It’s clear: marching bands’ qualifications justify it as a sport

In today’s society, some may say marching band is a sport and should get just as much recognition as any other sport. Though most people would oppose because it’s just an activity that requires movement. A sport by definition according to dictionary “New American Webster Handy College” is “an outdoor or athletic pastime.” This proves that marching band should be considered a sport.

In marching band, multiple things happen at the same time, but they’re each started out the same way. Exercise. Everyone joins together at the beginning of practice and exercises as a group. With that exercise, each band is different. Some may start off with stretching and others may start off with running laps. Also, most school bands practice after school for about 3-4 hours each day after school. Even on breaks, bands will come back and practice for half days or maybe even full days. Even with these exercises, you are required to have a physical.

The physical plays a huge role in the process of joining band. If a person were to be injured while marching and that person didn’t have their physical the band could get into serious legal trouble. Physicals provide the directors with information about your personal health and lets them know what is needed when traveling or not.

Each sport requires certain strengths to do certain tasks. In football your quarterback must have strength to throw the ball and make plays all over the field. In cheerleading, the cheerleaders must have strength to lift other people up into the air. When the cheerleaders are getting prepared to be lifted into the air the people under her have to lift her up by her feet and she stands up and stays in place for a certain amount of time. This requires a lot of strength to hold one person in place for a long period of time. In band even, the members who play tubas have to use all their strength to hold up the instrument and also have to keep time and march on time. In certain shows, the band members may have to collaborate with the color guard in the art aspect.

The color guard also has to have strengths of their own. The color guard members spin six-foot long weighted poles and/or rifles, all while doing their performance that corresponds with the music.

Although, this isn’t a “normal” sport you would see on television, it should be viewed the same as any other sport. It should be called a sport and get its own television broadcast like other sports games. They should get more people to see that all the hard work and effort put into one thing is also a sport and not just some fun activity that kids like to do after school instead of doing their homework. Marching band should be recognized as a true sport and not just some “activity.”