Buttons mashing, hearts pounding, screens flashing vibrant colors, “Only one team left, we can win this!” a teammate shouts with a surge of excitement and nervousness in their voice. Esports teams have become an essential for high schools to offer.

The first meeting of the Esports Club will be Tuesday after school in the LGI from 3 – 4:15 p.m.

“I brought up the idea of this club not knowing it would blow up like this,” senior Alexander Talkington said. “I’m glad so many people are passionate about an Esports club like I am.”

One benefit of an Esports club is that it broadens the range of activities students are able to choose from. It engages students who aren’t as interested in more physical sports such as football, baseball, basketball, etc.

“Most of my friends spend their free time gaming,” sophomore Nolan Paugh said. “If they took a closer look, they’d see real opportunities to turn their hobbies into something bigger.”

People underestimate how big Esports has really become. The spotlight is often only shined on physical sports rather than the mental ones such as a gaming club.

¨Esports teams are just like every other sport,¨ senior Alexander Talkington said. ¨People need to realize you can get big scholarships for being on an Esports team, just like you can in football.¨ 

Esports doesn’t necessarily focus on physical strain like other sports; an Esports team focuses more on mental agility, it’s a battle of strategy and reflexes. Comparing Esports to more physical sports in terms of difficulty can be like comparing apples to oranges, but the competition can be just as fierce.

¨I think that Esports work students in much different ways than physical sports do,¨ Esports sponsor Camden LeLeux said. ¨Esports focuses more on the mental exercise and increasing hand-eye coordination while becoming better players and more social individuals.¨

The Esports team provides a safe space for students to exercise their brains in a productive and recreational way outside of school. An Esports team is a vital addition to high schools in order to offer students of diverse interests more opportunities.

¨The new addition of an Esports team will benefit students in various ways,¨LeLeux said. ¨Even at its beginning level, the Esports club will improve students’ skills in the included games while also providing a social space for walks of life that otherwise perhaps would not have been mixed with one another.¨