Gates Chili Winterguard is an independent organization, meaning you do not have to be in the Gates Chili school district to join. In fact, Gates Chili Winterguard has students from 5 different school districts and 4 colleges. The only requirement is that members be between the ages of 8-22.

There are many benefits of participating in the Gates Chili Winterguard program: 

• Development of team building skills
• Development of structured time-management 
• It is proven that students do better academically when involved in extracurricular activities
• Development of self-discipline (Individual and as a group)
• Increased self-esteem
• Improved gross and fine motor development 
• Improved memorization skills 
• The mind is challenged and stimulated in many ways simultaneously
• Weekly performance based assessments 
• Judges provided critical feedback as to areas of opportunity both in overall show design and individual performances 
• Travel opportunities
• Strengthened physical conditioning 
• Life-long relationships and memories to be developed through outstanding performances, and lasting friendships. 
• Gates Chili’s Winterguard program is designed to develop strength in the body as well as facilitate in developing one’s manual dexterity