Among the many debates that have graced these pages, this may be the most controversial. Is marching band a sport? I firmly stand against it. Many students would say that band qualifies as a sport but I say nay. Band is merely an artistic performance. Music is an art. Art may be expressed in many forms. It may be visual, it may be auditory, it may be physical. In the case of marching band, it falls under the category of physical art expression. You will never see a student in band be a speaker at graduation for athletics. You will only see them speaking for the arts, never athletics. We do have other music programs here that don’t claim to be a sport. The musical for instance is a music program where they are physically moving and active. I’m sure it’s tiring but they don’t claim to be a sport whereas the marching band does. I understand the marching band goes to competitions to compete but look at our choir organization. They go off to states and compete but you don’t see them claiming to be a sport.
Furthermore, band kids don’t run the constant risk of injury while participating in their activity. Athletes are constantly breaking their bodies for the sport they love. They are constantly getting treated by our athletic trainers when they are struggling to feel their legs after a hard conditioning practice, having ankles swelling after sprains, ACL tears that happen and a fair share of bloody noses and lips. The kids who participate in marching band don’t have to worry about such issues. While they are practicing, the most dangerous thing they subject themselves to is the off chance they drop an instrument on themselves. Also, they do run the risk of sunburn while they are outside but that hardly counts as an injury.
With most sports, you have an offseason, but it really isn’t an offseason. In volleyball, you have JO, in basketball you have AAU, in softball and baseball you have fall ball, in lacrosse you have box lacrosse or club teams.
The list goes on. Athletes are constantly working to improve themselves in their chosen sport. When marking band season is over, it’s over. You don’t spend hours in your driveway or front yard working on marching. You move on to concert band which is completely different from marching band as you’re not physically moving. You don’t have special clubs or teams to practice marching band with when it’s not marching season. You are simply done until you pick it back up again in the summer to prep for the fall season. In our current world, if you are an athlete, you are constantly doing your sport and working to improve yourself. While this isn’t a requirement, it tends to be the case and marching band doesn’t follow this unwritten rule of the athletic world. In all of this, please don’t hear me saying that band members don’t work hard at their craft. I know they put a lot of time, effort, blood, sweat and tears into the things they love, as does an athlete. It really comes down to the fact that I don’t believe marching band is something that should be considered a sport as they don’t meet the same requirements that athletes must meet.
– Julia Frantz ’26
Marching Band is a sport. In my mind, there’s no doubt about it. While many people view band as just an activity for nerds to geek out over, Marching Band is so much more than that.
Our season lasts from July all the way to October. During the season, we have many performances, competitions and parades. Our performances range from playing for the community at the Main Street Festival to playing for the teachers during convocation. For competitions, we wake up early in the morning and return late at night. Marching Band competitions are where a bunch of bands from all around Ohio perform their “competition shows,” similar to cheerleading. We are judged based on the judges’ expertise and then ranked compared to other people’s performances at the competition.
During our season, we also partake in parades, the most daunting of them being the Hall of Fame Parade, which is 2.2 miles of marching and playing while underneath the scorching summer sun. I mention all of this to show how much the Hoover Marching Band does.
All of these things we participate in require a lot of practice, as well as rehearsal. We start practice in July and we practice every day of the week except Saturday, Sunday and Friday for at least 3 hours. During these rehearsals, we start by building strength with stretches and warm ups. After warm ups, we begin Basics, which help to perfect our technique so we look good on the field. Basics are the equivalent of drills for other sports such as baseball and basketball. Following basics, we warm up playing on our instruments. After warm up, we spend the remaining time learning and perfecting our competition show. Our show consists of marching, dancing and constantly using breath support to play the music that goes along with our show. Overall, our rehearsals require us to be physically active and stay mentally aware.
Marching Band is a sport.
I am speaking from personal experience.
I have been in The Hoover Marching Band for two years and have experienced firsthand the amount of work that goes into Marching Band. We dedicate a week of our life to band camp where we make large progress on our competition show and build skills as well as the physical strength to help get us through the season.
Marching Band is a team. We build connections throughout the season that allow us to work together to get the job done.
A sport is an activity that promotes physical fitness and making social connections while competing against others. I don’t know about you, but that sure sounds a lot like Band.
