I would like to hear your opinions. Do you think marching band is a sport, or not.
Actually, I'm 50/50 on this. I know we work hard, outside, like any other person in other sports do (with the exception of hockey and ice-skating), but I think what makes us stand out, is that we learn something...educational wise. Learning music.
This is just my opinion.
R.I.P. Sylvia Likens (1949 - 1965) <3
Absolutely.
10,000% regarding drum and bugle corps.
Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?
The physical part of marching band is extremely hard that rarely anyone understand, let alone any has experienced. You're thinking on so many levels. You're playing an eight minute at a rate of 180 beats per minutes, going through 25-30 drill sets per song, and the only little breath you get is between songs or the little breath you have to take to keep playing your horn.
You have to practice hours and hours on end. Actually counting the hours spent in marching add up to more than a day of straight practicing every week without before and after school rehearsals, sectionals, and other things like that. On top of that marching, you have to play music at a high level, and you bascially have to as flawless as you can be. There's so much that you have to do while marching and marching bands don't get any respect for that. Colorguard too is extremely hard work. Everything about marching band is extremely hard work and I think more people shoulod realize that.
In my opinion, the physical output of energy has little to do with whether marching band is a sport. By definition, a sport involves competition. Marching band only becomes competitive when a band travels to competitions and whatnot, which most marching bands do not do, actually. A marching band is generally to entertain during the half-time at football games. Therefore, I do not think it is a sport.
shareOkay, so I was in an exmtremely competitive marching band while I was in it. And the competitiveness of it is more than I have ever experience with any other sprot, especially in the marching band I was in. We were small, marching only about 45 winds while the bands were competing against were marching 100+ winds. A sport by definiation isn't just about competition, it involves skill, knowledge, and understanding of the craft you are participating in. And I know of numurous marching bands that are competitive. From my experience, marching band has always been competitive even before band camp starts three weeks prior to school. As for entertainment during football games, we saw that only as a means to improve on our performance. We could careless if the audience was entertained by us. We always wanted and would always do perform at our best. Again, from my experience, band is extremely more competitive because there's only one shot to do your best. Throughout the eight mintues of the show, we had to do our very best and if we didn't, then we couldn't do it over. We only had one shot whilst other sprots, you are mostly able to make up for you mistakes. But it's not that way for marching band.
shareWell here's what I don't get:
First of all, few people are actually answering the question: is it a sport or not?
Second, I can see your band is highly competitive and uses halftime for practice. But many marching bands dont look at it that way. My marching band was more concerned about the halftime shows than the competition because the halftime show audience are the people who care more. It's your family, friends, and it shows school pride to the audience that has school pride.
But, my point is, a sport is a sport regardless of intent. It's not like one football team is a sport because they're more competitive while another isn't. So, again, should marching band be considered a sport or not?
Yes and no. It can be, but in many other ways it's not. It's just so contradicting
shareHaha. Tinkerbell you obviously havnt been involved in a serious band (which most are). First of all, you are very mistaken when you say most bands do not compete. Because they do. Ive never heard of a band that doesnt compete. Second, band is not just for halftime entertainment. you seriously underestimate the hard work involved. So uh. yea. you just got learned :P
shareAll pro sports are forms of entertainment.
Marching bands can combine athleticism and skill with competition - which sounds a lot like "sports".
I was in marching band also, and no, I do not think it is a sport, even though it requires quite a bit of physical exertion. Dance is not a sport either. The difference is you are creating something artistic while you compete. Football is a physical competition, but nothing creative comes out of it. Chess is competitive, as is poker, but is neither physical nor creative. The learning aspect you mention is also valid, and certainly not unique to musical performance.
My marching band was the kind Dr. Lee mocks in the movie, with our "military precision." It's just a matter of style and taste. Like the difference between classical and improv jazz, or Rembrandt vs. Matisse.
And for the poster who says marching bands mostly perform at football games, sorry, that's simply not true. Perhaps you need to attend a few field band or drum & bugle corps competitions. You're only seeing a fraction of the reality of it.
