It's a hot day in August. Students are lined up. They have gone at least two miles on the city streets. They are tired, they are sweating. Their backs and knees are hurting. Their mouths are dry, and they badly need a drink of water. One student had an asthma attack already this week. Other students are complaining that they are tired of moving and that they need a break. Still, to them, it's just another day at marching band practice.
In high school and college, my fellow band members and I spent hours on the field preparing for marching band competitions, parades, and half time shows at football games. I remember running half the distance of the track just to get in line in time for the half-time show after cheering the rest of the game. Our band was one of the best in the area, and we proudly wore our gold wool uniforms and the gold hats with white plumes. We were very serious. Each step, each moment was important. Each one of us hoped we wouldn't be that one person that pulled focus, that broke the set, that disrupted the show. We spent hours practicing, marching, kneeling, walking, standing at attention. For me, I never thought about how much I was actually exercising during practice and during the routines. Now, marching band members are viewed as more than students playing instruments. Some are regarded as marching band athletes.
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Like all athletes, marching band, and other fine arts' athletes, undergo rigorous training and can sustain injuries. The injuries range from hearing loss to knee pain to low back strain to more serious injuries like trigeminal neuropathy, concussion or heart issues. The latter few are rare, but they exist nonetheless. However, in order to truly address the needs of band members, students must first have a baseline physical examination to determine their health status. In order to do so, band members, and other fine arts' students, should be required to have back to school physicals the same as student athletes.
By requiring back to school physicals, communities, schools, parents and students will be able to set a standard for physical fitness and attention to health. A message would be sent that the health of students in any activity that requires physical exertion above a normal level is important to the school. Moreover, health issues that exist for students may be addressed before they become a problem on the field, during a parade, or in a performance. Parents, students, and their healthcare providers, especially, will be able to determine how much wear is occurring and if aches and pains are from performing or from something else.
Moreover, accommodations can be made for students via the school or parents for band members who may be experiencing physical ailments. For instance, a percussionist who deals with low back pain or injury may be prescribed a back brace. Physical therapy may be used for a clarinetist who suffers knee pain. Stress fractures may be addressed more quickly when sustained during a performance. Proper nutrition can be monitored through parents and healthcare providers to ensure that fatigue, malnutrition or other biomechanical factors do not cause injury.
By requiring physicals for band students, schools ensure that their band members are healthy enough to last through long hours of practice and through long parades or events while marching and playing.
Sources:
NUHS Sports Medicine. Common Injuries in the Performing Arts. Found onlin at: http://www.northwestern.edu/sportsmedicine/performing-arts/performing-arts-injuries/index.html
Performing Arts Medicine Association. Psychological Health in Schools of Music. State of the Arts Review. Found online at: http://www.artsmed.org/sites/default/files/files/stars-nasm-pama-psychological-health_v2.pdf
L.J. Stanek and K.D. Komes. Traumatic Neuropathy of the Trigeminal Nerve in a College Trumpet Player: A Case Report. PM & R: The Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation. Found online at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28736325
Music Teachers National Association. Health in Music Teaching. Found online at: https://members.mtna.org/leadership/WellnessStatement.pdf
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