Highland High has a variety of options for sports. Although every sport is different, usually the teammates and players meet to practice, improve their skills, and set goals for future games and tournaments. The Highland High E-sports team is just like any other sport, except it would not be smart to dump Gatorade on the coach after a victory.
The equipment for this sport gets pricy and would not handle liquids well. Armed with their Nintendo Switches the team meets every Thursday after school for their meetings.
E-sports is a kind of competition where people compete against each other through video games. The games can be anything where you compete against other players, it is not related to the typical definition of sports. Some of the most played E-sports are Call of Duty, Fortnite, League of Legends and Super Smash Bros.
E-sports is a growing field, and the global audience has increased by more than 200 million in the last 3 years. In 2024, the global competition called Worlds (hosted by League of Legends) had 99.6 million viewers for the final ceremony. It is expected to continue to grow since technology is so relevant and people are always looking for a community.
Highland is contributing to this growing effort with their E-sports team. Ami Montes, the club president explained why people like E-sports.
“There are a lot of people who like playing games to get their minds off school,” Montes said.
The goal of the club is to connect with others and improve their gaming skills. Some of the skills they are working on developing together are hand-eye coordination, adaptability, teamwork, and analytic thinking. Members view the club as an escape from the daily events and stresses of Highland and life.
“All we do is play games, we do scrimmages, and if needed we do homework,” Montes said. “Scrimmages are where we practice games with each other to improve our skills.”
At their meetings they divide into teams and compete against each other. The winner gets to be the team captain for the rest of the meeting. Members of the club get to know each other even better every week because they split up into different teams and get to know new people.
There are high school competitions and tournaments for students to compete and demonstrate their skills. The Highland team is preparing for a tournament against other schools sometime in March. There are also global competitions for adults, where people compete for millions of dollars in rewards.
Myst Dalley, the club supervisor and coach, helps the club stay organized and teaches the members how to improve their skills. She believes that this club has helped many students find their place.
“The kids that are in this club definitely would not have met each other, hung out with each other before this, and now they are all friends,” Dalley said.
The members of the club look forward to the meetings and rush to the meetings after school. It is their time to come together and share a common interest.
E-sports is not only a club sport for High Schools, but students can also get scholarships and go to college because they play E-sports. Colleges with E-sports teams can win money through the tournaments, so they want the best players. This field gives students opportunities that they might not have had otherwise.
“It’s just a really cool community because there are so many different people, so many groups. Everybody just comes together from diverse backgrounds,” Dalley said. “There is just one thing they can agree on.”
