The submission deadline for the 2018 Varsity Vocals competition season is in two days.

Here are the top 10 reasons your collegiate or high school group should compete in the upcoming ICCA or ICHSA tournaments.

10. Competition can make you a better group all around

Regardless of the level of your group, performing on a stage ups your game. Competitions force groups to make the best possible choices in terms of staging, soloists, and arrangement for their given intention. 

Competitions are educational and groups learn more by performing than they do by just rehearsing for themselves. The experience of logging hours while learning to blend on individual mics and with stage monitors is invaluable -- so is getting up in front of a crowd as often as possible. It chips away at the roughness of a group and polishes it as a whole.

The groups that gig the most are usually stronger finishers at competitions.

9. Constraining your performance set with limitations helps your creativity

Thinking outside of the box is harder than if you had a specific set of guidelines to follow. Having to work with a defined set of expectations means that you have to think around the limitations. Art is making the most of limitations. Saying "no" can be twice as powerful as saying "yes."

ICCA/ICHSA makes you say "no" sometimes to create a product that will hopefully win. That experience allows you to see limitations as an advantage and not a detriment when you run into them in the future, hopefully facilitating you coming up with something you never would otherwise.

Varsity Vocals' specific rubric, size, and time constraints keeps its competitions fair and sets a standard for judging excellence.

8. Competing is a great excuse to pursue a higher level

Competitions are highly motivating and drastically change your group's mindset. Groups generally work harder towards a competition set, and they can carry those habits into their regular rehearsal schedule. Goals help groups reach higher than they thought possible.

With a goal and deadline in mind, it's much easier to map out a path to success!

7. Stay active in the community

By competing in one of Varsity Vocals' competitions, you stay current. You see what other groups in your area/division are doing. Competitions give groups a chance to see and hear other groups and be inspired by their peers. Not only are you keeping up to speed with trends and various other innovations, but you also get to know the groups in your area. Building community is important within your group, school, and vicinity.  

The more groups you know in your area, the more potential gig partners you have!

6. Bond your group tighter

Competitions allow groups to travel and bond as human beings. After many long hours, late-night rehearsals, and sectionals, you get to know each other better and therefore feel safer to emote more. Your group gets better both harmonically and emotionally.

Long-distance road trips usually translate into closer-knit groups.

5. You get immediate feedback

One of the greatest advantages that groups that participate in Varsity Vocals experience is fairly instant feedback from a panel of experts. At every level of Varsity Vocals competitions, groups get their rubric scoresheet and handwritten comments from working professionals in the field.  

The Varsity Vocals judges are some of the fairest around, and with the rubric guiding them, they are objective and consistent across all regions and levels.

4. Strengthen your fan base

You're never going to find a more captive or "on-brand" audience. The people who come to see Varsity Vocals shows generally know a cappella and appreciate what you do more than a local audience. Bringing merch and plugging your social media at Varsity Vocals events are great ways to widen your collective reach!

Varsity Vocals audiences are enthusiastic and serious about supporting a cappella.

3. Winning gets you known

Women of the World just won the first-ever Aca Open, and they had a very specific plan for their new $25K grand prize -- purchasing in-ear monitors. Now, not every Varsity Vocals competition comes with a cash prize, but think about all the collegiate and high school groups you know. It's likely that most of them are Varsity Vocals finalists.

You don't have to win to get known -- just being in the running gets you out there!

2. The possibility of finals in NYC

Whether you're performing at Carnegie Hall, the Beacon Theatre, or Town Hall, getting to take a trip to New York City to sing with your best friends on a famous stage is pretty cool. You'll make new friends from all over the country/world, eat some great pizza, and take a bunch of silly photos. It'll be the one scholastic trip you will always remember.  

Oh, and you'll be sharing that stage with the best groups in the world!

1. It's fun!

Getting together with your friends to work tirelessly for months on new, innovative music? This is what we live for!  

So, you have two more days to register for ICCA and ICHSA (if you're in the U.S./Canada). 

Will your name be the next that's etched on the Gooding Cup?

APPLY NOW!