The Esports club looks for another chance at State
Esports club members (from left to right) Seniors Matthew Young, Sterling Frink, Pu lin Thumrongthaisakul, Michael Queen, Junior Mason Stull, Senior Tyler Sandmann, Junior Zach Fisher, Sophomore Jack Clinkinbeard, and Senior Michael Mulligan [not pictured] stand together for their club picture.
With spring on its way, the Esports Club is preparing for another season filled with teamwork and competition. This brings a lot of excitement to the club members, who have been patiently waiting to show off their skills.
The Esports club currently competes against other schools in two video games: Rocket League and League of Legends. Rocket League is a vehicular soccer video game that takes place within a span of five to 15 minutes. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena where two teams fight until one destroys the other Nexus or the primary objective in every game mode of League of Legends. These games can last up to an hour. In the club’s previous season, they made it to the playoffs in both games for the first time. The Rocket League team made it to the quarter-finals, while the League of Legends team made it to the semi-finals.
Junior and team substitute Zach Fisher said, “Our previous season ended unfortunately short because we lost to Lafayette in the semi-finals.”
Even though the Esports Club only plays two games right now, they plan on adding more in the future.
Esports Club coach Shih Wen said, “We will play the same two games, Rocket League and League of Legends until KHSAA approves more games that might be aligned with what PlayVs has to offer.”
What new games will be added will mainly be decided by the club members.
The Esports Club plans to make it the furthest they can in the competition.
Wen continued, “While winning State is always the goal, enjoying a complete season and coming together to make lasting memories is the goal for the remainder of the year.”
This year is the last for many members of the club, so making it to State would be a huge accomplishment.
If the team wants to make it to finals at State, they will have to put a lot of effort into practicing and refining teamwork.
Senior Allen Zheng said, “Normally I just play games with friends outside of school, but we might start arranging times in which we could practice in a flex queue outside of just game day.”
This practice will be time-consuming, but will ultimately lead the club to have a much better chance of winning State.
