Should Marching Band Be Considered A Sport Essay

When I first entered the band room in 2009, as a sixth grader, I was astonished by the trophies and plaques the marching had received. By my eighth grade year, I decided to join marching band but instead of doing front ensemble, like I am now, I joined drumline. First day at fundamentals camp and I have my third bass on my carrier. I soon realized when I couldn’t march properly that I should be in front ensemble with Austin, Caleb, Katie, Dalton, Jacob, Cicely and Jacelyn. Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t do drumline because anyone who marches complain of aches and pains that come from practicing. This is where my argument starts. Should marching band be considered a sport?

Looking on the internet at all the debates if marching band should be a sport or not, I realized that it should be a sport. If marching band was considered a sport, marching would totally be an aerobic sport because for the most part the band, color guard, and drumline are constantly moving. In 2005, Dr. Jeff Edwards, the Department Chair of Physical Education and Athletic Training at Indiana State University, studied

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how hard marching band was on the body. Dr. Edwards hooked up Jordan Thomas, a tenor player for the Cavaliers, to measure his heart rate, oxygen consumption, carbon

dioxide production and the amount of air that Jordan would breath. Jordan plays tenors which doesn’t require him to blow into an instrument so this is only accurate for drumline and maybe color guard members. Dr. Edwards summarizes that marchers get extremely high heart rates and Jordan’s heart rate got over 200 bpm which is about the same as 400m or 800m dash. Jordan’s oxygen consumption got as high as 40 mL per kg per min which is about the same as a well trained marathon runner who is half way through a marathon (Greenwald-Gonella). There is something that affects Jordan’s heart rate, how he performs and how he reacts to the music and surroundings. With these results, clearly marching band members exert their selves just as much as athletes.

When the band practices after school, before we do any marching or any musical warm up, Mr. Jones has the band stretch. Humans and animals have to stretch to get prepared for the sport or activity they are about to get involved in (Admin). One thing most people don’t realize is that marching band members can sustain the same if not worse injuries that athletes get. Marching band members tend to have back, knee, ankle, and feet but it can get as bad as shin splints which are rare (Greenwald-Gonella). In almost every team sport, the coach can switch out his or her players if one is injured. Let’s take a moment to imagine that you are a marcher and you just rolled your ankle and it is pretty bad. You have two options: you can either sit out of the practices and not

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perform or you can push through the pain and perform.

With band, you can’t switch out with someone when you are injured because you are the only one who knows the sets and the music. Regardless of your injuries, to an extent, you have to keep marching on.

I have never honestly thought of why marching band shouldn't be a sport which made my reasons why hard to think of. I went to my band director Mr. Jones and asked him why people don't consider marching band a sport. Mr. Jones believes the difficulty of the show and band being fine arts makes people think it isn't a sport. Show difficulty varies with the region, band and the director. If the band doesn't care or have motivation, the band director might pick an easier show because the students don't want to work hard. The music aspect makes the band fine arts and doesn't count us as a sport which is

understandable.
Marching band is both brain and brawn. Marching puts a lot of stress on your body because you have to have your weight on the balls of your feet, you have to stand up straight, straight legs and sky high toes plus you have to do all that while you are practically running to your sets. Keeping all the technique in mind, you also have to remember your music, hit all your sets, watch the drum major and watch other band members. Band members carry anything from a tiny flute which is about 3 pounds to a big set of tenors which can weigh around 60 pounds (Fischman). Put all those aspects together and band is very physical and mental and should be considered a sport. The band physically exerts themselves just as much as the other teams if not more than some which leads me to ask why aren’t we a sport?