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PERHAM— Esports were introduced to the Perham-Dent School District just this year, and students on the teams have done well. So well, in fact, that the district’s «Valorant» team — composed of students Levi Baumgart, Aiden Burke, Marcus Cupkie, Jaxon Pickrain and Jacoby Pokrzwinski — will be competing at the first annual Fenworks State Tournament after finishing the season with an undefeated score of 9-0.
Esports, or electronic sports, is a term used to describe educational competitive and recreational video gaming.
«They’re excited,» said Justin Sonnenberg, the general manager of the Perham-Dent esports program, referring to the team members. «You can tell they’re excited because they’re drawing out different plans on the maps and deciding what their strategies are. You can tell they’re having a lot of fun just thinking about everything.»
«Valorant,» the game the state participants will be competing in, is a character-based multiplayer game in which characters have special powers and gather weapons to take out the other team. There are two other games Perham students can participate in, «Apex Legends» and «Rocket League.» All three of the games promote teamwork and leadership.
The Perham schools have a total of four esports teams, each with a team captain. One of the captains volunteered for the role, while Sonnenberg selected the other three. He said he’s seen them grow quite a bit over the past few months.
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«I’ve definitely seen a positive impact,» he said. «They went from asking me what to do and if they could talk to others, and toward the end of the season, they’re making sure other teams and everyone is there. I’ve definitely seen them grow in the sense of teamwork and leadership.»
There is an educational aspect to esports, with coaches tying lessons about decision-making, communication and collaboration into the gaming. According to Sonnenberg, it’s been shown that coordinated esports improve cognitive and social development. Players improve their hand-eye coordination and problem-solving, he said.
«It can lead to a lot of different job fields,» Sonnenberg continued. «Game design, computer science, anything that involves problem-solving and understanding how to lead a team and work with a team.»
While esports helps students improve socially and cognitively, the players have also become extremely skilled at the games themselves. The «Valorant» team captain has achieved «immortal» rank, meaning that he is in the top 0.1% of players in the world.
«That’s pretty crazy, since he’s only in eighth grade,» Sonnenberg said, impressed with the student’s achievements.
The Perham-Dent Schools esports team will be competing at the Fenworks State Tournament April 1–2 in Grand Forks, N.D. They’ll go through a set of games on the first day and, if they do well, they’ll continue to play on the second day and go through championships.
«I think they have a pretty good chance,» Sonnenberg said.
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