**The column below represents the personal views of the student journalist.

I remember in fifth grade each quarter, my class had to do presentations about a subject. In the third quarter, it was an opinion piece. I did why I think dance is a sport. When the presentations were over, I asked a few kids in my class what their thoughts were on dance being considered a sport. Many were still not convinced by my story and instead insisted that their own opinion was the right one. 

I haven’t talked about this subject a whole lot since my presentation, but I believe dancers’ voices need to be heard as to why dance should be considered a sport.  

Dancers practice for hours and hours every week. Practices consist of cardio, technique and training, which are some of the things other common sports practice. They also include learning or going over routines dancers have already learned, so that they can perform them at a game, recital, or competition, depending on what type of team they are on. Dance is also a year-long sport, which lasts longer than the average football, basketball, and baseball schedules. This takes up a lot of time considering making time for school and other activities. 

Dancers also have to travel a lot because of certain competitions. Depending on if a dancer does a studio team or a school team, it can affect how they travel. School teams are generally pretty reasonable when it comes to travel as most teams travel the farthest for nationals, depending on where they go. However, studio teams usually travel more and have more competitions, which makes it hard for dancers when it comes to catching up on school work and hanging out with family and peers. 

Many people don’t view dance as a sport and rather an art because they don’t see what actually goes on at practices, they just see dancers when they perform. Many people also disregard dance as a sport because of dance competitions. Dance competitions can last all day which is why many people wouldn’t go to them as they would a basketball or football game, because those events are much shorter. There are also a lot of teams at dance competitions, rather than the team and the opposing team at a typical game. I can see why people think dance isn’t a sport for these reasons, but before people make their own opinion, they should see what really consists at a dance practice. Many shows and documentaries have been published over the years, which show what dancers go through over the season. People who don’t think dance is a sport could watch these shows and/or documentaries and really see what happens and how hard dancers work. 

Dancers can also be similar to other athletes. Dancers’ heart beats have been recorded to be 170 BPM, while dancing, which is equivalent and sometimes even more than basketball players, according to Dance House Productions. It is also stated that dancers score higher than other athletes for stress level during school, according to Merrimack College. 

This is still an ongoing debate and will always be. Dancers can and have proved that dance is a sport and won’t back down from it. Dancers work hard and should get the same respect other athletes do.