I spent the Saturday of my fall break volunteering with my sister’s marching band. She and the Millard South Patriot’s Pride Marching Band competed at the Elkhorn Sounds of Excellence competition and won third place, and I am so proud of them. Volunteering was a ton of fun, especially because Millard South is my alma mater, so I got to see all of my old directors and friends. That awesome day reminded me of just how much work goes into marching band, and the fact that marching band should unquestionably be called a sport.
In the Millard South band, rehearsals happen every school day during marching season, which lasts all of fall semester. Rain or shine or scorching heat, students are out on the field marching. They start at 7:15 a.m. sharp and go until school starts at 8:00 a.m. or until the band class period ends at 9:30 a.m. with the school’s block schedule. That doesn’t include the extra rehearsals on non-competition Saturdays or over school breaks, which are typically scheduled 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., or Monday night band rehearsals, which are 5:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Nor does it include band camp, which runs for two weeks in late July, with two sessions: 8:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Attendance at every rehearsal is, of course, mandatory. Speaking from experience: rehearsals are long, hard, and draining, with countless repetitions to get the marching show to absolute perfection. This isn’t unique to Millard South: nearly every marching band practices that much.
If it isn’t obvious from the long rehearsal times, marching band students put in a lot of work. Not only do marching band members learn eight to ten minutes of music from memory (which is difficult: memorizing notes, rhythms, dynamics, articulations and more), but they also memorize every movement they make on the field. They learn drill, which is directions for how they move around the field, and choreography, which can range in complexity from simple horn moves to dramatic dance breaks. They also learn proper posture, marching, playing and instrument movement techniques. This is hard! It’s lots of physical movement, mental concentration and coordination. Everyone on the field must do their part to perfection so the whole band performs well. This is extremely important since marching bands go to competitions. They are judged on a variety of categories, with strict rules for the judges’ scoring. One simple mistake by an individual can be a deduction for the whole band. That creates a focused, driven environment in which marching band students strive to be at their best.
All of the above adds to one simple conclusion: marching band is a sport. If an activity is practiced as much as a sport, competes like a sport and requires the same amount of effort as a sport…then it is a sport. Sure, marching band is musical and artistic, but being artistic doesn’t disqualify a sport from being a sport. Gymnastics is a sport, but the full name of Olympic gymnastics is ARTISTIC gymnastics. Sports can be artistic and still be sports, and that principle should apply to marching band. Additionally, the definition of a sport from the Cambridge Dictionary is “a game, competition, or activity that is played or done according to rules.” Marching band is an activity that is done according to rules, so by definition it is a sport. Marching band requires immense physical and mental effort and fits the dictionary definition of “sport” to a T, thus it’s obvious that marching band is absolutely a sport.
