- Just like football, marching bands conduct a training camp for at least a week every summer before the school year begins.
- While football players memorize plays and maneuvers, marchers memorize minutes of music and must be able to play well while marching.
- Just like soccer players practice ball control and footwork, band members must learn proper marching styles and memorize at least 80-90 “points” on the field to create the form of each set.
- While field athletes must remain visually aware of their teammates and opponents, band members must remain visually and mentally aware of the drum major conducting, the music being played, where to move next, and where other members are located around them. Often times, members march backwards and must mentally track where people are moving as to not collide because they cannot look behind them.
- In terms of leadership within teams:
- Like a football captain, marching bands have drum majors who are the head student leader and work directly with the marching staff.
- Some sports may have specific students heading sectors of the team such as offensive linemen, special teams, midfielders, forwards, defenders, etc. Marching band has brass and woodwind captains and instrument section leaders.
- The band director is the chief leader of the band just like a head coach. The band director is surrounded with auxiliary staff who individually focus on key aspects of marching band: marching instructor, music instructor, drill instructor, color guard instructor, brass instructor, and woodwind instructor to name a few. Similarly to football with offensive and defensive coordinators, special teams coordinator, and position coaches.
- During the school year, there are daily practices after school right along with football, soccer, and other sports.
- During the school day, many athletes are enrolled in sports conditioning or weight training. Likewise, band students dedicate their band period to memorizing and improving their music skills.
- Just as football has games each week, marching bands attending either local, regional, or national competitions each week:
- At the marching competitions, the stands are almost always filled with various spectators from parents, to students, to marching band enthusiasts.
- There are judges assigned to monitor specific functions of the band as they perform such as: music, marching, general effect, and visual effect. The judges assign point values that are tallied to determine a winner.
- Ranking and awards are presented following every competition with Grand Champion being the highest honor.
- There are intense rivalries between schools as they interact and pass each other at competitions.
What do you think? Is marching band as sport, or just a hobby activity? According to many schools’ funding and organizational schemes, marching band is not a sport. Weigh in at the link provided by the button below.