VALORANT A TEAM:

Santiago Castro-Meza, Senior, West Florence

Tyndall Fountain, Senior, Wilson

Nathaniel Carey, Sophomore, West Florence

Kimberly Arellano-Salcido, Junior, West Florence

Joshua Hoehn, Junior, Wilson

Erika Smith, Freshman, West Florence

SUPER SMASH BROTHERS ATHLETES:

Nathaniel Bruce, Junior, West Florence

Sean Lewis, Freshman, South Florence

Jalen Bowens, Junior, West Florence

The dictionary definition of "Sport" is "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.". We would argue that eSports is exactly that, a team operates in a competitive environment involving highly trained reflexes and reaction times for their own, and the crowds entertainment. Professional eSports players can practice up to 12 hours a day 7 days a week to master their sport, far more hours than any that participate in traditional sports. It's easy to dismiss Video Games as something done purely as a pass-time based on games of the past, but we challenge you to watch the dedication, commitment, and mastery that Competitive players show.

Video Gaming is a very large category, there are certainly some games that exist to just sink time into and you have certainly seen someone in your life play those types of games. However, eSports gaming is an entirely different type of game. It requires significant skill, coordination, teamwork, and communication. If you compare it to something more traditional like Football each player has an opportunity to learn the skills that you would often attribute there like leadership, dedication, team cohesion. However in an eSports League you will see an entirely different type of student engage and succeed that wouldn't often participate in traditional sports.

Beyond the life skills that students will learn while participating there is a vast array of educational fields that they will come in contact with. Some of these fields include Digital Media Design, Broadcasting, Game Theory and Design, Event Management, Video Production, Networking, and much more. We intend to expand the program to include accredited courses involving Game Design, 3D Design, Sound Design, Programming, and Cyber Security.

An eSports League allows for competitive and organized team play that they likely aren't participating in at home. Furthermore, this provides them the opportunity to succeed among their peers, earn Scholarships, and participate in local, regional, national, and international tournaments for prize pools. All of this, and we facilitate life skill growth that comes with working as a team in a competitive environment.

Yes! there are many schools nationally that offer Scholarships for eSports, some statistics report as much as 20 Million Dollars being offered explicitly for eSports Scholarships. Locally, University of South Carolina Sumter, Coker College, and Savannah College of Art and Design offer Scholarships to their eSports Teams. This number is growing every year and having experience with an organized team and a resume of tournament matches will go a long way towards getting one of those Scholarships!