Page 46 - Spring 2022

s| ACADEMIA
North Oconee High popularizes eSports
Story and photos by Morgan Phillips
The 19 teammates who make up North Oconee High School’s eSports teams don’t meet on a field to run plays or throw a physical ball. They don’t gauge their practices by the amount of sweat that drips from their faces. But they are just as competitive as any traditional sport.
Members of the teams play on computers and compete virtually.
Rocket League is a sport-based video game described as “soccer with cars,” and League of Legends is an online battle arena game. The multiplayer videogame competitors played well in the fall. The Rocket League team placed 16th out of 205 teams, and they made it to the third round of playoffs. The League of Legends team made it to the fourth round of playoffs, where only the top
32 teams competed.
“They were hoping that they would make the playoffs,” said
NOHS eSports coach Matthew Frederiksen. “But nobody expected them to make it as far in the playoffs as they did.”
The NOHS eSports program was founded in the spring of 2021. Tryouts were held last summer, and the first official season began in September of this school year.
Frederiksen emphasized the value of the program.
“It’s not a real sport in the traditional sense,” he said. “But these games still require just as much preparation, teamwork and collaboration as traditional sports [do].”
According to PlayVS, an eSports-hosting platform, eSports help with character growth, student engagement, socialization skills and GPA improvement.
“It reaches a whole different type of student than other things at the school,” said Frederiksen, adding that it has boosted school attendance for some students and improved the grades of others.
ESports helps with character growth, student engagement and socialization skills
sMorgan Phillips is a news reporter for The Oconee Enterprise newspaper in Watkinsville, Ga. PAGE 44 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022