All about (e) sports

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Unblinking eyes stare at computer screens. Hands grip controllers as fingers manipulate joysticks and firing controls. Bodies move in response to the virtual characters as the game progresses.

When the game ends, voices rise to conversation levels as players talk through what happened.

This scene is becoming more common as schools join the growing esports community.

Esports, according to dictionary.com, are “a multiplayer video game played competitively for spectators, typically by professional gamers.”

“They’re competitive video games,” Ryan Hinds, esports coach at Concordia University, said. “It mirrors traditional sports, just in a different medium.

“It’s how fast you can click and can think.”

Competitions at both the college and high school levels have risen in popularity over the last couple years. Hinds helped create the Nebraska Scholastic Esports Association, and more than 25 schools are part of it, he said.

Among the high schools participating in esports are Seward and Centennial. Jessica Breitkreutz, CHS coach, said she first heard about esports a couple years ago.

“It’s so good for kids who are good at it,” she said.

The Broncos had planned to start last year, but COVID-19 put a stop to that. This fall was their first session, she said. Centennial had 13 students sign up.

At Seward, Coach Aaron Blersch said he had 25-35 students express an interest last year, but Covid stopped the season.

 

High school students play either Super Smash Brothers or League of Legends. Competitions are against schools their size, Breitkreutz said.

“We are learning,” she said with a grin. “I thought this was a good opportunity for the kids. They can try something different, and it’s an opportunity to be involved.”

All competition games are vetted through the NSEA. Games are not super violent and don’t have mature content, Breitkreutz said.

“The selling point is adult supervision,” Blersch said.

The season goes for nine weeks, and then the postseason begins, he said.

Last year, the teams played Super Smash Brothers and League of Legends. This year, Hearthstone was added, Blersch said.

Teams of two compete against other two-person teams from other schools. Seward’s team of Andrew Alley and Zander Nolan was 11-1 in early March.

Alley, a senior this year, said the appeal for him is the competition and playing with a partner. He and Nolan have the second highest winning percentage in the state, he said.

“It’s fun to help other guys,” Alley said.

Blersch said Seward held a tournament to find its top six for varsity competition. The students then decided on pairings.

CHS competitor Reiden Fowler said they usually rotate teams, allowing each person to play with different teammates.

“When you learn how others play, you get into rhythm,” Noah Jensen of Centennial said.

Playing the game

Super Smash Brothers is one of the biggest games in the world, SHS junior Damien Gligorevic said.

In Super Smash Brothers, each player can choose a character. Characters have three lives, and the goal of the seven-minute game is to knock the opposing team’s characters off the game platform.

Each hit raises your score, Fowler said. The higher the number, the farther you can send an opponent.

As you compete, you learn how to fight the other 75-80 characters, Alley said.

“You know how your character goes against them,” he said, adding that characters can adapt over the course of a match.

Alley said there’s trash talking that happens throughout the day of competition, but it’s all in fun.

Jensen said he practices when he can find time. He heard about esports from Fowler.

“I’d never touched a controller before. Apparently I’m OK at it,” he said with a grin.

Gligorevic said he practices using characters he’s had trouble with. He plays almost every day either online or with friends.

Alley said he tries not to take the games too seriously because “I play worse if it’s not fun.”

The Centennial students support each other as they play and do get hyped up for competition, Jensen said.

“When you win, there’s the adrenaline surge,” Gligorevic said. “It’s fun to be around people with the same enjoyment.”

Alley said it’s fun to be around his esports teammates at their twice-weekly practices.

“The competition is fun, but nothing beats this,” he said.

Gligorevic said esports appealed to him as an opportunity to compete at something he’s good at.

Last year he played League of Legends, while this year he’s gone with Super Smash Brothers.

“It feels good to compete where you don’t have to be judged,” he said. “It’s great to have a place where I can show my talents.”

Centennial’s team includes Cooper Miller, Zeke Nitz, Emalee Hawley, James Hoffschneider, Will Saunders, Jayden Foreman, Reiden Fowler, Lance Haberman, Noah Jensen, Dakota Guinn and Rayshun Foreman.

Seward’s team members are Matthew Schultz, Andrew Alley, Jenna Blersch, Ross Brown, Kenyon Caldwell, Aiden Cannady, Ian Fiala, Aaron Ford, Damien Gligorevic, Mason Larson, Nick McCormick, Ben Meehl, Landon Nelson, Barrett Nitz,  Chase Sheldon, Zander Nolan and Cameron Shannon.

Playing at college

At the collegiate level, Hinds said, teams play Overwatch, Rocket League and League of Legends. The easiest is Rocket League, which is soccer with rocket-powered cars. Super Smash Brothers will join the lineup next year.

The esports scene has always been around, but its become more visible now that its early players are reaching their 30s, Hinds said.

“I love to play games. I enjoy the skill they take and the different strategies involved,” he said.

Esports are an extremely competitive arena, with everyone wanting to be the best, Hinds said.

Practices at Concordia include warmups where players loosen their fingers and get ready mentally.

Esports have been official at CU since November. Hinds said it’s been exciting to see the competition ramp up during this first season.

The Concordia roster includes 15 players, with eight playing Overwatch, four Rocket League and three League of Legends.

Overwatch, which goes for 15-20 minutes, uses six-man teams with each player filling a different role. League of Legends is a five-man roster and takes a minimum of 20 minutes per match, and Rocket League is three on three and goes for five minutes..

Concordia has its own esports arena on the lowest level of the Thom Leadership Educational Center.

Hinds said CU hosted an open house when the room, which used to be a computer lab, was ready.

Those interested in esports but who don’t want to play can help commentate the matches on Concordia’s online Twitch broadcast. They can do play by play and analysis, Hinds said.

One of the biggest challenges to esports, Hinds said, is learning the terminology.

Scholarships are available for both competition and content creation, he said.