ESPORTS
Seahawk Esports takes flight at Hilton Head Island High School!
By: Ashton Johnson, Carmine Genovese, and Nicholas Korneluk
Esports are growing at a rapid pace at schools across the globe. Many schools have since adopted the program due to its extreme rise in demand; however some still view it as not a “real sport,” yet this is simply not the case. Due to this new-found demand, Hilton Head Island High School embraced a new Esports program, which was founded by Ms. Collier.
Having a variety of games is a great way to get more students interested and involved with the club, Ms. Collier noted that “Currently, we are playing Rocket League, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Valorant, Overwatch Two, and also Brawlhalla.” Hopefully even more games will be added down the line, the more the merrier!
There has been ever increasing interest in Esports over time, with 2022 being the industry’s biggest year yet. With this increase in demand for esports, more schools have been getting involved with the field. “Well, there has been a lot of interest that has been building up over the years, in particular May River has had an esports team for a while now, and a lot of members of our board of education have been promoting it because they have children here on campus that where interested in getting involved with something outside of traditional sports, which may not have been a good fit for them, they asked me a while back if I wanted to start one, and I said, ‘Yes, of course.’ but it took until last year to truly get it started.” In the future, more schools in Beaufort County will adopt the program. With the influence the Hilton Head Island High School program has had on students, and the success that the team has had so far, other schools could follow suit.
Having the proper technology is extremely beneficial to the success of an Esports team. “I really hope that we are able to get more technology, right now that's been our biggest problem the limited technology, but we should be getting more computers soon. I’m hoping to build and even bigger team, there was a lot of interest at the beginning of the year. As we actually got settled down there where less people.Right now we have different varsity teams in tournaments, and they are doing really well, I hope that they make it to the playoffs in their respective tournament, but I do hope they are successful because If we do win, we can win more technology, and college scholarships” Hopefully the increase of attention to the club will allow for a larger budget.
With an increase of interest in the team, one of the biggest questions on students minds would be “How do I join?”. Students interested in joining team can do so in multiple ways. “Right now, they would need to contact either me or Ms. Smith and then they would have to sign an obligation to join the club, and then fill out the parent permission form, because some of these games are technically violent, and that their parents are consenting them to play video games. Currently, our Varsity and Junior Varsity teams are kind of locked in because we are in tournaments, so it will be sort of practice until we go into another season.” Interested students can join now and spend the spring honing their skills to win in the fall!
Another thing that sets Esports apart from other sports, is that unlike traditional sports, there is no set season for it. “We are going to do both semesters, typically the first month of school is for practicing and scrimmaging with other schools and then they usually start competing in tournaments, for right now, our tournaments started toward the beginning of February and go on into the middle of March, and then the playoffs happen in April.” Students who sign up now will have the ability to play as early as the following month.
One of the most common criticisms of Esports is that some people do not consider it a real sport. Esports is frequently seen as a way for people to play video games and make money. “Well I think it depends on the person mostly, all the kids in the club take it seriously, as do I, and want to compete on a competitive level and they want it to be recognized as a serious and legitimate sport, and I want it to be recognized as a real legit sport in South Carolina, but that’s kinda above me right now, But I do get that right now a lot of people see it as just video game club and I understand that because right now we’re still trying to get new equipment, get more organized, become more professional, etc”
Helping mentor new Esports players is crucial in developing their skills.. “Absolutely, I think a lot of them, although they do take it seriously I understand if they talk about it with friends or other people who are not interested in video games, they may be like “it’s not a big deal if you're ranked high, it’s just a video game! And I'm hoping that by helping them be more successful and helping them use different strategies when they’re practicing that they'll get better and better. One thing that is nice about video games is that it is easier to track stats and gauge how good someone is than in real sports.”
Ms. Collier is doing a great job at making Esports an important aspect here at Hilton Head Island High School. Interested students can contact Ms. Collier or Ms. Smith to join and fill out the obligation forms. Sign up quick, as spring playoffs start in April.