Video gaming last sport standing amid national crisis
The loss of the spring season has become a reality for millions of high school athletes across the country this month, as schools remain shuttered to limit the spread of the deadly coronavirus. But amid all the chaos and disappointment, one sport remains largely unaffected, carrying on the sprit of competition while adhering to social distancing guidelines.
The Windsor High School Jaguars are competing in a pair of esports leagues, the only California Interscholastic Federation sanctioned sport still standing in Sonoma County. In their inaugural season, the Jags are fielding a roster of 10 players split into two teams, one that plays Rocket League and the other that plays League of Legends.
Led by coaches Jim Evans and Justin Thompson, the League of Legends squad features players: Adrian Dimaculangan, Chris Jones, Manuel Gonzalez, Logan Lino, Kaden Dominguez and Cody Griffus. Competing in the Rocket League are: Colin Salido, Mauricio Rico, Joshua Phillils and Aaron Schuyler.
The season began with a two-week pre-league schedule before moving into a nine-week regular season. The league concludes with a five-week playoff phase.
“Currently, we’re moving into week seven of the regular season,” Evans reported. “Our League of Legends team has a win-loss record of 4-6, holding at rank No.58 out of about 100 teams, “Our Rocket League team is ranked No. 12 out of 72 teams, with a record of 4-1.
The CIF rules originally required teams to compete together at school, but the guidelines were amended to allow individual players to compete at home due to the imposed shelter in place.
Coaches have set up a “Twitch” channel, allowing spectators to watch from their home computers and mobile devices (https://www.twitch.tv/whsjaguars/).
“Gaming in general is probably one of the easiest ways to keep yourself busy while we are self-isolating,” Evans said. “The students can be safe at home, and still compete online. I’ve set up a Discord channel for us to communicate messages and voice chat. When it comes to game day, I can chat with the teams and give them any support they need.”
The Windsor brain-trust provides the support for their teams in both leagues on game day, with Evans making most of the decisions regarding strategy while Thompson handles any tech support issues that may arise. The league uses a company called PlayVS to set up the schedules and matches, and protect students’ privacy and safety.
Although nobody is advocating that video gaming replace baseball, softball, track or swimming, the sport has proven to be well-suited for an entire generation and uniquely suited to handle the current crisis.
“Esports are growing like crazy,” Evans noted. “Last year, more people watched competitive gaming esports than both the Final Four and Super Bowl. The League of Legends championship of 2019 had over 100 million viewers alone.”
For a select group of players hoping to take their game to the next level, esports is beginning to take hold in colleges across the country as well.
“The list of colleges that give scholarships for players is growing fast,” Evans said. “If I recall, there is over 20 in California alone. Colleges are even sending out recruiters to watch championships, looking for the next esports star.”
