Quality-wise, I've found Evans heads to be on par with Remo. Both companies make good stuff and each has a few unique products. "Brand whores" who blindly stick to one company are missing out, whether we're talking about heads, sticks, or whatever.

I personally haven't tried the Hybrids, but since they're designed for slightly lower tension, I'm thinking they might be a good match for your Competitor drums. But who knows 'til you actually try it.

One warning: You might want to avoid the Hybrid snare-side (bottom) heads. One of the guys on this board has run into problems with the fiber in them cutting into the shell and wrecking the bearing edge. (Besides, anything more than plain Mylar might set you up for over-torquing the bottom head and damaging the drum.)

As for the instructor "lesson"... I've seen a few groups of kids get their spirit crushed when they show up to their first competition and get blown out of the water. Especially with beginners, let them know that it's OK if they don't get first place (or second or third). If they push themselves each week, they'll see it reflected as the numbers climb or the gap narrows between them and the other schools. If they keep working week after week and year after year, they'll start collecting trophies, but it may not be a realistic goal right away.

Really, I thought competitor was the first free floating drum that Pearl put out?

No, "Competitor" is just the name for their lower-end lightweight drums -- much like Yamaha has their Power-Lite series. The Competitor non-free-floater has been around for years and the free-floating version is a more recent addition to the lineup.

Pearl's first free-floating marching snare was the Championship FFX we all know and love, introduced in 1990. There have been a few small changes to the design since then, but nothing too major. (The snare strainer has been redesigned twice and a reinforcing ring was added for the bottom head.)

I'm the tech (and tenor player) for our line. Our band director got us all new competitor drums.
For the snares, we have Evans MX White batter. I actualy have them cranked nearly as high as our old FFX's. They actually sound pretty decent. They've been cranked for quite awhile now and no sign of destruction has been shown. I could crank them a little more, but I think I would be pushing it.
Tenors, they comestock with 1.6mm rims, which get out of roumd very easily, especially on drums 1 and 4. Since drum 1 was the worst I got a new 2.3mm replacement rim and it made a world of difference.
As for the basses, the black paint on the rims chips off VERY easily. I would suggest a new paint job every season at least.

The overall quality of the Competitor series leaves a lot to be desired, but if you're on a somewhat low budget and have a director that knows virtually nothing about drums, this is what you end up with...ugh -.-

I agree, plus a die-cast hoop on the top head will give a shorter, more staccato sound even if you leave the bottom hoop alone.

I picked up a set of Evans Hybrids for a new "project" snare (Remo Legato -- I collect oddballs) at Columbus Perc. friday, and the Hybrid bottom now has broad strips of "reinforcement fiber" instead of thin strands. I'm not sure how this is going to affect the sound, but I imagine this should take care of the previously reported shell gouging problem.