All about the E-Sports team

Photo from Creative Commons License

E-Sports can be an overlooked team at Owasso; however, their recent success in tournaments has brought them high recognition. The Owasso team, comprised of upper and underclassmen, has fought hard to form the team and even harder to win tournaments, compete with other schools and win scholarships. In today’s game-competitive environment, many schools have official E-Sports teams, including Owasso. 

Mr. Paschal runs the E-Sports team at the west campus during sixth hour. Before E-Sports was an elective class, it was a club. Mr. Paschal stressed that Owasso’s main IT expert, Russel Thornton, was a huge part of the team’s success in gaining recognition. When E-Sports was considered a club, Thornton was a huge help with getting funding and extra technology, including high-end computers for the class. This help from faculty, along with the commitment of the students involved, was extremely useful while pushing for E-Sports to become an elective class. 

Upon walking into the E-Sports room, the students are engulfed by computer screens showing many different online games, such as Valorant, Overwatch and Fortnite. The only offline game that's available to the team is Super Smash Bros. There are frequent tournaments for student E-Sports competitors to play these games; their victories can lead to countless scholarship opportunities.

Caleb Rathbone, a dedicated student of the E-Sports classroom, enthusiastically states, “I want to get a scholarship through gaming tournaments.”

Rathbone goes on to explain how to get a scholarship through games like Valorant and Overwatch: “College scouts will watch you play in the tournaments.” 

Rathbone is a passionate player who wants to continue his E-Sports career as an occupation in his adult life. Some students had easy access to the E-Sports class by previously being in Mr. Paschal’s computer class. Student Nick McDaniels took this as the perfect opportunity to join the team.

McDaniels states, “I honestly loved the thought of E-Sports, I saw flyers on [Mr.] Paschal’s door, and he told me all the options, and when he said he had Beat Saber- I was in.” 

Now, McDaniels is number four in the Oklahoma E-Sports League and also streams at home.

This couldn't have happened without the help of Mr. Paschal and the rest of the class.

Another E-Sports team member, Brooklyn Aikin, had a friend in Mr. Paschal’s computer class, and they recommended her to take the class; Aikin quickly fell in love with the class. 

Aikin conveys, “The class is fun, and there's no homework.”

Aikin, though it is her first year participating in E-Sports, has found a new hobby. In the few tournaments she has participated in thus far, she has taken a special liking to the game Valorant.   

Not many people know about the progress E-Sports has made, including getting involved in gaming tournaments and competing for college scholarships. E-Sports should definitely be considered more seriously among students as an elective option. This elective class is a great opportunity for students to get a grade for gaming!