Winning Big: Esports as a scholarship!
By Joesi Soto
With modern media like Twitch and YouTube, gameplays have become one of the biggest trends that have only continued to grow in the last decade, especially post-COVID. People our age are getting their first good gaming set-ups and deciding to stream Fortnite or their hardcore Minecraft world, hoping to make it big. However, they have no idea that they could start making it big with their gaming at school.
I joined the Esports class as a social media manager with my friend, and we decided to join a game no one else was playing for fun. Turns out, I’m really enjoying it and I have been learning so much about this game.
Hearthstone, the game I joined, is a strategy card game that is based on casting creatures and spells to kill your opponent. Now, while I’d never consider competitive gaming as a career, there are so many people who have turned their hobby into a full, lifelong career.
There are multiple different competitions from all over the world for all ages, some for fun and many that are monetized. In our Esports class, we use the Oklahoma Esports League (OESL) and the national PlayVS league to play our games.
When competing in PlayVS, you and your team could win anywhere from $500- $7500 USD in scholarships. Even if you don’t pursue a career in Esports, you could still benefit from enjoying your hobbies. Even if you do not win a scholarship with PlayVs, you still benefit by being on the team.
There are connections with people both in Jenks and outside of Jenks. In the world that we currently live in, having connections is crucial. If you want to pursue anything technical and online, being in the Esports team could get you a head start. Starting now, the coaches will be looking for social media managers to run their Twitch and Instagram accounts. Esports helps people find a career, whether it's within competitive playing, tech, or something unrelated.
“One of the girls that started the Esports program worked for Riot Games as an intern. From there, she actually got a graphic design job working for the Oklahoma City Thunder,” said Corey Hubble.
Just because you don’t want to participate in esports, or if you don’t want to do it career-wise, you could still benefit from joining the class. It’s an immersive community that has an extensive amount of benefits and connections. There are gateways to many other career paths and many connections.
If you do wish to compete professionally, there are 4 different levels or tiers to the competitions, with different opportunities and difficulties. Depending on how you start competitive esports, it could either be really easy or extremely difficult to go pro.
There are many different genres of games included in PlayVs. There are MOBAs (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), strategy, team sports (like Rocket League and NBA 2K), and fighting games. You don’t have to be great at shooter games to join a team, and you don’t have to be the best to join a team. The less known the game is, the more potential you have to join the team and learn hands-on. I joined the Hearthstone team with very little knowledge, and now I am competing in my first competitions this month.
Every year, the esports teams and communities are growing, and who knows when it will stop. Joining it for fun or any other reason can lead you to an unknown passion you may have never been able to ignite.
Contact Mr. Hubble and Mr. Applegate to learn more about our team and the games we compete in!