I gotta go with desaparecidos's reply on this one. Drum and bugle corps is most definitely a sport -- there are no half time games, the corps season revolves around competing against one another.
But I think I can solve this debate ... I prefer to think of marching band, drum and bugle corps and colorguard in terms of a phrase that Winterguard International (WGI) uses: "sport of the arts." Even dancing, when competition is involved (rhythm gymnastics, dance team competitions on ESPN, etc) is a sport. So all of these are sports of the arts. There are elements of art involved: self-expression, music, dance, performance, theatrics, education. There are also elements of sports involved: physical endurance and strength, stamina, teamwork (some sports, not all), competition, athletics.
Not everyone will agree, but I like the way WGI characterizes what the marching activities are about.
Definately, my son just got back from a week of band camp and he is now a freshman and he said it was very hard work they got up every day at 6am and had about 14 hours of practice a day, in between they grabbed a snack and started back up again, from playing the trumpet so much they had to take him to the hospital for sever bloody noses, so i think its very hard
Lisa
I completely agree with you LucyLogic. Marching Band is a sport, not just because of the physical aspects of it, and the competition of it, but mostly because of the teamwork involved. The band is a BAND -- every single member counts, ESPECIALLY if you're a band that's small, marching 80 or less wind players. It should be considered a sport when there's that much teamwork required.
Re Tinkerbell: YOUR band is the anomaly because most every band revolves strictly around competition. To be honest, I really don't give a rat's ass about whether or not the average hot-dog eating football fan likes us or not. I'd say a good 3/4 of the people in the stands don't even watch our halftime show.
Not a sport.
shareOh yes its a sport! the funny thing is that all u see as spectators is a pretty show. You dont see the brutality of everything, 90 degree days, running laps, pushups, yelling, its not pretty!
shareall I'll say is, as a former member of a competetive marching band, that if CHEERLEADING is considered a sport, then marching band sure as hell is
Anywhere you go, let me go too...that's all I ask of you
I think it's a sport! And I completely agree with Tresemmegan that if cheerleading is a sport, then you can bet that Marching Band is. It's the teamwork and skill. There's alot of competetivness in Band, and football games are only used to perfect our show in front of an audience and to see their reaction. It's really how literal you want to stay to the definition of a Sport. A general definition for 'sport' is "an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition".
Marching Band requires A LOT of physical exertion, and there are many competitions for Marching Bands. A band is not "generally to entertain during the half-time football games", like i said earlier, it's just practice. True, during half-time it also is to show off how skilled your marching band is, and to show-off your pride in the school, but it's mainly just to improve your show before the REAL competitions come.
It's not a sport. This year I played 1st bass, and I still don't see it as a sport. Yes, you do have to put energy and time into it, and it does take patience. Even if it can be straining, it still is just band. Really, as a student who wrestled for one season, I had a completely different mindset to marching band. Although, the kids can be douchebags, and they think they're all big and bad, but in reality, we're looked down upon. We're labled band geeks and called a whole bunch of names. To answer your question, drumline is not a sport. nuff said.
"Let's go down in that cellar and carve ourselves a witch"-Ash,Evil Dead 2
Some say that indoor drumline (competition with just a drumline and front ensemble), is the sport of the arts.
Anywhere you go, let me go too...that's all I ask of you
Cheerleading isn't a sport, actually, according to the supreme court. Marching Band is not a sport. There's a lot of activities that are hard and require a lot of work, physical or not, but that doesn't make them sports. A sport in the way it's generally defined pits teams or a person against someone else and the result is a winner. Always. Not just "sometimes" or "when they go to competitions". The entire point of a sport is that someone wins. Not all physical activities are sports regardless of how hard one has to work to participate in them. Anything can be made into a competition (literally everything). Sports are a competition in and of themselves.
share"with the exception of hockey"
You obviously don't know anything about hockey to say they don't work hard.
As for marching band, I think it's a sport in an unconventional way.
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