FIRST FCC: A Sport or Not?

[Graham Donaldson]

Ok, so here's the background info on this poll. Today in Geometry, we somehow got onto a discussion about what was a sport and what wasn't. My teacher flat-out refused to recognize what we do in FIRST as being even remotely a sport, even when I pointed out all the work we did (staying at school till like 7, 8, or even nine every day, plus some Saturdays, and then going to regionals and all the work there). Half of my beef is that things like band have varsity jackets at our sister school, and FIRST can't even be recognized as a sport? Sure, so we're not sprinting as fast as we can or tackling people (track and football), but we're running a marathon for work to meet a deadline. I'd love to see the football team at my school try and do what we do. On Dictionary.com, this is the definition of "sport":

1. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
2. A particular form of above activity.
3. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
4. An active pastime; recreation.

In my opinion, this validates FIRST as a sport. Physical activity by the team is involved, and there is also extreme mental activity. You also have to be skilled (driving, programming, building, etc...)


So, in conclusion, this is just a random poll to see what people think of the committment required when you're in FIRST.

P.S.- the sport & varsity jacket option is there because I've heard of schools that have jackets for FIRST, and there was a proposal by the team to get them at our school. (Edit: varsity jackets or some other thing recognized by the school, eg. calling it a team not a club.)