Wallkill’s Esports team officially kicked off the first season ever on February 21. Starting strong, the team secured their first win of the season on March 5 against Wayne Hills in Rocket League. For those unfamiliar with Esports, it refers to competitive gaming that’s played out before an audience. It’s said that Esports originate in the early 1970s, when students at Stanford University got together for a competitive game of Spacewar. Even though the attendance was small, the idea quickly spread and by 1980, larger competitive gaming events were held with well-known developers. 

      Currently, the Wallkill Valley Rangers Esports team has nine players and always looking for new players. Ironically, this specific team wasn’t even intended to start this year, but rather in the fall of next school year. To the delight of gaming enthusiasts, approval was given early so that they could begin this spring. In record time, room L225 was renovated to be used for their competitions. Although they didn’t get a grant for the room specifically, they did get one for the computers alone and are applying for one for next year. According to Coach Stefanski, the computer grant was provided by an individual who passed away years ago. The money was left in a bank fund with one requirement: it must be used for student use. The school started using this fund as little microgrants that teachers could apply for to get certain amounts of money each year to use how they see fit. Last year, a teacher put in for a computer grant for Esports and now the team has finally taken shape! 

     In Esports, both varsity and junior varsity teams play the same game, but separately. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday has a designated game for each day. Tuesdays are 2 v 2 Rocket League, Wednesdays are 2 v 2 Super Smash Bros, and Thursdays are 5 v 5 Valorant. These games during the regular season require no travel. However when competing against locally regional schools they might travel; for example, the team is going to Hopatcong to compete at the end of April. Competitions typically last between thirty minutes to an hour and a half depending on the game. Rocket League and Super Smash Bros are usually the shortest games, while Valorant takes about an hour to an hour and a half. There are many games available throughout the season, but Rocket League, Super Smash Bros, and Valorant are the games played during the spring season. Other games available during the rest of the year are Omega Strikes, Overwatch 2, League of Legends, Splatoon 3, Street Fighter 6, and Chess. The different systems that the games are played on are a Gaming PC, PS 4, PS 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. As of now, their games are not being live streamed for viewers to watch at home since the main focus is getting the team competitions and getting them ready for their games, but setting up a streaming platform is a big goal for the team and coaches. On behalf of the journalism class, we wish the Esports team the best of luck with their season! 

     If you are interested in more information about Wallkill’s Esports team, please see Coach Kopnik, Coach Frangipane, and/or Coach Stefanski. Keep in mind this is not considered a club. This is a varsity sport and you will be able to earn a varsity letter!