color guard audition. They were trying out for a spot on a drum and bugle corps, a type of musical marching unit consisting of color guard as well as brass, percussion, and electronic instruments.

Remer was specifically auditioning for the Sacramento Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps, which was founded in 1963 and has been a World Class competitor in Drum Corps International (DCI) since 1986.

“I was really, really nervous,” Remer said. “I had to keep reminding myself, ‘I just have to go there and try my best.’”

In an effort to impress the coaches at the audition, Remer was trying as hard as possible to attempt to toss a rifle in the air for six rotations, turn twice under it, and catch the rifle all in one fluid motion.

“One of the coaches pulled me aside,” Remer said. “[The coach said,], ‘Hey, I’ve been watching you and you can do this; I’m going to watch you until you get it.’ I got it. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it was one of the most exciting things I’d ever achieved in [color guard]. It just showed that I can go to that next level of performance and quality that I didn’t know that I could before.”

Remer was offered a spot on the Sacramento Mandarins, and accepted the contract. Instead of a typical job where performers get paid, Remer will be paying to perform with the Mandarins and tour across the country over the summer.

“This is their 60th anniversary and I’m super excited to be able to perform with them,” Remer said. “I don’t care if I get paid or not, because this is an irreplaceable opportunity that I would never get to experience otherwise. I’m more excited for this than any other opportunity before.”

Remer has been involved with color guard at Westview since their freshman year, and has been the team’s equipment manager since last year.

“[During] my freshman year, I went to the auditions with my best friend at the time, because we were both kind of scared.” Remer said. “We were eighth-graders at the time, and going to the audition was absolutely terrifying. Now I’m stuck here, and I absolutely adore this sport.”

Remer said that the decision to enter professional color guard was a natural one. Their inspiration to pursue color guard in any shape or form possible came early in their time in GOLD, and was reinforced by seeing other teammates go pro.

“It was just the next step in my career,” Remer said. “I know it’s a total cliché, but ever since I performed that first marching band show my freshman year, I knew this was something I wanted to do for pretty much the rest of my life; if not, as long as possible. Watching other people on my team, specifically our old captain Rachel Carr (’21), grow up and perform [professionally] really encouraged me to be able to take this next step.”

Now that they have been accepted into the Sacramento Mandarins, Remer has plenty of work to do to get ready for their upcoming tour. The performers, who come from all over the United States, have weekly video assignments to ensure they are improving their fitness. This includes cardio, high intensity interval training, and other types of workouts that the performers must record themselves completing, before submitting the videos online.

“Right now, we’re just really focusing on flexibility and strengthening our muscles and our joints so that we can prevent any injuries throughout the season,” Remer said. “It’s just kind of preparing ourselves for that extra training right now so that we don’t have to spend days learning it ahead.”

In April, Remer will go to Sacramento for a four-day camp where they will train vigorously for the summer’s tour.

“I’m flying up by myself and I’m going to spend four days there practicing and rehearsing 16 hours a day, getting ready for the summer to come,” Remer said. “During [that] April camp, we’re going to start learning a lot of skills and specific tricks that we’re going to need to know for the show.”

In late June, Remer will begin a six-week-long tour of the United States with the Mandarins. Despite being able to go to venues across the country, Remer said they were particularly excited to perform near home in Vista, June 30.

“That’s our very first performance,” Remer said. “A lot of my friends and family are going to be there and it’s just going to be nice after a month or so away from home to come back and see everybody.”

Remer said they’re also excited to go to new destinations and perform outside California, as well.

“I’m kind of excited to see how Texas is,” Remer said. “I’m just excited to see the rest of the United States because I feel like I’ve never really left the West Coast as much as I really wanted to.”

The last place Remer and the rest of the Sacramento Mandarins will perform is at the DCI championship in Indianapolis, Indiana. They will go through three successive rounds of competition (preliminary, semifinal, and final), August 10-12. Around 20 different drum corps compete in the world class category, and Remer’s team will be competing for a spot among the 12 who will advance to the final round.

“It’s known as ‘the big competition,’” Remer said. “The goal for every single drum corps is to make it to finals.”

Remer said that one thing they appreciate about drum corps competitions is that accomplishments are celebrated at multiple levels, rather than just first place.

 “Last year, the huge competition was between the Casper Troopers and the Seattle Cascades,” Remer said. “It was a fight for 12th place to see who could make it to finals for that last performance.”

Remer said that their career in color guard will not end after this eventful summer. Westview GOLD coach Sarah Abdulal is also the director of Vox Artium Winterguard, a local professional color guard group that Remer plans to audition for this fall.

“[Vox] is really cool; whenever you watch their performances, it [takes] your breath away,” Remer said. “I went to their auditions this year to try and figure out how I can come back and audition next year. My plan is to make it onto that team—Vox or bust.”

Remer would not be compensated for that job, either, but they said the experiences they’ve had performing a sport they love with supportive groups of people make the sacrifices worth it.

“I think of the way they do professional color guard like the way they do professional cheer,” Remer said. “You’re paying to have this opportunity with this team of people who want to do the same thing as you. I’m with this team of people who all have this common goal. It’s an expensive sport, but I love it.”