JOE ROCHE

Class of 2022

CADET / INSTRUCTOR / STRENGTH COACH / MENTOR

Cadet Years: Brass/Mellophone  (1982, 1983 and 1985)

Visual Instructor (1987-1992); Visual Coordinator (1989-1992)

Visual Consultant (2000); Strength and Performance Coach (2007-2015);

Motivational Consultant (2019)

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIS CADET STORY:

Joe Roche epitomizes the grit, determination, developing artistry through performance, and achievement through excellence that are hallmarks of the Cadets to this day.  Joe began marching at the age of 12 with the Southern Tier Grenadiers.  He continued for a short stint with the Empire State Express, then three summers with the Watkins Glen Squires before moving up to the Cadets in 1982 at the age of 18.   

 

Joe started teaching the Cadets at the request of George Zingali and Marc Sylvester in 1987 and continued on the visual staff until 1992.  He joined the Army in 1994 which drastically reduced his availability to teach the activity but returned to the Cadets in 2000 as a visual consultant.  Other Corps taught include the Star of Indiana (1993), Madison Scouts (2004), Bluecoats (2016-2017) and consulting work in DCA with the Sunrisers, Hurricanes, and Bushwackers from 2007-2017.

 

Joe possesses the heart of a champion.  He brings about this belief in those he works with through motivation and a personality that is larger than life.  He has forged championship level achievement in every area that he has marched and taught the activity and has the awesome power to get students to achieve beyond what their mind and their bodies are telling them.  He is a cultivator and purveyor of the Cadets culture that was and is the foundation of Cadets achievement.  In the words of Cadet alum and brass instructor Matt Stratton, “Without Joe’s persistence, perseverance, achievement, and heart to share, there would not have been a Matt Stratton and many like him making their way to Cadets”.

 

Matt Stratton recalls, in 2019, when the corps was at its lowest competitive point in many years, significant changes were made to try and remember the performance and excellence culture of the Cadets.  We held a series of talks with the vets and leadership about the history and culture of the Cadets and we had Joe on as a frequent guest to reignite the spark for championship excellence and achievement at the Cadets.