Do any schools recognize their FIRST teams as sports?

[Joe Lambie]

Earlier one of my teammates responded to this thread stating that many see FIRST as a club o nerds at our school. However i think that is what it is seen as more now than in years past. I know the earlier years i was in it, it was seen more as a time consuming club, where many people understood the physical and mental demands to be a part of the team, and they knew it wasnt for them. Now, this is my fourth and final year as a student member of my team, and over the years i believe FIRST is as much a sport as any other one. I believe this becasue i was a four year starter on our football team and i know what kind of work goes into a sport as physically and mentally demanding as that. And when i think and compare the two, i think FIRST equals or exceeds the demands of such a sport, and any other sports and in my mind it is the ultimate sport requiring more willpower and commitment than anything else out there. no sport asks you to sacrifice 6 weeks plus of time, often 5 hours a day or more, and even to pull all nighters to get the job done. I know no other sport that you can work or practice or build for 24 hours straight, and you make yourself do it cuz you know it needs to be done. No other sport has ever asked me to be there till 6 am, come back at 7am and work till 5 pm, and i do it because of the challenge and because i believe in it, thats what makes it a sport in my mind. To do that takes more physical and mental strength than any other sport out there. so if someone can tell me that all it takes is brains and to be a nerd to be in FIRST, tell me why some football player who is just as much a sport guy as the next, says FIRST is probably the biggest and best SPORT out there. The qoute says a lot too)