Esports at BHS: A Game Changer

From the original Nintendo to the Playstation 4, I've been an avid gamer my entire life. In middle school, my parents bought me a personal computer for schoolwork. My world was suddenly filled with legendary titles like Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Red Alert, Myst, Duke Nukem, Earthworm Jim, and tons more. After meeting a handful of friends (who I am still very close with today), I realized video games had much more to offer than the games themselves. I belonged to a special community, one that brought people together from all over the world and accepted them with no bias of appearance, religion or sexuality. I was hooked.

When I started teaching I always imagined starting a video game club at my school. That dream became a reality on the first day of school this year. I was having lunch with my department and our athletic director stopped by to talk with one of my colleagues. A few minutes into the conversation I heard the term "esports" mentioned. My ears perked up and I stopped eating. My colleague went on to say that he heard the term "esports" before, but wasn't too familiar with it. I had no clue what was happening, but right then and there I raised my hand! Yes, I raised my hand. In the middle of the cafeteria filled with every teacher from my district, I sat there with my hand raised. They just stared at me, and after a few seconds had gone by I blurted out "I KNOW WHAT ESPORTS IS!" At that moment, everyone at my table got a brief (...but not really brief) introduction to electronic sports.

After attending a meeting with my athletic director at the RIIL (Rhode Island Interscholastic League) headquarters, it became clear that this was legit. This wasn't a few people starting up a video game club (which is still awesome, don't get me wrong), this was an official program created by PlayVS, backed by the RIIL and will be pushing into five+ different states soon! Official matches, playoffs, state championships, player statistics, the works! Even though I was already coaching two additional clubs at my school AND had just accepted a two year fellowship to coach teachers in Rhode Island, I was in. 1337% in. This club is my dream realized, and I won't let a few sleepless nights (...months) stand in the way of that.

The day after the meeting I got to school early to put some flyers up to advertise the club and to hold a brief informational meeting after school a few days later. Within 20 minutes of having the flyers up, I received about eight emails from students asking for more information about the program. By the end of the day I had over 20 emails and a handful of students in my office after school hungry for more information. A few days later I held the meeting and 30 students showed up. Soon after our first practice my roster grew to 48. It was clear students have been waiting for this.

There are countless benefits to having an esports program in schools. Here are my top three:

1. Provides an opportunity for students with physical, emotional, or social concerns to be part of a cooperative, competitive event.  
2. Creates a structured environment where students learn through modeling how to appropriately behave on the internet.  
3. Opens doors for students to train in a variety of positions related to esports such as team managers, videographers, technical support, streamers, social media managers, and many more.  

Even though I would have done anything to participate in esports when I was in high school, I'm having a blast coaching these amazing young men and women and can't wait to see what the future has in store for [BHSRI] esports.

~ Sam