With more than  50 active members and regular participation in Virginia High School League (VHSL) sanctioned tournaments, the school’s E-Sports Club has had a solid record of success. Despite this, there are still many students who are not aware of the club.   

The E-Sports club was founded in 2017 by assistant principal Mr. Miles Carey and a group of students. The club quickly grew. The club is a conglomerate of smaller groups that each participate in their own specific game.

“[Super Smash Brothers] meets every week, [while] our League of Legends meets twice a week during our competitive seasons,” sophomore Abdelhamid Koudiri said.

The club and its organization were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, so they adapted to the new environment. 

“ [The E-Sports club] used to meet once a month, however, due to COVID-19  restrictions we have focused on smaller, game-specific meetings.” Mr. Carey said. 

This makes sure that groups are still able to meet, while also mitigating the size of each club activity, and keeping COVID-19 safety conditions maintained.

“The focus is on competing in specific tournaments,” Mr. Carey said, “If you wanted to compete in a tournament, then I could help [a student] get registered.” 

The club also stresses that students of all skill levels are encouraged and welcome to participate. 

“There are no requirements to join, if you want to play competitively or just casually – It’s a casual club”, said sophomore Anna Chisholm. 

Mr. Carey said that the club is focused on a variety of skills, but also has accommodations for those who want to become professional gamers. However, there are some parameters as with other competitive sports. 

“If you want to play competitively, then students need to keep up their grade point average,” Mr. Carey said. “If they’re absent on a day of the competition they couldn’t play that game.” 

For professional players, the club offers a rigorous schedule during the spring season.

“Usually during the [spring] season we have one game a week, which is usually on Thursdays – Off-season we usually just practice against each other,” said Abdelhamid. 

E-Sports tends to focus their gameplay on games that are played during the tournaments, such as Valorant, Super Smash Brothers, and League of Legends, however, they sometimes play the game Splatoon. But the team emphasizes that casual players who don’t participate in tournaments can pick whatever they want to play. 

“[In E-Sports], we really play whatever students are interested in,” said Anna.

The E-Sports Club emphasizes that they are building a community for other gamers across the school community. 

“Just join,” Mr. Carey said.  “You don’t have to show up to any meetings, but you could connect with others on our Discord. It’s a good way to meet other people with similar interests.” 

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