.jpg)
It is a Tuesday morning at Parry Mc-Cluer High School, which, for some students, means it is time to play video games.
Members of Buena Vista’s new esports club gather in one of the computer labs during their dedicated club time, find seats and headphones, update the software on the school’s computers, and get ready to play.
“Our esports club at Parry McCluer High School is an opportunity for stu- dents in good standing to learn sportsmanship, teamwork and communication while doing something they don’t normally get to do during school — play video games,” said Stephanie Reese, who oversees the club.
“Esports stands for electronic sports, and is basically where you have teams of three to five players competing against each other,” she explained.
In 2019, esports was officially added to Virginia High School Sports League, which oversees high school sports across the state. At that time, the VHSL noted that over 200 colleges and universities offered almost 15 million dollars in scholarships for esports.
The members of Buena Vista’s club can choose between two games, and Reese hopes to continue expanding the options.
“This year we are playing Rocketleague and Fortnite, two games that are played competitively in both college and professional esports arenas, and we are working on getting a third game, Valorant, added to our list.”
While they may be having fun, the students here are also learning real world skills, Reese noted, highlighting the teamwork and communication required.
“Winning not only requires great teamwork, but also communication, critical thinking, strategy and sometimes a little bit of luck,” she said.
This is the second year Parry McCluer has offered esports. The club was originally planned to start in the 2019-20 school year but was delayed by the pandemic.
So far, the club has been a success, and demand continues to grow.
“We started small with about 10-12 participants meeting just once a week and these meetings were just so students could come together and play the game with each other here at school,” said Reese.
“Starting this year, however, the interest in this program exploded and we had more than 40 students interested in joining our team,” she said. “Since we only have space for 20, we made sure to let everyone know our expectations right away, have filled up our 20 spots and started a waiting list.”
Looking forward, Reese hopes to continue the club, potentially joining a league to allow Buena Vista students to play competitively.
“With such an interest in the program this year we are looking to start implementing a longer after-school block of time where students can start to form regular teams, learn strategies, and practice together in the hopes of joining a high school esports league possibly in the spring semester,” she said.
