~by Taylor Teays for The Scranton Journal
The Greene County Esports team has seen success this season as the fall portion of the competition comes to an end ahead of winter play.
Esports, competitive video gaming, takes the “best of the best” and lets them compete with other students from around Iowa, sometimes from around the world, explained esports coordinator Kyle Kinne.
During the fall season, the seven player team competing in the game SMITE finished the regular season undefeated, going on to win the SMITE state championship for the second year in a row, beating East Buchanan 2-0 in the finals, remaining undefeated the entire tournament.
The fall season also had a seven player team playing Rainbow 6 Siege. That team fell to Linn-Mar in the first round of state playoffs, going 2-1 with the second and third rounds going into overtime. The Rams went on to compete against Belmond-Klemme with the winner taking third.
Esports is played in three seasons, fall, winter and spring. During the summer, there are “open gyms,” allowing students to come play on the computers together. Practices vary depending on which coach is in season, with three coaches and a coordinator. There are typically practices each day after school, with one game per team each week. Schedules and rules are designed by the Iowa High School Esports Association. There are more than 100 schools in the association, with Greene County around the 30th to join.
“I’d like to thank the community and school for the support, both with cheering them on but from a financial stance,” commented coordinator Kinne. “Our players were surprised at how many students back home in school were watching them, making them feel even better at their accomplishments. Esports is something that a student can get scholarships to college for. We had one student who graduated with an offer to play at the college level last year and we will have two or three from this year’s graduating class.”
The IAHSEA began with a beta season in September 2019 and ran its first official season in Spring 2020 until COVID-19 ended the season early. The first full length IAHSEA season was held during 2020-2021.
The winter season runs from December through March with the games Overwatch 2 and Rocket League being played.
