Band, Orchestra, and Theatre should not be given Varsity Letters

I will be contending that band, orchestra and theater students should be allowed to receive Varsity letters, provided they meet whatever criteria is set up in order for that to happen. In other words, I am arguing against the idea that a student who does "only band" should never receive a Varsity letter. The Unimportance of Varsity LettersThe opponent describes a Varsity Letter (VL) as something of great prestige, arguing that band, orchestra and theater (performing arts) "degrade the meaning of the award" when they receive it. If we are to determine the truth of this, we first need to figure out how meaningful a VL actually is.And the answer is, as one might have guessed, not very. The moment one leaves high school, whether they have a VL is considered completely irrelevant in both the realm of college and the "real world". This is not to say that talent is unimportant -- as many colleges specifically seek talent, but a VL is not considered to be indicative of talent. Consider a state with quite a few schools, many of them very small. Most of these small schools (<100/class) will have football teams and said teams will be awful when compared to those of larger schools. This makes sense, considering a larger school has a larger pool of talent to draw from. However, even the smallest of these schools would reward VL's to varsity football players, regardless of their actual talent. As such, a football VL no more indicates having talent at football than owning an instrument indicates having talent at music. Poor musicians can own instruments, just as poor football players can receive a VL.Given this, it cannot be said that awarding a VL to performing arts students degrades the meaning of the award, since the award has little import anyway. Diligence, hard work and commitment. While the significance of a VL diminishes to near-zero after graduating, they do have some symbolic meaning in the realm of high school. A VL is meant to symbolize the traits mentioned above; they indicate that a student has put hard work into an activity that in some way enriches the school and the community. Peforming arts students no doubt fit this qualification, at least those in the "varsity section" of these groups. A band/orchestra student goes to practice everyday and often has practice before/after school and during the summer, just like a football player does. Theater students practice tirelessly for 2-4 plays per year. The opponent seems to recognize that these people work hard, but makes the faulty assumption that sporting activities are somehow more valuable simply because they require greater physical feats, whereas performing arts students require more intellectual talents. We have no reason to believe that physical ability is more important than intellectual ability. On the contrary, an intellectual person is significantly more likely to get a better job and contribute more to the economy than a physically apt person. Some tiny percentage of sports players are able to add significant value to the world, those being the ones who make it to the collegiate/professional level.In essence, physical ability is less applicable to the real world than intellectual ability and, as such, the latter ought to be valued more. Understanding this, it is clear that a performing arts student has just as much a right to a VL than a sports player. ConclusionRegardless of the talent in your school, whatever its size, every varsity football player receives a VL. Regardless of the talent in your school, whatever its size, every varsity performing arts student receives a VL. I've demonstrated that VL's are not valuable outside of high school, demonstrating that there is no "prestige" to be demeaned. I've further shown that performing arts students will often practice as much as sports players. Finally, I've shown that performing arts talent is one that fosters intellect, whereas sports foster physical ability -- and that the intelligence contributes more to the world than does physical aptitude.