A burgeoning esports program at Pickerington High School North offers students the opportunity to participate and even earn college scholarships.
Esports refers to organized video game events or tournaments, culminating in championships at regional and international levels, where professional and amateur players compete against each other.
According to the National Association of Collegiate Esports, a nonprofit membership association organized by US colleges and universities with esports programs, there are now more than 170 member schools, enrolling more than 5,000 student-athletes and raising more than $16 million receive grants and grants.
These stats alone show the popularity of esports across the country, and they are backed by the digital industry’s online release insider Intelligence, which reported on March 7 that there will be 29.6 million monthly esports viewers in 2022, up 11.5% from 2021.
“It kind of went from 0 to 100,” said Josh Watkins, a special education specialist at Lakeview Junior High School and esports director at North.
After the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted plans to establish Esports in North in Spring 2020, the program was launched for the 2020-21 school year.
This year, 50 students, including 35 from Lakeview, make up North’s team, dubbed the Pickerington Battlecats.
The group meets every Monday and Wednesday after school in a computer lab up north. Those who are at least 13 years old can compete against schools from across the state in games like League of Legends to earn match wins and increase their personal rankings.
“Being able to play competitively was easy, I don’t want to sound cliched but like a dream,” senior Kevin Wang said. “For me, there was a different meaning than just a rank.”
Part of the meaning for Wang was encouragement from his friend and teammate Trey Decker, also a senior and who expects to receive offers of at least partial gaming scholarships from universities like Akron, Shawnee State and Tiffin.
“I’m trying to get him[through a scholarship to college],” Wang said.
While Wang has been playing video games since he was 7, he mostly views gaming as an enjoyable activity that gives him respite from more pressing commitments such as competing on the tennis team, playing in the Marching Panther Band, and working. He expects to break away from them next fall when he enrolls at the United States Military Academy West Point.
On the other hand, Decker plays around six hours a day on weekdays and recently almost nine hours on a weekend night.
“I don’t do much other than gaming,” Decker said. “It’s my goal. I would like to turn pro, but I don’t see it as an option.
“I see it mostly as financial help to help me get through college. But I still love the game very much. I think it will be a lot of fun and will motivate me to get through college.”
Watkins believes Decker will get a scholarship, and he believes this is just the beginning for Pickerington, a community that in recent years has sent several athletes to college on scholarships and has seen many rise to the pro ranks.
A gamer himself, Watkins points to North and Lakeview’s interest in esports as cause for optimism about the program’s potential. He also notes that Pickerington-born Tom Ryan is widely considered the greatest Halo player of all time, and Ryan and his brother Dan won the gold medal in Halo 2 at the 2005 World Cyber Games.
“I want us to be synonymous with esports and esports,” Watkins said. “As we are for football, I want us to be the same.”
Although Decker said that online gaming “is nowhere near a traditional sport,” this isn’t a negative comment.
“When you load into the game, you start with no advantage,” Decker said. “You might be like a good basketball player, but you’re 7ft 3 tall, so you’re one of the best centers in the league.
“I think it shows that it’s just pure skill expressions and knowing what to do and when to do it.”
For Watkins and Melissa Collins, a seventh grade science teacher in Lakeview who coaches students who play Super Smash Bros., the fact that athletic ability isn’t required to compete is a good thing.
They want the Battlecats to grow in the years to come, which is why Watkins is opening the program to students at Ridgeview Junior High School and Pickerington High School Central next school year.
“There’s just no limit to the kids I can reach,” Watkins said. “I even have something called an adaptive controller.
“So if I have a child with a walking disability, I can easily integrate them.”
Collins said the program is already offering inclusion and instruction via the competition to groups of students who might otherwise be disconnected from school or their peers.
“One thing I really love about this dynamic of these students is that a lot of these students wouldn’t have that team aspect,” Collins said. “It brings together a lot of students who are used to being alone.
“Getting them to see that they are part of a team and how important their part of the team is is something that some of these students have never really experienced.
“Pickerington is very sporty. That we have something for this target group of students is really great.”
Collins added that some Battlecats members “are the kids who go through four years of high school and don’t know anyone or can’t connect with anyone, but here they can.”
“You feel included, and that’s huge,” she said.
The Battlecats use a computer lab that existed before the esports program was founded.
As Watkins and Collins look to expand the esports program, they will also try to organize fundraisers, with the ultimate goal of building a computer lab specifically for the Battlecats.
Watkins even has long-term plans to expand the program to middle school students.
“I just think it gives a lot of kids an outlet for socialization and even scholarship opportunities,” Watkins said. “I think there’s no limit to that.”
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