Findlay’s coaches are excited to welcome Esports into the athletic department. Following the push for Esports to be taken out of the club setting in previous years, Findlay’s teams join up with the high school sports under school funding. Susan Blodgett, head coach, has worked hard to make things happen for students.
The FHS esports program offers Overwatch, Valorant, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros, “Smash” for short. The leagues operate on a Fall and Winter season spread out weekly. The teams compete with nearby schools, operating under Esports Ohio (ESO).
The first event in Esports history was a tournament titled “Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics.” It was held at Stanford University AI laboratory in October of 1972. The title played, “Spacewar,” is an early video game where players navigate through obstacles as a ship in space. Rolling Stone writer Steward Brown hosted and awarded winner Bruce Baumgart with a year’s subscription to Rolling Stone and free beer.
The first league was established in June of 1997. They were founded in Dallas, Texas and titled the Cyberathlete Professional League, “CPL” for short. The group started as a US-based tournament organizer. And then, in 2005 they made it to Asia and Europe through the CPL World Tour.
Esports goes back quite a few years at the high school. In the fall of 2018, Findlay looked into joining up and in 2019 Findlay was registered as a club. Super Smash Brothers was a student-led after school activity for those interested to seek out.
Recently Valorant, captained by Thomas Benton, made it to states in the last season. Valorant is a fps, team based game with a total of five players on each team. The game is heavily reliant on smarts and playtime, having to understand the different maps and team synergy.
“Valorant requires a lot of playtime. Skills from other video games don’t translate well into Valorant. So most of the time when it comes to picking who is filling in it’s based on hours,” Valorant captain Thomas Benton said.
Teams are composed of four roles: controllers, duelists, initiators, and sentinels. The Findlay team made it to the top two of the Northwest regionals competition at Cedar Point Sports Center. This carried them over to states in Akron.
“We didn’t know if we were going to win or not, but It was just really cool. And that camaraderie you get to build with that team is special,” Coach Susan Blodgett said.
The Super Smash Bros team is also very successful, premier captained by Juni McMaster and reserve captained by Gavin Rader. “Smash” is a platform fighting game developed by Nintendo. The player has access to an extensive roster of licensed characters to utilize. The goal is to blow enough damage to your opponent and knock them off the playing stage.
Rocket League, a soccer video game with a twist, is a vehicular third person player. Each member of the crew pilots a car with rockets attached. Games are made of six people, three on each team. Rocket League is captained by Hunter Jarrett.
Captained by Zach Smith is the Overwatch team. Overwatch is an fps with five person teams, similar to Valorant. Teams are divided into two damage, two support, and one tank. Each role requires different utility out of a person.
“Overwatch requires dedication. You have to be willing to work on your skills and control with your emotions over the one or two days you’re there for the team. You can’t be overwhelmed,” Overwatch captain Zach Smith said.
Esports is a great opportunity for students. Not only are there competitive days but there are also club days to just relax. Anyone can come by and hang out.
“People should come join because it gives a good way to relax after school. People can still get a drive from the competitive nature but they can also just chill out because of the free moments with others,” Super Smash Bros. captain Juni McMaster said.
Those who are playing are looking for a good two seasons this school year. Be on the lookout for games streamed online and check out the Findlay Trojan Esports google classroom for more information. The class code is “MSOVU3M.”
