This always opens some interesting discussions, is marching band a sport?
I personally feel it is, I’ve played many various sports, many that drain me and I feel Marching Band puts the same or in some cases more strain than your average sport. For reference my “main” and favorite “canon” sport is Volleyball, to play more than to watch though I do play others (mainly Tennis and Football/Soccer). 3-4 hour rehearsels in the damned Arizona sun with minimal full scale water breaks repeating one section over and over (especially if you’re taking huge steps) can be tiring, and many people get in great shape during the season. The coordination needed is immense, the weakest link line really ties into marching band, one person out of the form and it looks off and can cost you, one person not playing out can hurt the feel of the music. There’s also issues with sound delay and having to sync the back of the field with the front (we have ~180 people, we can’t use the tight formation trick).
Also, some people may say it’s not dynamic (i.e. not as many reactionary skills are needed when compared to someone throwing fencing jabs at you) but artistic gymnastics and choreographed skating aren’t much different really. Most notably Synchronized Swimming is an Olympic event, it may require more physical effort than Marching (at least I think it would), but the general premise is much the same.
Now I’m not saying Marching Band is an Olympic contending sport (I think only a handful of countries, maybe even only/mainly the US actively do full-form drill marching) but do you feel it’s a sport in any effect?
We’ve discussed this before, but it always comes back to your definition of sport.
I’m a chess player and I think chess is a sport. it’s completely skilful, highly competitive, played world-wide and has an organised World Championship which highly paid professionals (who have trained for decades) compete for.
Nevertheless, many dismiss chess as simply not a sport because there’s no physical effort.
I think that marching bands are great to watch (and I know they demand regular rehearsals).
But for me they are an art.
You have to look good and wear a clean uniform. There’s no defence by opposing bands. And the way you win is to get a judges subjective vote.
Same goes for ice skating. You have to smile, look good and the result depends on the judges.
Part of my definition of sport is that the players determine who wins, by using a clear scoring system.
And if you have to smile while you do it, it’s an art.
I would offer that marching band can be a competitive event. It often requires as much physical effort and practice as many demanding sports.
I have witnessed football players comment that they are glad they did not have to work that hard. Of course, this was for a high school with a competitive-grade marching band and a football team that people only watched for the first half - they really came for the half-time show).
My high school officially listed Marching Band as a sport. I even earned a letter in it.
Too many people think “sport” means “competitive athletic sport”. Sports do not have to be competitive or athletic. Examples:
Competitive and athletic: football
Competitive only: chess
Athletic only: rock climbing
Neither: fishing
But it requires zero physical skill or training, which means it isn’t a sport. Neither is chess, Parcheesi, Scrabble or anything like that. Games, yes. Sports, no.
To me, a sport requires objective scoring of competition, physical skill/training/etc., and established rules. Pretty much anything else is a game, competition, activity or pastime.
Although the dictionary supports you, the problem is that a game is seen not as competitive as a sport “It’s just a game!”
It seems strange to me that tiddleywinks or conkers qualifies as a sport, but chess doesn’t.
The Germans have a word ‘DenkSport’ meaning ‘sport of the mind’.
Ahem. UC Davis’s Picnic Day would not be the same without the Battle of the Bands, and that’s a competition with no judge.
The bands take turns playing. No song may be repeated. Last band standing wins. It generally takes all day. It also generally comes down to Davis vs Humbolt. You never know what you’re going to hear. My personal favorite was the Theme from Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Not sure that makes it a sport, but judges are not necessary.
Got 3 kids who presently or previously did MB, and heard similar arguments from them.
No, it is not a sport. Not even close.
Of course I never could understand why band geeks were all that eager to be grouped with athletes!
Scoring - Most of it is objective. Are their lines straight? Did they hit the formation as it looks on this here chart? Did they play the music on the page? Are they in step? The “tilt” is the subjective part, and even then they try to make it as objective as possible i.e. “Musical Potential” as a tilt in the Music General Effect caption has to do with chord progression, rhythms etc and isn’t usually/supposed to be used to discriminate against bands that do Weber musicals or U2 shows, it’s used to distinguish music that’s of an appropriate level for the competitors (no “ode to a whole notes” shows).
Physical Skill/training - lots of rehearsal time, leg training nescessary to really do a good backwards march or rollstep. Stamina is needed for big moves.
Established rules - Though they may vary slightly state to state there are definately rules. For example in Texas bands aren’t allowed more than eight hours of extracurricular practice a week for competitions.
Marching band is NOT a sport. It is not a contest of athletic skill, it’s a contest of musical ability.
Band’s roll as an ancillary entertainment activity during a contact sport doesn’t help it’s case either.
Cmpetetive dance, gymnastics, and ice skating are all sports because they have an athletic component as well as an artistic performance component.
Chess is also not a sport because it is a contest of intellect, not atheticism. However you want to categorize Bingo, Texas Holdem Poker, Competetive Sudoku or any other non athletic intellectual competition, that is what chess is.
