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Why medal chasing, among other things, are important facets of the marching arts that need to be talked about during this time in order to grow:
A (VERY LONG) THREAD
A (VERY LONG) THREAD
I care a lot about this conversation because medal chasing is literally what drives this entire activity and many of us don't realize. This activity is NOT "color guard." Itâs WGI & DCI. They are governing circuits that "sportified" an art form.
So many people are âfalling out of loveâ with it, but others are quick to attack and are not stopping to realize why they may be feeling like this. Itâs not okay for an educator to place blame on members for an ideology pushed (even without realizing) by governing circuits.
Especially such well known educators that work with notable groups. Itâs not their fault some of them think like this. Itâs honestly not. It *might* not even be WGI & DCIâs fault, but all we know is that this is all color guard is right now- and has been for like 30 years.
Iâm not denying that WGI & DCI are responsible for pushing this activity to what it is today, but we need to realize that every single circuit is attached to a score, a number, and a placement. Awards, publicity, sometimes money, and literal credibility all come out of winning.
Your organization's name literally gets placed on the founders trophy forever... for getting a gold medal. Like literally DUH- kids are going to want to chase medals when circuits have such an emphasis on the champion. It's how mostly every sport is.
But, with no other outlet, this fuels unhealthy competitiveness on all fronts with educators wanting to build their organizations, educators wanting to teach at higher paying organizations to help fund their passion, and members wanting the ability to march at these places.
This obviously makes it SEEM to a young kid like thatâs where youâll find the most training and help to be able to continue doing color guard after you âage out.â So obviously that's the seed you're now watering throughout your color guard career.
Even DCA is attached to a score and competitiveness. Which again is fine, but do you see the trend of how every major outlet provides a scoring rubric and thus a box to fit in? We HAVE to spend so much time worried that our art won't get enough points, instead of just creating.
But also realize that color guard as an art form is one of the only parts of the marching arts that doesnât offer a plethora of opportunities to *practically*use what youâve learned after youâve aged out.
Wind players, hornline members, and percussionists all have hundreds of âlucrativeâ ways to go perform, make money, and use these skills they've built after they age out, so why doesn't color guard?
WGI is the âsportâ of the arts, so that makes complete sense. But recognizing that there are literally no other outlets or opportunities where we can go freely do color guard or even learn how to do color guard, makes you realize like whereâs the "arts" part?
Where can someone go learn how to do color guard in their city like they can with dance, theater, and music? Where are these color guard exhibits and performances that arenât just tied to a score?
Where are all these opportunities, performances, and career paths where we can all enjoy doing what we love without paying loads of money? Thereâs maybe about 4 (that I know of). Blast, Busch Gardens, Disney (maybe?), and Cirque (most likely if you are also an expert at baton).
That creates such an uneven creative field for so many people of all walks of life to be able to do color guard if they miss their window of opportunity. That sucks. Thatâs an issue. And itâs all of our issue if you are wanting the activity to last (and exist) past WGI & DCI.
This ties directly into the medal chasing conversation, because we canât go perform anywhere without paying a ton of money to do it or risking a bunch of our own resources to leave for 2 straight months or sacrifice our weekends for 6.
$13,000+ over 4 years to march, perform, and learn so I can continue in this activity and eventually teach one day (even if I didn't realize how much I would want to teach at the time) is a TON of money, even spread out. $13,000 over 4 years is STILL $270 a month.
How many of you have that extra $270 every month? How hard did you have to work and push to fundraise? How many of you still donât understand that not everyone has the *privilege* to even be able to fundraise?
Did I specifically go to Blue Devils because they get medals? Hell no. I remember specifically hating the Blue Devils when I marched Gold, because I would read everyone talking crap about them on DCP. I wanted to march Cavie's but didn't have enough money to get a flight.
But knowing what I know now about the activity, if I went back in time, you bet your ass I would chase a medal, because I see first hand the privilege I've had as an educator in this activity JUST for marching a top corps.
Some schools and groups in this activity even get paid more because you marched a "top" corps. We ALL experience this specific form of inequality in the activity and you may not even realize which side of the discussion you're on.
I have people constantly messaging me needing help on what "top" corps or winter guard to audition for, so they can âbuild a proper resume.â Thatâs a genuine thought that happens like every day in this activity in almost every age group.
It's ignorant to view this issue as a fault of the members and it's narrow minded to not understand that it's okay to chase a medal too. We NEED to be having these discussions about this activity.
This is so important because it opens the door wider on the system of DCI & WGI as an unequal whole and how we NEED to create other paths for this art to not only stand the test of time, but make it accessible to everyone regardless of race, gender, identity, or âclass.â
Things might sound dramatic or rude, but when you say things about a group of people or those with a certain ideology, i.e. âmedal chasers donât love color guard as much as the rest of usâ, you leave yourself open for criticism.
That is the risk we ALL take from having a public social media profile. Put your accounts on private if you donât want people to reply with a different opinion than you. Itâs fine. Thatâs your prerogative.
If you're uncomfortable with the âaggressiveâ nature that some of us have when speaking about issues, mute us. Block us. But do NOT stop calling this shit out.
You are conditioned to feel uncomfortable using your voice and questioning the reality of things. We are all realizing that. Itâs not any different just because color guard is involved.
Just because this has been our reality for 30+ years, doesnât mean we should not be questioning it and attempting to grow this activity we all love.
Healing hurts. Why did any of you think we were going to get along during this? WE'RE A COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY. Weâre taught to put 100% into everything we do and this doesnât end at calling each other out.
