what do you think ?

[goofysk8]

Okay, so I'm in marching band. I'm sure a lot of you are too.
Well my school's education board is having this big "fight" against all of us marching band students that marching band is a sport.
Personally, all of us believe that marching band is a sport. I could give reasons, but it would continue on forever. They don't think it is.
So we were going to buy brand new uniforms, and the school board stole the band's money and used it on FOOTBALL ! So we are boycotting (; So I was just wondering, what do you guys all think about marching band being a sport ?

 

[life of the party]

No, I don't think so.

I mean, I can see how it can be a competition but I don't see it as a sport.

I guess it's kind of like cheerleading?

 

[AliceinHalloweentown]

I don't believe its a sport.
A competitive activity requiring talent, yes. I guess by the dictionary definition it could be considered a sport, if you enter competitions...

But, as a drama kid, I can totally sympathize budget cuts. We have literally no money for this years play. That means no new wood, no screws, no new paint, no makeup specifically for the play, nada.

We're scratching by now and its only begun...

 

[DramaQueen]

No I don't think it's a sport. I don't see how it could be Walking and playing an instrument? Sorry but I definitely can't say that I'd consider that a sport.

I can see how cheerleading is a sport because it requires a lot of gymnastics, but marching band, I don't think it is.

 

[Mrs. Chamberlain]

Okay, so I'm in marching band. I'm sure a lot of you are too.
Well my school's education board is having this big "fight" against all of us marching band students that marching band is a sport.
Personally, all of us believe that marching band is a sport. I could give reasons, but it would continue on forever. They don't think it is.
So we were going to buy brand new uniforms, and the school board stole the band's money and used it on FOOTBALL ! So we are boycotting (; So I was just wondering, what do you guys all think about marching band being a sport ?

Technically, it's the school board's money, not the bands.

 

[Mrs. Chamberlain]

No I don't think it's a sport. I don't see how it could be Walking and playing an instrument? Sorry but I definitely can't say that I'd consider that a sport.

I can see how cheerleading is a sport because it requires a lot of gymnastics, but marching band, I don't think it is.

It's definitely a sport. I played sousaphone. The one I played in my freshman year weighed around 60 lbs, and I'm not a large person. Try walking 2-3 miles at a time in a heavy polyester uniform with a 60 lb instrument and tell me it's not a sport.

 

[imabrat]

Money as in the marching band boosters raised themselves? Or money as in the school board raised under the pretence of it going to the marching band? We have MB boosters and they handle EVERYTHING, they don't let the school board step in.

MB is not a sport. It is a competitive talent, but not a sport. Unlike cheerleading, the only physical aspect of MB is the marching part. Everything else is mental and musical.

 

[goofysk8]

Technically, it's the school board's money, not the bands.

No, they stole the money that the band raised. (fundraisers, students selling things.)

 

[Mrs. Chamberlain]

No, they stole the money that the band raised. (fundraisers, students selling things.)

They can't do that... can they? You guys RAISED the money for YOUR program. It's wrong if they take it.

 

[AliceinHalloweentown]

Well.

That is wrong, then.

 

[goofysk8]

No I don't think it's a sport. I don't see how it could be Walking and playing an instrument? Sorry but I definitely can't say that I'd consider that a sport.

I can see how cheerleading is a sport because it requires a lot of gymnastics, but marching band, I don't think it is.

Marching band isn't just the band that walks miles, which I agree, is hard to do in Wool uniforms, but the main one is the marching band where you have shows & drills. Drills can last long. Playing, marching in formation, ROLL STEPPING, and remembering where you have to go & how many steps to get there is difficult. It's way more complex then football or basketball. You just dribble down a court. You can actually get scholarships from marching band like football. That's what our school's band does. We do a lot of competitions. We get judged, like figure skating, which is a sport. Playing an instrument is a skill, and so is marching.

 

[goofysk8]

They can't do that... can they? You guys RAISED the money for YOUR program. It's wrong if they take it.

Yes, they did. The band was BEYOND mad.

 

[Princess victoria]

I'm in Band myself but, i don't completely agree that it's a sport.
yes it's alot of work and it's hard but, it's not really a sport.
that's my opinion.
now on the money issue, I can't stand when the school spends everything on the football team. The football team always comes first...and we get no respect whatsoever. at least that's the way it is at my school.

last year we had an away game that was about an hour and a half away. almost 2 hours. We (meaning the drumline) got lucky and got one of the really nice new school buses with nice seats and a luggage rack thing above our heads...after the game we walked to the bus only to find out that the football team took our bus and we got stuck with one of the crappy old ones. THE FOOTBALL TEAM LOST THAT GAME and they think that they can come and just take the bus from us? that's ridiculous. i know it may not sound like a big deal but, for us it was. it really pissed everyone off.

