The Next Level of Sports

The Waukee High School eSports team has started this year with great success, winning their first competition on Monday, and having another planned for the middle of next week. The club has been actively receiving new members since the beginning of the year, starting with 11 people and jumping up to over 40 signed up after the first email. 

Currently, the club is in its fall season, focusing mainly on the game Super Smash Bros Ultimate, with multiple competitions planned for the near future. Oliver Tow, a junior, has been spearheading the Smash team, scheduling practices every week and actively providing the team feedback on how to improve. “I want to get really structured practices and be able to have more regiment in them,” he said, “like having specific things that we’re working on, not just general things.” Over the course of the upcoming year, more games will be featured in our winter and spring seasons, such as Overwatch, Rocket League, and Mario Kart.

Coach Mr. Palmer was initially intrigued by the thought of an eSports team after hearing how many schools in today’s age provide scholarships for eSports and started one early last year as a trial run to see what a season would look like. At first, the club was combined with Northwest because of a shortage of members, with only one player on the varsity team from WHS, Oliver. Since then, the amount of new people joining allowed the club to split from this year onwards. According to Mr. Palmer, this decision has led to discussions with the school board about a potential gaming arena to be built inside the school with multiple gaming consoles and monitors.

Joining the club doesn’t mean you just have to play competitively, or even play the games at all. Senior Talan Shah explained that team members can take on many different roles. “You can be casting, doing the work behind the scenes, video work, graphic work, the promotional work, it doesn’t matter, it’s not just games, you’re able to make these awesome connections with awesome people.” Talan, for example, started casting matches this year rather than playing and has thoroughly enjoyed it, saying that it’s helped him build up some good skills.

Additionally, games featured in the club aren’t limited to the ones with competitive seasons. At the time of his interview, Mr. Palmer said, “I was just sending an email right now to someone who was asking about a Madden season, and while we might not have an official Madden season through the Iowa High School eSports Association, I still want to have a chance for kids to come and be a part of the team based around their passions.” Many students have come in during a Smash meet and played their favorite games while spending time with the team. “If you like video games, doesn’t matter which one, I just think it’s a really cool place for kids to go and hang out.”

If people are interested in signing up for the club, go to bit.ly/waukeeesports