Many people grew up playing sports, running around outside with friends and going to games on the weekends. Disrupting this routine comes Esports, or electronic sports, an increasingly prominent activity and competitive industry.
Esports are collaborative or individual games played competitively, often providing strong players with monetary prizes. And like many other people around the world, Roosevelt students are entering the virtual gaming arena.
The Roosevelt Esports Club has thrived since its founding in 2017. “During the pandemic our teams won two national championships against hundreds of other teams from across the country,” senior and Esports leader Max Gillespie says.
The club includes many different sports like Madden, Fortnite, Minecraft, and Overwatch. Occasionally, the club will host group meetings, but individual teams meet more frequently depending on upcoming competitions.
For many Roosevelt students, Esports has provided a community, as senior and Esports leader Andrew Zhang says, “There is a sense of camaraderie, you have to depend on your teammates and your teammates have to depend on you. So that kind of feeling of belonging to a team was really good.” Esports is also attainable for many people. “It’s easy to get into, and you don’t have to go buy a bunch of gear,” Gillespie adds.
Esports is continuing to grow in popularity amongst many generations. According to Esports.net, “This year, Activate suggests that NFL viewership will be the only sports audience larger than Esports.” With the growing number of viewers, involvement at the high school level increases. “It’s always going to be a great thing to participate in for the future,” says senior Esports leader Julian Wade. Increased involvement has led to scholarship opportunities as well.
Scholarships are obtained by winning tournaments in various Esports games. Gillespie says, “The league we play in is the high school Esports league and generally the prizes for first place are one to two thousand dollars per tournament.”
To find recruits for their Esports teams, college coaches start by performing an initial evaluation of prospects who have submitted a recruiting form. In some cases, coaches also monitor major tournaments to find promising recruits.” While small schools are offering the bulk of scholarship opportunities, larger schools like the University of California, Irvine and University of Texas at Dallas have begun to offer them as well.
The Esports industry is growing, as are opportunities within Roosevelt for those who are looking to get involved in the world of Esports. Esports is constantly evolving, with new games and updates every day. And who knows, students might just get a full ride in the process.
