And you thought it was just a video game!
It turns out that all that time spent in front of a game console might be more than just idle amusement. Video game playing, commonly known as “esports,” features competitions between different schools, and has been spreading across the state in popularity. Now, esports has arrived at Jefferson High School under a program administered by 21st Century Community Learning Center in Boulder.
The Esports program was launched during the pandemic in 2020 by Rochelle Hesford, in an effort to get high school kids to connect and engage without being physically together. Donna DeHennis now oversees the after-school program, and says she has about eight regular attendees, but the program is open to all. Regulars will often invite friends to a “practice” to see if it is something that fits them.
“Right now, we incorporate D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) into the program on Monday nights, and that has been a pretty big draw for new students,” DeHennis said in an email. “We’ve even had some interest from staff members to join in, which would be great!”
Esports games are very similar to the console games already in many homes. Some of the more familiar games include Super Smash Bros Ultimate, a fighting simulator, and MarioKart 8 Deluxe, which is a video racing event. For those preferring less action and quieter competition, video chess is another esport option. While some games like chess are simple one-on-one events, others like Counter-Strike 2 can feature up to five players on each side.
At a recent Monday night practice at JHS, participants were divided into groups, following a Dungeons and Dragon storyline from DeHennis. Inevitably, as in real life, chance played a role. A roll of the special dice combined with the attributes of the characters played by students determined the outcome of each adventure.
One group had to choose whether to cross a dangerous bridge to continue their quest, or turn back. After discussing how their characters would use their unique qualities, the group chose to proceed across the bridge. Their planning and crafty use of characters (plus some generous dice rolls) allowed them to get across the mystical bridge, and continue to follow “the mimic” – the object of the adventure.
The Montana High School Association (MHSA) executive board recently changed the process for adding new sanctioned sports or activities, opening up the opportunity for esports to become a fully supported MHSA activity. MHSA executive Brian Michelotti says that esports is already offered by 30-40 schools as a club sport. It could be piloted as an interscholastic sport if at least 10 member schools, or 25% of the classification, agree to participate. If a request is approved, the pilot would be evaluated by the MHSA board after two years. MHSA Members then could vote to officially sanction the activity.
If made official by the MHSA, Montana would join 18 other states in esports competitions. That is an outcome DeHennis would be excited to see. “Let’s be honest, how cool would it be to see these students get to have bragging rights and letterman’s jackets! This is honestly one of my favorite things about this program, that those students who are not comfortable or confident in playing traditional sports can still have the opportunity to have group activities with like-minded students.”
