ESports comes to Virginia.

By Anonymous -

This past June (2019) as a part of an Educational Leadership class, I read an interesting article about how colleges are handing out scholarships to students to participate in their ESports programs. According to Scholarships.com, more than 30 U.S. colleges and universities are offering substantial scholarships for gamers. As a result, I believed that if I could provide a new avenue at my high school for an under-served population, I should give it my best to start an ESports program.

ESports Benefits

  1. Sense of Community
  2.  Character Development
  3. Scholarship Opportunities
  4. Embodies ISTE Standards
  5. Increase Achievement
  6. STEM Engagement

I did some research and found two high school gaming platforms: the ESports High School League (EHSL) and Play Versus (PlayVS). I also found out that my state had just approved ESports as an official "activity" through the Virginia High School League (VHSL) and they were using PlayVS as a supported platform. I created an account on PlayVS and downloaded all the specs on how to get the PlayVS platform on school computers. Then, I put together a proposal for my principal in late June to start a program. The proposal and specs for PlayVS were sent to the technology supervisor in the district to see the viability of the infrastructure and needs of the program. As a sidebar, each student gamer would be responsible for a $64 entry fee to join PlayVS. We were blessed to receive the entry fees for seven students from our principal to help us in our inaugural season. See the links at the end of this blog to help get started with your own ESports program.
  • At this point, if you are interested in getting a program together, I would highly suggest you start with the PlayVS specs and checking your infrastructure with the IT (technology) department. This was the most challenging part of the process for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, the IT department was successful in clearing all the hurdles to create a space for a gaming platform. 
  • PlayVS currently offers three games: SMITE, Rocket League, and League of Legends. We currently can play League of Legends. The other games required larger graphics cards that we could not acquire. 


When school started, I had an interest meeting and 20 students showed up! Many of them were gamers and just wanted to know what games we were going to play and what the format was going to be. Once I explained the format and game, I had 11 that decided to tryout. We ran the PlayVS recommended tryout system which had its own scoring rubric (nice)! A League of Legends team consists of five players. Therefore, we kept 5 players and 2 alternates. We are thankful for our 21st-century after school program which are able to provide gamer headsets and bus ride home for students who participate.


So, here I am in mid-October as a League of Legends ESports Coach getting ready for our Staunton River Eagles first pre-season game tomorrow! I am super excited to see what lies ahead for the team. 

 Update: 10/22/2019
We learned a lot from playing a great team from Stafford, VA who had a League of Legends club for about 4 years. We lost 2-0. But, I am very proud of the members of the team. We had some great conversations after that match and I think the kids have a better understanding of what to expect and how to prepare for future matches. Check back!

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