 

[Sparx]

i think its pretty much a sport. its physically demanding (try playing a tuba and marching for ten minutes and not be out of breath) and definitely requires talent. i think its a sport because they compete and can go to district, state, and national, just like football. honestly, i feel like if you're competing in a physically demanding task like gymnastics, cheerleading, or marching band, in a uniform, for a score which will be used against others to determine one winner, really, how is that NOT a sport? if its not a sport, what is?

 

[goofysk8]

i think its pretty much a sport. its physically demanding (try playing a tuba and marching for ten minutes and not be out of breath) and definitely requires talent. i think its a sport because they compete and can go to district, state, and national, just like football. honestly, i feel like if you're competing in a physically demanding task like gymnastics, cheerleading, or marching band, in a uniform, for a score which will be used against others to determine one winner, really, how is that NOT a sport? if its not a sport, what is?

Agreed Yeah, I play clarinet; not that heavy, but to get a loud noise out of it, "having a good tone while loud" is hard. & trying to breathe during it all is difficult. Clarinets arn't that loud, so to be heard up in the judging box, takes a lot of work. But yes, I agree.

 

[SBubba18]

I am in marching band too and I say it is a sport. We are just like everyone else. Go we to football games, we practice like everyone else, and we have our own things we do like competitions and festivals and parades. We are just like everyone else

 

[Sparx]

Agreed Yeah, I play clarinet; not that heavy, but to get a loud noise out of it, "having a good tone while loud" is hard. & trying to breathe during it all is difficult. Clarinets arn't that loud, so to be heard up in the judging box, takes a lot of work. But yes, I agree.

senior year, i did cymbals. those are HARD!! i didn't march (i wasn't actually IN band, but the director knew me, and asked me to help them when they needed someone. most of the time while they were marching, i would hold up the props on the 50yrdline), i just played in stands, but when you have to bell out for the drummers to bang on them, a 20lb instrument (in each hand) becomes 50-60lbs with them pounding on it, and its so hard to hold them up!

i did get some nice arms after doing that for a season though.

 

[DramaQueen]

MB is not a sport. It is a competitive talent, but not a sport. Unlike cheerleading, the only physical aspect of MB is the marching part. Everything else is mental and musical.

this.

it definitely requires a LOT of talent, but so does singing/being in a choir
it is also competitive, but so are chess & spelling bees
you may have to exert yourself physically holding a large instrument (in some cases) and marching, but i definitely don't think that makes it a sport.

i think it's in the same category as a glee club/musical theatre club.
they sing & dance which is physically exerting, as well as compete against other teams/schools, but it's not a sport.

 

[Sparx]

i have a question, why does it matter if its a sport or not? how does that change the school board's mind? i guess i'm just curious did they say "you're not a sport, you don't need this money, the sports team does!"? is that what happened?

regardless if you're a sport, club, or not, if you raised money that was YOURS for YOUR club, the school board is in a world of trouble if they took it away from you and used it for an alternative cause.

what you need to do is fine a really pissed off person who donated money to you (via band boosters i'm assuming.) and have THEM go to the school board and tell them that they would like an itemized list of what THEIR money was put towards.

its a big bad bad bad thing when you take charitable donations and don't put them towards what you tell people you are putting them towards. (politicians get in trouble for this all the time)

i mean, the director of the school board may as well went out and bought a fur coat with your money, kwim? it doesn't matter what he/she spent it on, he/she didn't spend it on what they said they would, and thats VERY wrong.

but if this was designated money that the school board allots the band every year, and didn't do that this year, well there's not too much you can do about that.

 

[goofysk8]

i have a question, why does it matter if its a sport or not? how does that change the school board's mind? i guess i'm just curious did they say "you're not a sport, you don't need this money, the sports team does!"? is that what happened?

regardless if you're a sport, club, or not, if you raised money that was YOURS for YOUR club, the school board is in a world of trouble if they took it away from you and used it for an alternative cause.

what you need to do is fine a really pissed off person who donated money to you (via band boosters i'm assuming.) and have THEM go to the school board and tell them that they would like an itemized list of what THEIR money was put towards.

its a big bad bad bad thing when you take charitable donations and don't put them towards what you tell people you are putting them towards. (politicians get in trouble for this all the time)

i mean, the director of the school board may as well went out and bought a fur coat with your money, kwim? it doesn't matter what he/she spent it on, he/she didn't spend it on what they said they would, and thats VERY wrong.

but if this was designated money that the school board allots the band every year, and didn't do that this year, well there's not too much you can do about that.

I was just curious too, to see if people thought it was a sport or not. They said that they believe that the marching band doesn't need any money. Which is crap, but it's their problem.