According to the coach of the eSports program Jacob Utites, eSports is involved in the college process.  

“We have college recruiters coming in and offering scholarships to students for college,” Utites said. “We have also had some students win scholarships by playing in high school; Our ‘Overwatch’ team won 15,000 in last year’s tournament.”

Junior Brandon Wetterlin said he believes eSports includes all the aspects of a standard sport.

“It’s sports, but for video games. It relates to many other sports just not on the physical side of it,” Wetterlin said. “eSports is more on the mental, strategic side of sports.”

Senior Leo Finley said eSports proves gaming is as competitive as other sports..

“eSports legitimizes the competitive nature of gaming. It has people working together in real life compared to online,” Finley said.

Utites said competing in eSports could lead to a job in the field of entertainment.

“There are also a lot of jobs in eSports — you could play, or some recruiters have come in talking about broadcasting, such as how to broadcast eSports or live stream,” Utites said.

Junior Michael Ramirez said eSports is a great combination of mental and physical exertion.

“In eSports, you have to be able to remember strategies and information on maps while also adding the aspect of teamwork and competition,” Ramirez said.

Utites said having experience with a team environment can help in job searches.

“In the future, employers are looking for team-building skills (and) people who are use to working on a team,” Utites said. “That’s why they love people in sports and people in eSports.”