Esports has been a growing phenomenon in the world for the past ten years.

Famous games like Rocket League, Counter Strike, and many others have made Esports as wildly popular as it is today. And it has been expanded from the pro scene and made its way to colleges, and now it’s making its way into high schools. Esports is growing exponentially and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Esports is competitive just like basketball or football. But instead it’s through video games like Rocket League or Smash Brothers. It’s been developing since 1972 with Space Invaders tournaments, with only a few hundred spectators. Compare that to now boasting millions of concurrent viewers for the League of Legends world finals. Esports has been around some time and now its really starting to grow. 

Elder has made its way into the Ohio Esports League with games like, Rocket League, Valorant, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Fortnite, and others. And the scenes are only growing along with the talent on these teams. With the Elder Rocket League team making it to state finals in the winter of 2019, Elder is setting up to be a high ranking school for Esports. 

Elder has lots of opportunities for anyone to get into Esports. With new members welcome at the start of each season (each semester). And with varsity, junior varsity, and club level teams you don’t need to be incredible at a game to get into Esports. And with many colleges beginning to invest in Esports, the change to earn scholarships from gaming is possible.

On January 9th, Rhodes State offered free tuition to whoever won their Smash Ultimate tournament. And for anyone with dreams of going pro in Esports there’s nowhere better to start than with a high school team. Colleges like Rio Grande have begun to reach out to more high schoolers to join their college and play for their teams. 

While the Esports future seems bright, the department at many high schools is still very small and very few put much time or resources into it. But you can help it grow faster by watching live streams of weekly games streamed by the players. You can also help by joining and encouraging others to join. You don’t have to be the best player in the school to try out for the varsity teams! The spring season hasn’t started yet, so I encourage you to try out for your favorite game. 

Keith Clark, the number one Valorant player at Elder, was asked his opinion on the growth of Esports. He said, “I think the Esports scene will grow big at Elder, as more and more talent is popping up from a whole bunch of high schools. I also think that Esports will outgrow some of the popular high school sports. It’s all about how we proceed with Esports, and if there’s gonna be a big catalog of games or not. In my opinion, once the leagues we pick go as far to pick up every major game for eSports like Call of Duty, then that’s when we will see all the talent that comes from not only Elder, but all high schools alike.”

Esports is growing fast and if Elder wants to be one of the top schools we need your support.

Check out Esports Ohio for details on the 2021 Esports season.