Is marching band a sport? It’s a hotly debated question between the marching band kids and the rest of the school. I’m here to settle the debate. I want to preface this with the fact that this entire article is my personal opinion. You are free to disagree with me as much as you’d like. With that said, here we go.

Firstly, we must define a sport. Is it a physical activity? Do you have to train? Do there have to be spectators? Well, Webster’s Online Dictionary defines a sport as “a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other.” In addition to this, a sport can be defined as “a physical activity (such as hunting, fishing, running, swimming, etc.) that is done for enjoyment.” Now, which of these definitions is more appropriate for our activity of choice? I would say, and hope many of you would agree, that “a contest or game” is much more fitting than “a physical activity.” This means that, in the rest of this article we will be using this definition in our quest to define marching band.

How about we break our definition down to its four parts? Yes? Awesome. The first part of the definition is “a contest or game….” This part is ridiculously obvious. Is marching band a contest or game? Yeah. It definitely is. More of a contest than a game, but it definitely fits the definition. (Before I go on to the next part, I feel it necessary to point out that I didn’t define a contest or game because most everyone knows what contests and games are.)

Part two: “do certain physical activities….” I’m skipping the part about “in which people…” because every activity has people in it. Marching band is a very physical activity. As a member myself, I’m saying that marching band is DEFINITELY physical. We spend half an hour exercising before practice. We carry large, metal instruments. We march in the heat of the sun or the cold of fall snow. And throughout all of this, we’re pushing the air out of our lungs so we can play music to go along with our movements. So what I’m trying to say is that marching band is definitely a physical activity.

On to the third section: “according to a specific set of rules….” Have you heard of ISSMA? (Trust me, this is not off-track.) ISSMA stands for the Indiana State School Music Association. This is the group of people who supply the judges. These are the people who set up the competitions (that aren’t invitationals). These are the people who make the rules and make sure the bands follow them. So, yes. The band does follow a specific set of rules.

Okay. Final section. We’re this close to figuring out if marching band is indeed a sport, and it’s looking very good for the marching band’s case here: “and compete against each other.” Do marching bands compete against each other? Well…kind of. It really depends on how you view this. I can see two ways. The first one will clarify this whole argument and bring it to the suspected conclusion: Marching band is a sport. The second way muddies the waters a lot.

The first way of looking at it: The bands are competing against each other. They get out onto the field and their only thought is how much they need to beat the other bands. They need to get first. They care about how they perform their show, not because they want it to be the best they can make it, but because they want it to be better than everyone else’s show, which will put them in the first place spot.

The second way of looking at it is a much more passive approach. What if the bands aren’t actually competing against each other at all? What if they’re competing against themselves? What if they’re always trying to be the best they can be for the sake of being the best they can be? Would marching band still be a sport if this was the case? By the definition of a sport, no. They aren’t necessarily competing against one another at that point. They’re competing against their former selves.

So…where does this take us in our conclusion? Well, my friends, it takes us to a “choose your own ending” kind of deal here. Do bands compete against others or do bands compete against themselves? I can tell you how I view it, as a marching band member. I think it’s more important, and better for our performance in the long run, to view marching band as a competition against ourselves. You’re not comparing yourself to someone else. You’re comparing yourself to yourself. And really, that’s a good way to view life, in and of itself. You’ll always feel so much worse about everything you do if you compare it to someone else’s work. When you decide to compare it to your last piece of work, suddenly you can see all of the ways you’re improving. You’re not horrible or whatever else because you’re not someone else. You’re still pretty awesome, because you’re you. It’s who God wanted you to be. And you don’t want to disappoint God, now, do you?