Every year at schools across the country, new classes, activities, sports, or clubs are added to give new opportunities to the students. This school year is unlike any other for many reasons, and one of the new additions is an Esports team.

Esports is a growing opportunity for students across the country to try for fun or to try at a competitive level. With the addition of the team to Prep, people have a lot of questions as to what they can expect from the team, whether that be from a perspective on the team or from the outside looking in.

Prep teacher Mr. Check is running the team and spoke about the year ahead.

“Right now the [start] date is to be determined,” Mr. Check said. “We are having some difficulties setting everything up. But when meetings do start, they will most likely take place on Wednesdays after school.”

There are a variety of games in consideration as of now, including Fortnite, Rocket League, MutliVersus, Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart 8, and Overwatch 2.

“The competitions look like they will be played in a few separate ways,” Mr. Check said. “First, if we have enough people, we can do some small scrimmages in house with games like Rocket League. Second, we can compete in intramurals with some different high schools in the area. Third, we can compete through the HSEL, but it has a fee similar to playing a sport like football, which might drive away some people”

Overall, Mr. Check is optimistic about Esports at Prep.

“Our main goal is to get people together who enjoy playing games, and the sky is really the limit here,” Mr. Check said.

With the Esports team being a new attraction to Prep, the team might bring in people to Prep who weren’t previously considering it. Vice President of Enrollment Management Mr. Dougherty shared his thoughts on this new driving force to Prep.

“Esports will provide new opportunities to attract students of a wide variety of interests,” Mr. Dougherty said. “The new program will allow students who typically aren’t interested in athletics or the arts to represent their school, to compete, to learn sportsmanship, and to enjoy the sense of camaraderie that could never be done in the past.”

The Esports team has a bright future at Prep, and many students cannot wait to see what it brings!