Colour guard is an extra-curricular activity that is offered here at Granada. It involves long practices, travelling to competitions and a lot of time and effort. Despite the fact that colour guard’s a very demanding activity that requires a lot of physical work, it’s not recognized as a sport at Granada. Not being recognized as a sport makes things very difficult for the City of Livermore Colour guard, the Livermore colour guard that combines students from Livermore and Granada high school. The City of Livermore Colour guard doesn’t have access to facilities at either school forcing them to book other places. Their main rehearsal facility is an adult school who’s gym is too small for the entire team and their floor. Since colour guard involves practice,competition and physical work, Granada should recognize colour guard as a sport.

The definition of a sport according to Oxford is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” I believe that colour guard meets these requirements. Colour guard involves choreography that includes tossing flags,sabres, and rifles into the air. You need a certain amount of skill to be able to toss flags and dancing requires coordination, balance and flexibility. Members of colour guard practice these physical skills almost every day to improve, just like every other sport. Colour guard is also very competitive. In the fall colour guard travels with the band to competitions where they compete against other school bands and colour guards. In the winter, colour guard competes on their own against other colour guards in regional competitions. All these competitions require a lot of travelling and it’s very time-consuming so I think if colour guard is spending all this time practising and travelling to different competitions, then they should at least be recognized as a sport and get the same benefits as other sports.

In addition, there are many other activities that are recognized as sports and colour guard meets the same requirements as they do. If dance is recognized as a sport at Granada then colour guard should be as well. Colour guard includes complex choreography just like dance and they toss flags. Golf is also considered a sport in Granada and colour guard is just as qualified to be a sport as golf is. If hitting a golf ball with a club is considered a sport then dancing and tossing flags should be as well. Some people may argue that colour guard doesn’t require enough physical exertion but golf doesn’t either. Golf requires precision. I’m not saying that golf shouldn’t be considered a sport but the focus is more about precision and less physical strength. Colour guard is the same, it’s more focused on precision when dancing and tossing, just like golf. Colour guard is a sport the same way golf is a sport and Granada should recognize that.

Colourguard is just as qualified to be a sport as other sports. It requires practice, physical skill, and precision. It’s time-consuming with long practices and big competitions. The members of the Livermore Colour Guard work hard to be the best team they can be and they deserve to get more recognition for that. They even won the Scholastic Regional AA Championships this year but they didn’t get much recognition for it at Granada because they aren’t considered a sport. The Livermore Colour Guard shouldn’t have to find other gyms to practice in when the school that hosts them has gyms they can use. They are a sport and it’s time for Granada to recognize that.