Millions of teenagers leave school each day and head home to unwind with the help of a gaming console.
This has been the case for decades, but with the rise of live streaming when it comes to esports, this has become much more than a passive activity for students.
And school districts like the Sunflower County Consolidated School District have taken notice.
Kolby Reinke and Latoya Richardson are esports instructors, Reinke on the north end and Richardson on the south end.
“Our students have broken barriers, defied the odds, and proved doubters wrong many times because they are truly exceptional beings,” Richardson said. “These children are the future of our community and the future educators, principals, coaches and superintendents of SCCSD and are investing in them in every aspect from academics to athletics.”
Competitive esports is a billion dollar industry, with hundreds of millions of viewers tuning in to watch various competitions that could be anything from NBA 2K24 to Super Smash Brothers.
Reinke said it’s much more than just kids getting around to passively play their favorite sports games.
They have to develop skills and critical thinking to level up.
“At a competitive level, the act of playing a video game becomes far more active,” Reinke said. “Competitors must find the time to truly improve at the game in the hopes of success in next week's competition. A player cannot sit idly by with the comfort of their present skills; rather, they must find new ways to think about the competition and find new and increasingly creative paths to victory.”
Richardson has already seen the growth in many of the players at Gentry High School.
“My best players stem all the way back from our 22-23 Spring Season with Gentry High School Graduates Clamaurion Jenkins and Jeremy Oliver taking our school’s Super Smash Brothers team to the second round of playoffs with their third partner, now sophomore, Quinton McClinton,” she said. “For NFL Madden, now sophomore Xavier McClinton made the playoffs lists, making both active leagues I coached, playoffs bound. This season, freshman Kewan Ivory has taken NBA 2K by storm with his 7-1 match record and 15-2 game record ranking No. 2 in the state.”
Schools have always tried to grow numbers in traditional athletics, but Richardson and Reinke said that not all students desire to participate in those sports.
Esports, now a sanctioned activity through the Mississippi High School Athletics Association, gives those students an option.
“For several of my competitors, esports is the only extracurricular activity they are involved in, so it means a lot to me and to the school to have this new activity to help get more students involved in school culture beyond just showing up for regular school hours,” Reinke said.
Richardson said her students have used esports to develop better social skills and are developing the same kind of team spirit athletes in traditional sports might have.
“Esports has helped students develop socially with them becoming admired by their peers and more social amongst others that they learn are passionate gamers as well,” Richardson said. “They become each others' supporters, and they share tips and advice with each other. They also uplift each other when they are facing a tough opponent. I have seen my players evolve into the most social and fierce gamers with competitiveness amongst their peers.”
Richardson also recognizes that there is opportunity for the students beyond high school.
“High school competitions are the gateway to college gaming competitions and a future for students who want to become professional gamers,” she said. “Some high schoolers also receive invitations to compete on professional teams. Gamers on the high school level compete in games such as 2K, Madden, Smash Brothers, Mario Kart and a few others. Collegiate level includes games such as Call of Duty and Fortnite. Esports has provided a virtual sports program that makes those students who are shy and don’t like crowds feel comfortable and able to compete in their passion zone.”
Reinke said he hopes the esports program in Sunflower County will continue to grow.
“My hope for esports at SCCSD is to find more engagement and to put the resources in place to allow for our team to grow from a handful of students each semester to a consistent group of 20-30 students passionately participating both in season and during the off-season,” Reinke said. “I would really like to see esports receive the same fervor and excitement from the school community that our traditional sports like football and basketball have. That kind of culture-building just comes with time. Students need to see this activity return year-over-year and see the growth in participation until we hit a critical mass where the whole school community wants to be in the loop on how our team is doing.”
Richardson is hoping to expand on the south end of the county as well.
“As far as this end, I plan to take on more teams, have more practice days of gaming within the rooms and amongst players,” she said. “I plan to have a fall and spring season champion team and have a top-level NBA 2K and NFL Madden team with champions within each. SCCSD has had some pretty successful sports seasons, and I know esports will add to that because we are the exception and there's no need to stop with esports.”
