I first joined concert band when I was in the 6th grade. Two years later, when I made it to 8th grade, I joined my high school marching band. From that moment on I became what is known as a "band kind" (and I'm proud of it!). I stuck with marching band all throughout high school, and was a part of my high school's winter percussion a for total of 10 competitive seasons.

Now, with my history of the band, you can understand why I am so passionate about it. I love all branches of the band (pep band, concert band, marching band, etc.) and have formed my own, strong opinions on each branch. One of these views is the idea that marching band is a sport.

While it might not be a controversial topic; the idea of marching band being a sport is widely discussed among students. My opinion, as I'm sure you've guessed, is that marching band is indeed a sport. I believe that marching band is a sport because of my time spent in the band.

A regular season for me would look like this: In May we would be given the music for the fall season (sometimes end of April). We would have the month of June off, with maybe a couple practices or so. End go June would begin regulated practices at twice a week for two hours. After July 4th we would get into three practices a week for 3 hours. The week before school started in August was "Band Camp"; which was a 9am-9pm practice daily. When the school year began we had practices three times a week, 3 hours each; along with either an 8 hour camp or 12-hour camp on Saturdays. When the competitions began, football season started as well which meant Saturdays became full of competition and Friday evenings were spent at football games. The competition season ended the first or second week of November and we would have a couple weeks of break.

At the end of November/beginning of December, winter percussion would start up. The schedule looked very similar, but was slightly more intense. We were given the music, then had short practices. In the middle of December, we started having camps on Saturdays and those were always 12 hours long. We had the time of winter break "off"; with small sectional practices. When January hit, we had practices three times a week for three hours, 12 hour camps on Saturdays, and basketball games on Tuesday and Thursday nights and sometimes Fridays. When competitions began, Saturdays were full of that. The competition season ran into the end of March, and sometimes the beginning of April.

So, as you can see, my years were crazy. This was a year in and year out for five years in a row - and that was my personal High School's schedule. Many others were worked even harder.

But, because I am a biased band kid who is influenced by her experience to believe that marching band is a sport; I looked up the definition of a sport:

"An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"

Based on the given definition, marching band should be considered a sport. Marching band is very physical, even if the physicality is different than other sports. It is also very much a team effort. Everyone plays everything, marching everything, and participates. Its how a show is made. Also, if it wasn't competitive, it wouldn't have been the greatest thing when my High School marching band won the state championship one year.

To even further my point, I decided to talk to people who had never participated in marching band to give their opinion. To insure their privacy, I only labeled them as "person."

I asked the question: "Is marching band a sport? Why or why not?"

Person 1: "I personally never did marching band, but I helped out a lot because my sister was in the color guard. Even so, it was very tiresome and time-consuming. I would say that yes, it is a sport. I watched those people practice in 90-degree weather for hours upon end. It was insane seeing the things that they did."

Person 2: "I consider it a sport because there is a ton of physical exertion especially the length of their practices. If someone is not going to count marching band as a sport because its just walking and carrying an instrument (for that's how a lot of people see it) then running should be considered a sport because that's just moving your legs."

Person 3: "By definition it is. It says it has to do with physical exertion and competition, and that's what it is. In a way, running and marching are similar. If running is considered a sport, then why is marching and playing an instrument considered that as well?"

Person 4: "I have never considered marching band a sport just because, to me, it does not involve much physical exertion."

How do you feel?