Wirt County High School has created its first-ever Esports team this year. Twenty-four WCHS students have signed up to join and nearly fifteen are gaming on Monday through Thursday night. Team members play group matches in the games Rocket League, League of Legends, and Valorant. Single players have the opportunity to compete in Brawlhalla.
Students on the Esports team enjoy competing against other players from high schools in West Virginia. Not only are students learning the skills it takes to play the game, they are also developing strategic and social skills that will help them prepare for post-secondary opportunities.
Like other sports, students who are members of the Esports team must maintain a good GPA, attendance record, and a clean disciplinary record. Coach William Cottrell started working with the team on October 19th. He states their best game is Rocket League where his two teams are ranked 3rd and 4th in the state.
Freshman, Eli Jones, pictured above, says he is excited to participate in the Esports team this year because it gives him the opportunity to compete when he can't be involved in traditional sports.
Esports has seen a huge rise in popularity recently. It has the highest second viewership of any sports platform, only behind the NFL, and 175 colleges and universities are members of the National Association of Collegiate Esports. Students are looking forward to learning more about post-secondary opportunities in Esports through their participation in this team.
