While teams from around the area are competing on the court, students at the Owensboro Innovation Academy are going toe-to-toe with in a different way.
OIA has launched the district’s first eSports team with four teams competing in Rocket League, Madden, Smash Brothers and League of Legends.
Despite not being a member of the KHSAA, the academy can still compete with teams from around the region.
Logan Walker, OIA’s computer science facilitator, said they felt like need for the program.
“We felt like it was something a big portion of our students would be interested in,” he said. “There’s all sorts of research that shows the value of students participating in some extra curricular activity with school and this was something that none of the students home high schools were currently offering. We also felt it could be a great recruiting tool as we visit area middle schools and invite students to apply to attend OIA.”
It’s not like eSports are anything new as they’ve been sweeping the country for the last several years.
The KHSAA recently expanded what if offered and Walker said the students reached out to him. OIA principal Beth Benjamin was on board for the project and from there, it was all about gathering information for Walker.
“I visited the KHSAA website and saw that it’s esports program is run by a company called PlayVS,” he said. “I reached out to them and began the process of getting our team started. When I contacted them we had about two weeks before the regular season started, so we’ve put this together very quickly.”
When it came to choosing the leagues they competed in, Walker said they let the ones decide that would be competing – the students.
“During my discussions with PlayVS they informed me about all of the games they offered so I sent out an email to all students asking if there was interest in any of these games,” he said. “Rocket League, Smash Brothers, Madden and League of Legends were the games that most students expressed interest in playing.
“Rocket League actually has the most student interest and is also the easiest to get started. It is actually free to play and is cross-platform, meaning students can play on and against people with a Playstation, an Xbox, Nintendo Switch or PC. The other games are system-specific but students can play from home and use their own systems so we were really only limited by who had access to the game and if we had enough players to field a full team.”
Walker said 25 students have signed up fo far and he anticipates more in the fall as not all students that were interested were able to make it work with their spring schedules.
He said he hopes the opportunity will give students extra motivation but it’s also causes some to come out of their shell a little bit more.
“Esports functions the same way other sports work at the high school,” he said. “If you’re not academically eligible you can’t play. So this has given them a little extra push I believe. I have seen my own students in the class become more engaging since joining our eSports team, especially the underclassmen who don’t know me as well. With only being in my classroom once a week they’re still kind of shy and reserved and haven’t said much in class, but after finding I’m a gamer much like themselves, there’s been more conversation in passing in the hallways or in class.”
Even though they’re not a member of the KHSAA’s league, Walker said they still have the opportunity to compete with other students.
“OIA is what the Kentucky Department of Education classifies as an A2 school where dual enrolled both here at OIA and their home high school (DC, Apollo, OHS),” he said. “A2 schools can’t participate in KHSAA sponsored events so we participate in the PlayVS regional league. We can potentially play against schools all up and down the east coast. One of our first opponents is actually a small private school in Ontario, Canada.
“Going forward, we may work with the home high schools to start programs with them. I have already reached out to the administration at OHS having coached various teams over the years for them. They are in support of adding an esports program in the future. Ideally, I would like to get to a point where students who are very competitive and want to compete for a state title in some of these games could play through their home high school while students who are looking for a more relaxed environment could play in the regional leagues through OIA.”
While most students currently play at home with their own machines, Walker said they are looking into getting some gaming equipment at the school, which would open the door for even more students to participate.
Walked added given the ability of the district’s IT department, there’s a lot more they can do the serve the students.
