Not only is marching band a sport, but it is also an incredibly competitive and complex sport. I would know, I have done it my entire high school career. Anyone who says it is not, does not have a clue in the world what they are talking about. You have to learn drills, hours at a time, repeatedly and learn music that you must memorize along with the drill you just memorized. Also, you have to take the last three weeks out of your summer break to learn basics. Even if you already know the basics, you still must go.

Marching band is one of the most draining, mental, emotional, and physical things I have ever been through. Not only do you lose Friday nights in the first semester of school to football games, but you also lose your Saturdays to competitions you must be at for almost fourteen hours. You must have a strong soul or be in love with music (I am both) to enjoy being somewhere for an entire day.

But that is not the only thing that you have to deal with. You have to practice for three hours or more, after the regular school day. Spending eleven hours at school is not for the light-hearted. Not only do you get familiar with a lot of things, but words even begin to have different meanings. The terms, “Gush and Go,” “One more rep,” “Top of the show,” and “Reset,” begin to haunt you. All marching band kids know when the director says, “One more rep,” they really mean “Do it until I feel like you are doing it correctly.”

So, as far as marching band not being a sport, envision yourself, running and marching across a football field, while doing choreography, and playing music. Sounds hard right? It is. As far as football players saying it is not a sport… last time I checked, we had more trophies than you guys.