A burgeoning esports program at Pickerington High School North gives students opportunities to participate and even pursue college scholarships.
Esports refers to organized video gaming events or tournaments that culminate in championships at regional and international level, in which professional and amateur players compete against one another.
According to the National Association of Collegiate Esports, a nonprofit membership association organized by U.S. colleges and universities with esports programs, there are now more than 170 member schools, with more than 5,000 student athletes competing and receiving more than $16 million in scholarships and aid.
Those statistics alone show the popularity of esports throughout the country, and they’re supported by the online digital industry publication Insider Intelligence, which reported March 7 there will be 29.6 million monthly esports viewers in 2022, up 11.5% from 2021.
«It’s kind of gone from 0 to 100,» said Josh Watkins, a special education intervention specialist at Lakeview Junior High School and esports director at North.
After the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out plans to establish esports at North in spring 2020, the program launched for the 2020-21 school year.
This year, 50 students, including 35 from Lakeview, make up North’s team, which is called the Pickerington Battlecats.
The group meets in a computer lab at North after school every Monday and Wednesday. Those at least 13 years old can compete against schools from throughout the state in games like League of Legends to secure match wins and improve their personal rankings.
«To be able to play competitively was just kind of like, I don’t want to sound cliche, but like a dream,» senior Kevin Wang said. «For me, it gave a meaning other than just a rank.»
Part of the meaning for Wang has been encouraging his friend and teammate Trey Decker, also a senior and who is expecting to receive offers of at least partial gaming scholarships from universities like Akron, Shawnee State and Tiffin.
«I’m trying to get him (into college via scholarship),» Wang said.
While Wang has played video games since he was 7, he views gaming largely as a fun activity that gives him a reprieve from more pressing obligations, like competing on tennis team, playing in the Marching Panther band and working. He expects to step away from them next fall when he enrolls at the United States Military Academy West Point.
On the otherhand, Decker games for about six hours a day on weekdays and recently put in close to nine hours on a weekend night.
«I don’t do a lot other than gaming,» Decker said. «It’s my go-to. I would like to go pro, but I don’t see that as a possibility.
«I’m mainly looking at it as financial aid to help get me through college. But I still really love the game. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and keep motivating me to get through college.»
Watkins believes Decker will land a scholarship, and he thinks that’s just the beginning for Pickerington, a community that in recent years has sent several athletes to college on scholarships and has seen many move onto the professional ranks.
A gamer himself, Watkins points to the interest at North and Lakeview in the esports as cause for optimism over the potential of the program. He also notes that Pickerington native 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 sports and esports,» Watkins said. «Just like we are for football, I want us to be the same way.»
Although Decker said online gaming «is not close at all to being a traditional sport,» it’s not a negative remark.
«When you load into the game, you start with no advantage,» Decker said. «You could be like an OK basketball player, but you’re 7-foot-3 so you’re one of the best centers in the league.
«I think it shows it’s just pure skill-expressive and knowing what to do and when to do it.»
To Watkins, as well as Melissa Collins, a seventh-grade science teacher at Lakeview who coaches students playing Super Smash Bros., the fact that athletic prowess isn’t required to compete is a good thing.
They want the Battlecats to grow in coming years, which is why Watkins is opening the program next school year to students at Ridgeview Junior High School and Pickerington High School Central.
«There’s just no limitations in this with the kids I can reach,» Watkins said. «I even have what’s called an adaptive controller.
«So, if I have a kid with a mobility disability, I can incorporate them easily.»
Collins said the program already is offering inclusion and lessons about competing to groups of students who otherwise might be detached from school or peers.
«One thing I really love about this dynamic of these students is a lot of these students wouldn’t have that team aspect,» Collins said. «It brings a lot of students who are used to being on their own, together.
«Giving them the aspect to learn about being on a team and how their part of being on the team is really important, is something that some of these students have never really experienced.
«Pickerington is very sports-oriented. The fact that we have something for this demographic of students is really great.»
Collins added that some Battlecats members «are the kids that walk through four years of high school and not know anyone or being able to connect with anyone, but they can here.»
«They feel included, and that’s huge,» she said.
The Battlecats use a computer lab that existed before the esports program was established.
As Watkins and Collins look to expand the esports program, they’ll also look to organize fundraisers, with the ultimate goal to build 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 offers a lot of kids an outlet for socialization and even scholarship opportunities,» Watkins said. «I think there’s no limit to this.»
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