With technology growing faster than ever, sports have been revolutionized and branched out into esports, or electronic sports, where players play video games competitively. From world championships to school tournaments, Esports have amassed a massive popularity. 

After hearing about the possibility of an esports class from principal Jacob Duce, Esports teacher Kenneth Hegmann said he agreed on teaching the course. 

“This is the first year, so in August is the first time we’ve ever started Esports (the class),” Hegmann said. “The district created it ultimately. We knew it was coming last spring and so over the summer we wrote the curriculum as a part of that process.”

According to Hegmann, the class aims to bridge the gap between esports and careers in the field besides gaming. It includes discussions about mental health and wellness, and various jobs in the esports field. Upon completion of the work assigned, students have 30 to 45 minutes every class period to play games of their choice. 

Class work includes “presentations and collaborating with each other,” Hegmann said. “I talk about all the different career pathways that exist and where it can go. Sometimes it gets boxed into just playing video games but there’s so much more there about content creation and there’s legal stuff and there’s other little aspects like programming.”

A student in the class,  junior and president of the Esports club Aaryan Merchant said via call that he started the club after being sponsored by Hegmann. 

“Before this club turned into Esports, it was only Valorant,” Merchant said. “I wanted to start a Valorant team for LT but Coach Hegmann told me there was no club, so then I was like ‘Okay, maybe then I’ll be the club leader and I can also be the Valorant leader.’”

While the club started off with Valorant in mind, members play a wide variety of games ranging from Overwatch and League of Legends to NBA 2K and Clash Royale. In addition to playing during meetings, the club participated in the Fall Major, a national tournament hosted by the High School Esports League (HSEL), with two Valorant teams and one Rocket League team, he said. 

To prepare for the tournament, “we even got ourselves a paid coach, sponsored by HSEL and Aim Lab,”  Merchant said. “We scrimmed against other random teams, we scrimmed against other school teams, we even scrimmed against Liberty and other Frisco ISD schools. It was mainly scrimmaging but here and there we would try practicing line ups and we would try practicing executions onto site.” 

Teams that win the tournament can win thousands of dollars, and participation is free for the students as the school paid for all the competitions, Merchant said. 

While videogames have a negative reputation for being toxic, “when you play tournament-wise it’s harder for it to be toxic because it’s all official and it’s a big deal,” Merchant said. “It’s a lot more fun… you get to play with teams and money. It helps me because it’s just a way for me to prove myself that I’m good enough to play on a level where I actually play on a team and represent LT.”

This semester, the club plans on participating in a district tournament that will happen on Jan. 21, 22, and 23 with teams for Valorant, Rocket League, League of Legends, Fortnite, and Overwatch. In addition, the club will hold a Smash Brothers tournament at Room C133 on Jan. 10 and 12 during lunch. Students interested in joining the club can go to Room C133 during lunch every Monday and Wednesday, follow their Instagram account (@lths_esports), join their Remind group (@lthsesclub), join their Discord server (discord.gg/2V9SstnfUC), and watch them on Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/blazersesports).