Sport or Not a Sport

Many people consider marching band a sport. More people don’t consider it a sport because it’s not head-to-head competition and we don’t do as much as other sports teams. Marching Band should be considered a sport. We compete for spots against other groups. We use over twice as much air as other sports teams. Marching Band should be considered a sport because it requires physical and mental energy, it has strategy through show design, and we practice and compete.

Marching Band requires constant mental and physical demand of the mind and body. We coordinate playing and moving at the same time. Marching band members are always thinking. Whether it is the counts, horn moves, tonguing in certain parts of music, legato tonguing, whatever, marching band requires constant mental energy.

Marching Band has strategy through show design. The show design is the pictures on the field with moves made by the band and the color guard. Different shows have different difficulty levels. Every band does a different show, they could do the same theme but the pictures that are made are different. Some marching bands can make a difficult show through the practicing they do. You’re always thinking and always moving.

Practicing is what all sports do. We compete for spots in finals for the tournament of band groups (TOB). Bands compete to see which band is the best at the end of the season. Other states do consider marching band a sport. Most marching bands start practice before school starts in August or September to start teaching the new people how to march and to start learning music and drill. Marching Bands practice days can be during the summer can be 8 to 12 hours long. Some are shorter.

In conclusion, marching band should be considered a sport because it requires physical and mental energy, it has strategy through show design, and we practice and compete. There are not many reasons why it shouldn’t be other than its not a head-to-head competition and it’s said that we don’t do as much. Some marching bands may not do as much but a lot of marching bands do more than regular teams. Marching Band uses twice of much air because we are moving and playing at the same time. It requires constant mental and energy.