As Los Angeles County encounters an extreme heat wave, Blue Thunder Marching Band and Color Guard must adapt to the increasing concern to protect students from the unsafe temperatures.
Although the school adheres to the Walnut sports medicine heat protocol to safeguard the well-being of student-athletes, there is currently no standardized set of procedures in place to ensure the protection of marching band and color guard members.
“We monitor the heat and adjust accordingly, moving practice indoors if it gets too hot,” band director Katie Takahashi said. “In the sun, we take water breaks every 15 minutes. Breaks are less prevalent in the evening practices when the sun goes down. The extreme heat this week has definitely affected our practices, like it has for all other sports.”
While an adjustment has been made to relocate after-school band practices indoors, marching band members are also given fewer opportunities for breaks between their rehearsal sessions.
“[The directors] give us a break every hour, so we’re marching for an hour straight. Marching band is not that physical but I get thirsty sometimes and my legs get tired,” trombonist senior Marlon Lin said.
The peak of the heat wave happened on Friday, Sept. 6 at an intense temperature of 112 degrees. As a result, the half-time show that was supposed to happen at the football game that day was canceled. Color Guard was excused from their performance entirely while the marching band has decided not to wear their uniforms when performing in the stands. This adjustment prioritizes the comfort and safety of the performers and was communicated to both students and parents through email.
“I think it’s good that we aren’t in marching uniform because it is extremely heavy and traps in a lot of heat, especially with our hats,” flutist senior Kaylie Woo said. “Even though I still believe that we shouldn’t be [performing] in 100 degree temperature, it is much better than marching in our uniforms.”
