According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”

When most people think of sports, they think of the common ball games like basketball and soccer. While these are very physically draining, marching band, cheerleading and drill team are as well. All of these sports require three things: physical exertion, skill and competition.

When school starts, the average high school marching band (including color guard) rehearses eight hours a week, not including going to football games (usually from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., depending on whether it’s a home or away game) and all-day competitions that usually go from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

When I mention marching band being a sport, I see a lot of people disagreeing. People say that marching band isn’t a sport because we perform for others, but that is not enough evidence, because the performance we do requires physical strain across our whole bodies. I march baritone saxophone, which weighs around 15 pounds. Marching, while holding an instrument, while also playing the instrument (which requires a great deal of air support) for an average of 8-12 minutes straight for our shows, is just as physically demanding as any other sport.

This high demand isn’t just for marching band either. The cheerleaders and the Emerald Dazzlers are just as busy. They have similar schedules to marching band, 8 hours of practice per week, attending football games, and competitions in their own time.

“From a cheerleader’s perspective, doing sideline cheer isn’t what is viewed as a sport, rather it is the competitions we compete at,” junior Zoe Hopton said. “When it comes to competing, cheer goes against several teams from different school districts per competition, just like football, cross country and so on and so forth. At State, cheer even went against 40+ teams and placed second, overall, and won first place in best band chant and first place in crowd leading.”

There is so much more physical activity in these different sports than most people see, and I think it is important to highlight the effort and dedication as much as any other sport because these athletes are working just as hard for the little recognition they get.

“We work just as hard as other sports,” sophomore and Dazzler lieutenant Taytum Bonnett said. “We do the same back squat and bench press and exercises just as football does, and we are working just as hard. I feel like dance is just as physical a sport as baseball or soccer.”