Esports are nothing new. The first nationwide Space Invaders competition was held in 1980, featuring 10,000 competitors. This tournament paved the way for Donkey Kong, StreetFighter, Goldeneye and other competitions in the next two decades.
Today, electronic sports, or esports for short, is a billion-dollar industry that is still growing in popularity. Olathe West is no exception. The school’s esports team includes about 30 students, who play a wide range of video games competitively.
Staff sponsor Dr. Kurt Parker said, “It is an intramural and interscholastic competition based around video games.”
Along with daily practices, the team competes in weekly tournaments against other area high schools and online duels in the National High School Esports League.
Junior Max Decker said, “I’d say they’re [the tournaments] very fun, you just get to watch people play video games. It’s like a community.”
Competitive online gaming extends past high schools. The University of Kansas, Fort Hays State and Emporia State have extensive esports programs.
“At the college level just think of it like any other sport. There’s your D-I’s, your
D-II’s and there’s the National Association of College Esports,” Parker said. “Schools have dedicated arenas and game labs with gaming PCs and systems. It’s really amazing to see how it’s taken off.”
Unlike some sports, esports is open to anyone, regardless of physical ability or specific talents.
“You don’t have to be in great physical shape like other sports. You just have to be good at video games and you can compete,” Decker said.
Being on an esports team opens the door for future careers in technology. According to Parker, experience in Esports can lead to careers in video production, audio production, software engineering and more.
“A lot of colleges and high schools have connected the esports programs back into curriculum—there’s so much that goes into various industries that it’s just taken off, so it’s a wonderful way to incorporate an activity back with your curriculum,” Parker said.
The team goes on two college visits as a group, per semester. Parker detailed what one of the visits this year was like.
“Earlier this year we went on a visit to KU, which was cool because it was actually some of the kids’ first time going on a college visit, and some of them are even juniors and seniors,” Parker said.
The esports team practices Monday through Thursday in room 2111.
“It’s a wonderful way for kids who can’t find another place in the school to find a team that can be a part of, to compete and learn the values of teamwork and then also do something that they are good at and enjoy, ” Parker said.
