Jesuit has 20+ varsity sports, including top sports programs such as baseball, soccer, and lacrosse, with football and basketball performing very well in recent years. The school has a reputation as a student-athlete school, where students not only immerse themselves in rigorous athletics but also receive a valuable education that prepares them for the future. But there is one sport at Jesuit that does not get enough recognition: the ESports Club.
Competing in the High School ESports League, our ESports club has competitive gamers in games such as Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, and even Minecraft. Yes, Minecraft! It has even received recruitment interest from Spring Hill College and is looking to find funding to create a gaming lab. They are making it big at Jesuit, but I think every student reading this article is wondering: What is the story behind this club?
Well, today, that is what we are here to do: to solve the mystery of this promising club that is so under the radar.
How was the club formed?
Jesuit ESports Club was started by Jesuit student Nick Rowe, who had just transferred from New York and looked to assimilate into the school years earlier. Looking to find his place, as a sophomore, he asked Mr. Vu, his geometry teacher at the time, to start this club to gain some of the same skills that many athletes get: teamwork, accountability, friendship.
To illustrate, Club moderator Mr. Vu said, “I thought that it was a good idea for the simple fact that there are kids here who aren’t really into sports. They would be missing out on team building, teamwork, and competition if they didn’t participate in sports. Another avenue that they could take is doing the same thing with video games, so I thought that this would be a good platform, a good way for them to learn new skills.”
While the ESports Club competes in the High School ESports League (HSEL), the club doesn’t look to be as intense and competitive as other schools’ programs. By joining the team, everyone has an opportunity to compete and to learn the necessary skills applicable for the life in the future.
Mr. Vu continued on, discussing how his high school experiences influenced his desire to moderate the club. “When I was in high school, my high school almost like forced us to participate in afterschool sports, so I learned a valuable lesson in how to be responsible and how to be there for your teammate. I wrestled in high school, so there were times when I had to cut weight in order to make the match. Why did I want to do that? I didn’t want to forfeit points and hurt my team, and you could see that everywhere with different types of sports. I also see that there’s a lot of kids here who don’t play any sports and they won’t have that opportunity to be part of something like that.
Yes, I do play video games, but if you asked me about Overwatch, Valorant, or whatever they’re playing right now, I have no clue. I have no clue how to play those games, but I know that when you’re playing with a team, you have to be responsible to show up to practice and to the games. If you fall short of expectations or something, there’s motivation for you to work towards something, to be better at something. My main goal is to give kids a different avenue to learn all those skills.”
How does the club function?
President Dominic Wierschem ’22 has taken over as the current leader for the club, along with fellow vice-presidents Brody Pawsat ’22 and Ike Pawsat ’22. At Jesuit, all the clubs are student-driven. If there’s no interest within the students, then there’s no club, and the club has grown due to the situation that we’re in now with COVID-19. Different team leaders lead the different games that the team competes in. Those leaders are responsible for setting up practices, setting up newcomers, telling people when matches are, and making sure that they show up.
The team meets up, and when everybody’s at home on their own separate computers or their own console, they get on a Discord call to set things up. If we had a place at school where they could meet up like their computer lab dedicated to ESports, then I think that would take our program to the next level and help them reach the same competitive level as other schools in the HSEL.
I spoke to vice president Brody Pawsat ’22 and here’s what he had to say regarding the club’s organization:
“The club runs on a Discord server outside of school. In my mind, it’s much better than email and is easily accessible on a person’s PC, phone, etc. To get people organized only requires a quick DM or an @ on the server itself. So far, club leadership has given the organization and the practices of teams to the team captains themselves. By doing this. we feel we not only give the captains a sense of leadership and importance but also strengthen the cohesion and bond between the team members. On a management level, managing every single team would be a nightmare if it wasn’t for the captains. For playing the games themselves, we use a third-party website called High School ESports League, or HSEL for short. The whole purpose of the site is to match teams together and offer an incentive to play competitively. Last season, the prize pool was roughly $1k per person for getting first and some “goody items” (which are PC parts, mouse pads, headsets, etc) for second place. I played on the R6 team last season and we ended up getting second out of about 300-350 teams. I only know about the R6 team and their stats, but other games like CS, Valorant, League, etc. all have their own separate teams and games during the week.”
Fellow participant David Schmidt ’21 had high praise for the club. “After being in the club for 2 years, I feel like it’s a great way for like-minded individuals to come together in a shared appreciation for ESports and gaming as a whole. At least in some situations, I think we could’ve gotten more dedication if the parents were more on board with it since there’s still kind of a stigma around ESports.”
Conclusion
Students from all over Jesuit hear about the club on the announcements, but no one matches the pride and enjoyment of the club more than the people in it. A fun experience for everyone to try, ESports function as the alternative route for learning important life-skills. With high hopes in the future and strong management to keep the club ongoing, Jesuit ESports seems to be a highly attractive option for students looking to join a team.
Check back to The Roundup for more profiles on student clubs!
