Got game: esports growing in popularity at area schools
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Trinity Middle School esports assistant coach Travis Buri runs through warmups with members of the middle school’s Rocket League esports team.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Nolan Schamp, a member of Trinity Middle School’s Rocket League esports team, practices drills on the first day of practice. Schamp was one of 20 middle schoolers who earned a spot on the team’s roster.
The Laurel Highlands High School's Esports Lab
Laurel Highlands High School esports players use liquid cooled gaming computers. Water cooling helps keep the components cool.
Laurel Highlands High School is one of a growing number of high schools and colleges in Pennsylvania and across the country to have esports teams.
Courtesy Jefferson-Morgan School District
Jefferson-Morgan High School recently added “Corbett’s Arcade,” an esports room for members of the high school’s esports team.
Courtesy of Jefferson-Morgan School District
Jefferson-Morgan High School has added an esports room. The school is among the high schools and colleges that offer esports teams and curriculum.
On the first day of Trinity Middle School’s esports practice, 20 students who earned a roster spot on the Rocket League team sat in the school’s new esports arena. The room contains gaming PCs with LED lights, ergonomic gaming chairs, and large TVs. The furnishings are decked out in Trinity blue and white, with the Hillers logo prominent on the wall.
Coaches John Walsh, a gifted and special education teacher, and Travis Buri, a health and physical education teacher, led the team through drills.
“Coach Walsh and I developed a warmup routine you guys will be doing every time you come in this lab, and especially before we have a competition,” said Buri. “The first one is three minutes of free play, but I do want you to have a focus. When you’re in free play, I want you to focus on moving as fast as you can. Do not be trying to slow down and dribble the ball or do anything special, I want you to just move as fast as you can.”
Welcome to the world of esports, where teams of students play video games like Rocket League (a mash-up of soccer and race cars), Super Smash Bros., Overwatch, and League of Legends competitively, for championships, titles, and scholarships.
Esports is a $1.4 billion industry, and high school gamers are acquiring some of the same skills athletes develop in traditional sports, and earning a pathway to college and careers.
Trinity Area School District was among the first in the region to field a high school esports team and incorporate esports into its curriculum, and this is the first year for the middle school team.
“This is so much more than just kids playing video games,” said Walsh. (Almost as many) people watched the League of Legends World Championship l globally last year as watched the Super Bowl. That’s absolutely incredible, and there are a lot of career opportunities for these kids.”
According to the Pew Research Center, more than 90% of teens are active video gamers. A staggering 84% of teens say they have access to a game console at home, while 90% say they play video games of any kind.
As esports explodes in popularity, local school districts and colleges are starting their own esports teams.
Area high schools with esports teams include Canon-McMillan, Charleroi, Chartiers-Houston, Waynesburg, Jefferson-Morgan, Laurel Highlands, and Uniontown. Local colleges fielding esports teams are Waynesburg University, Penn West University-California and West Virginia University.
“A lot people for years thought video games were a waste of time, but were not. It’s a sport, we’re competing, training, we have practices, we’re practicing specific skills,” said Canon-McMillan High School esports coach Brian Klebanski. “The rigors are there; the kids are trying to get recruited by D-1 teams.”
At Canon-Mac, about 100 students belong to the esports club, and about 45 compete against schools across the country.
Pennsylvania high school teams compete in a handful of leagues, including PlayVS, the Pennsylvania Scholastic Esports League (PSEL), and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Esports Association (PIEA).
An increasing number of college scholarships are being given as the sport grows at the collegiate level.
In 2020-21, colleges – WVU among them – gave out $16 million in scholarships nationwide.
Canon-McMillan High School graduate Anthony Bellino earned an esports scholarship to Ohio Northern University’s Rocket League team.
Interest in esports at Laurel Highlands High School has exploded since it was introduced three years ago. The school district used a grant to fund its state-of-the-art esports arena. The esports Rocket League team competes in the Esport Company League, and about 70 students participate in the esports club.
The high school also offers an elective, Introduction to Esports, that explores topics including the history of the sport and nutrition.
“This is our third year of the esports program and it’s been amazing. We weren’t sure what interest there would be, so we surveyed the kids and the results were staggering. It’s been great,” said Laurel Highlands Director of Curriculum Randy Miller. “You always hear about the negative of students being on their computers 24/7, but we’re focusing on academics, and just as with sports, you’re focusing on sportsmanship, the ability to work with others, strategic thinking, time management, handling wins and losses. They’re in a positive social environment with their peers.”
Jefferson-Morgan High School launched its esports program, which includes a 12-member Rocket League team, in 2022.
The school unveiled a top-notch esports arena dubbed “Corbett’s Arcade” – a nod to head coach and math teacher Shawn Corbett – where the team practices and competes, and where students can take a one-semester elective course called Gaming Concepts.
“Our focus is getting our kids college-ready and career-ready, and every major esports tournament includes about 1,000 jobs, from video game creators, announcers, streamers, marketing and production, professional esports players, and so many more job opportunities. We had to add esports,” said Jefferson-Morgan middle school/high school principal Wes Loring.
And, like in sports, many school districts have implemented GPA standards and other guidelines to ensure students are working on their education while they play.
“All the benefits you see in regular sports, you also see in esports. Studies show attendance, grades, extracurricular participation all improve and you’re a part of something,” said Canon-Mac’s Klebanski.
Walsh coached basketball and baseball at Trinity before taking the helm as esports coach.
“I love it. This game, Rocket League, moves so quickly they have to make split-second decisions and that really plays into life, being able to make quick decisions, decisions on the fly. We’re starting to build those skills at an early age. And this game is highly physics-based, the way your car is accelerating in the air, those actions are all made with real engines and it uses real physics,” said Walsh.
“Let’s put it this way. I’v coached basketball and baseball here for almost a decade and I hung it up to do this because I feel that strongly about it. I do think it’s the future.”