We’ll step Off the Field to take a closer look at some of the Republic students who are competing in non-sports activities. Our report is brought to you by State Farm Agent Sarah Rader. Talk to her about how you can save money by combining your home and auto insurance.by Olivia Skeans
The industry of competitive video games, otherwise known as eSports, has become increasingly popular in recent years. Republic adopted its own eSports club just a few years ago.
Teams on the professional, collegiate, and high school levels have grown a following from both gamers and spectators–ESPN, ABC and other major television networks are beginning to live broadcast various eSports tournaments around the world. According to USA Today, the League of Legends World Championship in South Korea, which aired on ESPN in 2014, beat out both the Heat vs. Spurs NBA Final and the World Cup Final for the number of viewers, with a total of 27
million.
“About three years ago, we had some students that were very interested in it. They kind of came to me and were talking about it. The more I looked into it, and seeing how popular it’s becoming and how big of an industry it is, I ran it by my tech department and my administration here,” says Republic eSports sponsor Robert Coffey. “They were very supportive on what we could do to get it set up here. We saw this as an opportunity that we could be one of the first area schools to get involved in it and be the frontrunner of it.”
Last year, the club participated in an eSports tournament held at Southwest Baptist University and competed online against schools across the United States and Canada. As Republic is one of the first schools in the area to adopt an eSports program, the club finds some difficulty in competing with other local teams.
“Right now, it’s an interesting time, especially at the high school level, because it’s still getting organized. It’s difficult for us to coordinate with a school that’s not an area school,” explains Coffey. “We’re looking to play other schools this year as well. We’ve got some area schools that have teams that are very excited about competing.”
More and more students have shown interest in the club as the buzz surrounding eSports has expanded. Many colleges are beginning to offer scholarships for players to compete at the collegiate level, including SBU, Stephens College, Columbia College, and Missouri
Valley.