Is Marching Band a Sport?

Is marching band a sport? There seems to be a lot of debate on whether Marching on a field in formation counts as an athletic competition. Let's look at both sides.

Webster defines a sport as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. If we are looking at marching band from this definition alone, then it is clearly a sport. A marching band competition consists of multiple bands, or "teams", performing a routine in front of a panel of judges, who rank them. Each band must play music in time with the other members while marching in sync and reaching specific points on a football field. So by definition, Marching band is a sport. It requires physical exertion and skill, and teams compete against each other. 

But there are many people who don't agree that it is a sport, but consider it more of art. Even though it requires physical exertion, they argue that that it does not require physical training. Being a member of marching band in high school, I can attest that marching band does require a ton of rehearsal to master musical techniques and music during the routine. It really is an art form. But I think that most all sports can be viewed as an art form. All athletes must practice techniques to master their sport, and those techniques could be considered a form of art. 

Marching band is a sport. If the issue is that marching band isn't athletic enough, one just has to look at other events that are called sports such as golf or bowling. Neither of those require a lot of physical exertion, yet are considered sports. Marching band also requires just as much if not more team cooperation than that of other sports. So by all accounts, Marching band is a sport.