Esports Keep Teams Alive Virtually
What far exceeds the love of the game is winning and losing as a team. Bonding over late night practices. Sharing stories on the sidelines. But, it doesn’t have to be a field or court that puts those memories into play. For El Toro High School’s esports club, it’s a computer. Esports offer the same opportunities as traditional sports for students to practice teamwork, hone their skills, and dedicate themselves to the game. They’re even more relevant given the current online learning climate due to school closures, because while students can’t step onto a field, they can play a video game.
El Toro High School’s esports club started in 2016, but it didn’t take off right away. With a lack of advertising, students didn’t really understand what it was and struggled to move their gaming from hobby to team sport. By 2019, the club only had about 15 students, but the following year, they tripled in size. Now, they play League of Legends and Overwatch. They have jerseys, scheduled practices, and plans for expansion.
“Our club is growing quickly because a lot of students enjoy playing. It's very popular away from school and to be able to incorporate it into school and to actually have a team setting where they can be in tournaments and they can better their skills, they learn a lot of skills as far as team play,” said Diana Lewis, general manager of the club.
El Toro High School is part of NASEF (North America Scholastic Esports Federation). Through NASEF, each team gets a coach, and the organization sets up all of their tournaments. El Toro High School has two teams. The Gold Team consists of upperclassmen and higher ranked players, while the Blue Team is reserved for beginners. This way, students never have to play someone who is completely out of their league that ruins the fun of the game.
Tournaments are typically scheduled on Wednesday after school. The club receives notice of their opponent on Sunday and then the presidents of each team scout the opponents to understand their roles and typical game play.
Lewis attributes much of the team’s growth and success to their efforts to engage and educate the student body about the world of esports. The club even streamed a few of their tournaments this year to Discord and Twitch.
“The main reason why we streamed is to allow others in our club to be able to watch our tournament matches so that they could be involved in the matches without playing. We also just wanted to build publicity for some of the streamers in our club, giving them a chance to build their own channels while also showcasing the matches that were taking place for the club,” said varsity player Matthew Hsieh.
El Toro High School is even pushing to incorporate esports with its English curriculum in the coming years. The club’s rapid growth follows closely with how the rest of the world is taking to esports.
“There are so many facets to esports. It’s not just playing the game. There’s a streaming aspect, there’s an organizational aspect, there’s friend making, there’s building websites, there’s storyboard writing,” Lewis said. “They like being competitive, and they like being in touch with other students.”