Every year, hundreds of thousands of incredible students take part in the marching arts. This includes anything from colorguard to percussion, or flute to tuba. This art is a huge time commitment, and it’s a lot for your body to take on. However, while this is recognized pretty often, one thing that doesn’t seem to be as well known is how many performers in each group are suffering from a hidden disability or chronic illness. As someone with a chronic illness, I feel that it’s time these people get the recognition and awareness they deserve.
What’s it like having a disability or chronic illness in marching band? Having a disability or being chronically ill is hard and time consuming on its own. After being diagnosed, so many people have to adapt to a new lifestyle. For example, someone who is diagnosed with diabetes now has to be constantly aware of their blood sugar, which can change based on what they eat/drink and even physical activity. This being said, being at a marching band rehearsal can affect their blood sugar.
Jemma Mash from F.W. Buchholz HS shared that “Having diabetes in a marching band has made it difficult to fully partake in the marching arts and reach my full performance capacity. With having to work around both insulin pumps and glucose sensors and find ways to alter dance and flag work to not compromise my performance but also not threaten my medical devices which can often be difficult. Aside from that, excessive amounts of exercise through marching can often lead to low glucose and cause decreased mobility, energy levels, and threatens me with the possibility of collapsing on the field.” Hunter Burke, a trumpet player from Orange Park High School says, “it (diabetes) makes it to be where I can’t be with my band performing without having the possibility of passing out and not getting up again.” Anyone watching from the stands may never even think about how many people are currently on the field worrying about this happening, and this is only one of the many, many disabilities on the field.
Along with diabetes, there are marchers with orthostatic hypotension. While the two may seem to be on the same lines as far as symptoms, they have their differences and require different treatment methods. This chronic illness causes blood pressure to drop at random and sometimes without warning. Adeline Harrell, a member of the Ridgeview High School Colorguard, explained that “Some particular struggles are my vision blacking out and passing out. I also have health episodes where I have no muscle control, can’t see anything, can’t hear anything, and pass out multiple times for at least 10 minutes. These episodes take me out of whatever activity I’m doing for 30 minutes to an hour.”
Another severe chronic illness is POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). This specifically has to do with the autonomic nervous system, and causes lightheadedness and dizziness typically due to standing after laying down for a while. However, like almost every other illness it can be affected by physical activity which marching band is full of. Sydney Thomas, a clarinet player from the Fleming Island HS Marching Band said that “I constantly have problems with standing for too long or dizziness.” While many people think the only major symptom of POTS is passing out, there’s so many more. Isabella Berryman from Sebring High School’s Color Guard explained further, saying, “From practice to performance, some of the most common symptoms I experience are near syncope, tachycardia, impaired vision, difficulty breathing, loss of motor skills, dizziness, and nausea.” As if marching band isn’t hard enough, adding on all of these extra challenges not only makes it harder, but it can be scary. But even then, with all of this happening on the field it’s entirely possible for no one in the stands to notice how many incredible people are battling through these symptoms while putting on an amazing show.
Along with these conditions there’s even more that may not even come to mind, one being deuteranopia which is red and green colorblindness. At surface level this may not seem like a huge obstacle, but when put into the terms of a football field it is. Jack Ellis, a euphonium player with F.W. Springstead HS shared that “This disability doesn’t highly affect my performance, but it makes it difficult to see the lines on the field, which are already mostly faded, which affects my vector to my dot and sometimes I don’t end up on my dot.” When learning drill, it’s crucial that everyone goes to their exact spot, and using things like yard lines and hashes makes this way more achievable. However for people like Jack, seeing these lines is a struggle and they have to be even more cautious and intentional with every step.
There’s also people like Destiny Quintana at Wesley Chapel High School who are hard of hearing. Destiny is in the Colorguard and says, “I am hard of hearing and it’s impacted the way I’ve learned. It’s definitely made it harder to learn counts to things and taken me longer with people having to constantly repeat themselves and me not being able to hear them. It’s harder to learn drill with having our director yelling from the podium or the microphone glitching.” When learning drill it’s important to have quick communication in order for everything to go quickly and be done well. But, if you can’t hear the feedback being given to you there’s not much you can do. One thing about both of these conditions is that you can’t tell they’re there just by watching a performance, and you definately don’t see the extra effort and work being put in on their part to be right with everyone else.
While some conditions are visible and some aren’t, there’s some that you can only see when there’s a problem. One of these is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. This condition causes the body to produce faulty collagen which is what holds everything together. As someone who suffers from this personally, I can say first hand how much of a struggle it is. There’s so much that can happen at any given point, and so many other symptoms that can show up out of nowhere with no explanation. Along with general point pain, there’s gastrointestinal issues, cardiovacular issues, skin issues, fatigue and so much more. Clara Lazarte, a saxophone player at Middleburg HS also performs with EDS. She explained that “There have been many times where these issues have made it hard for me to do what I love, marching. It’s easy to get behind if you have to step out or miss a practice but with a chronic illness it can be worse. Even when you are back at practice you usually can not be 100% or else you risk hurting yourself again. My Joint hypermobility syndrome makes it easy for me to break bones, pull muscles, and even have muscle spasms. It makes it so hard to march when you can not move your arm, neck, leg, or anything else if you pull a muscle.”
If there’s one important thing to note about this condition, I would say that it’s affected by everything. Sleep, diet, and activity all have great impacts on how someone with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome feels. It’s also very common to go through episodes of intense pain that can make it hard to function at all, let alone go to a rehearsal or compete at a competition. As someone in colorguard, I’ve been out for days to seasons at a time due to injuries caused by my chronic illness. To participate in anything physical, it’s important to know your body very well. You have to know your limits well enough to know when you need to take a break.
What would you say to others in the marching arts struggling with a hidden disability or chronic illness? One big thing to realize is that you’re never alone. While you have the people you love surrounding you 24/7, there’s also the people who are going through the same thing you are. In the end all of your hard work pays off with that feeling of stepping off the field for the last time. “I recommend never stop trying. No matter how hard it may get, don’t ever put yourself down for a condition or disability that you can’t control,” says Kathryn Shepard, aColor Guard Member at South Sumter High School. The marching arts are physically demanding as it is. While it’s an art, it also becomes a lifestyle. Having a disability or chronic illness does not define you in any way, and it most certainly doesn’t make you any less capable of achievement.
I feel that it’s most important that at the end of the day, everyone struggling knows that they’re not alone. No matter how hard it gets, you’re surrounded by the love of your band, your family, and your circuit. Isabella Berryman from the Sebring HS Colorguard offered similar thoughts, saying “My advice to another individual who struggles with their own medical condition would be to keep doing what they love and to persevere. Don’t be ashamed of your condition, it does not define who you are nor who you become. You are not a burden for sometimes needing help. Within the FFCC community you will always find a caring hand to help you along the way.”
