What can the Marching Arts Community Learn from Simone Biles?

Simone Biles dominated the news and every social media news feed when she stepped back from competing in the 2021 Olympics. When I heard this news, my first feelings were pride and relief. Pride because I was insanely proud of that woman for putting HERSELF over OTHERS…on that large of a scale. Relief because I am glad this is getting attention. 

How many times have we heard or been told that a funeral or a doctor’s appointment was a burden on the group? How many times have we heard or been told that “even when you’re sick, you show up” (pre-covid of course)? And HOW MANY TIMES have we heard or been told to suck it up and breathe through the pain when something is seriously so wrong that we put off major health concerns for “the success of the group”?

What if we built our season around getting multiple recordings of our best work, and did not only glorify a final performance? What if weekends weren’t the ONLY thing we are working for? With social media, technology, and production, I see this being the future for many reasons – but the most important one being mental health. 

The season is about the journey we take, not just the final stop

“But Tori, that’s what every season is” – save it. We care more about that final performance than we care to admit. Competition can be good. Competition is a great motivator…who doesn’t want to be the best? But at what expense? All of that to say. If there is a family emergency or a health concern around big competition days – think about how you respond to your students with care. 

We have learned too much about the outcomes of not treating our mental health. This generation of students endures so much more pressure and anxiety than we could have ever imagined when we were in school. We see that this generation is going through so much more than when we were in high school. I’ve only been out 10 years (ew) and I know it is a completely different world. We have seen and felt the effects of this overly committed mindset. We know we need to be healthier. We are educators – we need to take these new observations and change something. Or else we will push away successful students who could be great additions to our community in the future. 

Realizing the amount of trauma, whether that is physical or mental, that is because of this overly committed mindset is making it hard to stay quiet about this topic anymore. The good news, though, is that we are not the only group activity that has this mentality and is going through a change: the gymnastics world is a great example of that. If Simone Biles can stand up for mental health on a worldwide stage, we can stand up for mental health in our own programs. 

My recommendation for making an immediate change: ask yourself every day, “have I provided a good balance of accountability and grace today?” 

Looking forward to hearing how programs around the country are supporting mental health and how us, as a community, will start holding ourselves accountable for this much-needed change.