When the terms ‘playoffs’ and ‘finals’ are used for events in high school, it is clear that they are for a
ball sport, right?
It was a correct assumption until fall last year, when states like Alabama, Connecticut, and Kentucky
began hosting inter-school video game competitions. Popularly called ‘varsity esports’, these video
game competitions are not very different than actual field games with regular seasons, playoffs and
finals just like in regular sports. You might also have tried out online games with a Golden nugget
bonus code, and wasn’t it fun?
High School is Fun
Who would’ve have guessed that playing video games would turn into a full-fledged high school
sport? A team of predetermined number of students from two schools compete with each other to
win the tournament and go on to represent their high school at the state level championship,
however, the competitors can play individually or with a team based on the type of event.
Not a long time ago, CNN was invited to observe one such phenomenon event between two high
schools from Atlanta; the North Atlanta High School and Grady High School. In this competition two
teams of five faced off against each other in a video game called ‘Smite’ where they battled as Gods
and mythical creatures against each other to lead their school to victory. If the competing schools do
not have enough space to host the event, then they can contact a facility that gives both the team a
fair opportunity to win.
Join a Club!
Let’s face it, field sports are not everyone’s cup of tea, so for them, joining an esports club is easier
and more fun!
Like every sport, esports also have a predefined set of rules and regulations and the students are
divided into different categories and fields based on their skills. Various terms are related to this
new high school sport, they are participants, players, club administrators, clubs, teams, and captain.
A team and club are different, as a club can contain students from a different school that the host
school partners with.
Tournament Details
There are basically three types of tournaments and different seasons that these tournaments are
held at namely, preseason, postseason, regular season, and the finals. The three types of
tournament are,
1. Major Tournament
These are tournaments between the same clubs but different teams.
2. Summer Invitational Tournament
Teams competing in these tournaments are teams that have qualified due to their high rank
in the Majors.
3. Open Tournament
Anyone can compete in open tournaments, individuals or teams that do not belong to that
club can compete too.
What do the Players Compete at?
There is no fixed rule that every esports match must consist the same game, on the other hand
different venues go for different game options for the players. Some of the popular choices are
Dota2, Call of Duty, League of Legends, and Smite the chosen game is sometimes kept confidential
and not revealed until the match day.
So, this is how far technology has progressed, making video games a part of high school sports.
