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 12 different school districts and 5 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