The Game is Afoot: NSA’s New Esports Team is Here!
By John C.
What is an eSports team, and why are they so popular? That question actually has an easy answer. An eSports team is a team that plays video games competitively. The name eSports makes sense when broken down. The games are video games, hence the e is for electronic. The players form a team and play matches against other teams, thus, sports have been added to the name as well. As for the second part of the question, video games are obviously a lot of fun, so who wouldn’t want to be able to play competitively with friends? The eSports team allows players to make new friends, show off their skills in certain video games, and compete against lots of other players for a chance to lead the school to an eSports victory.
It’s official! NSA has an eSports team. The team has 18 players consisting of students from grades 5th-12th. This squad of 18 players has been split into four smaller teams of 4 or 5 players each. The teams have been split up according to skill level. There are three levels of competition with one team of “Varsity” players, two teams of “Junior Varsity” players, and one team of “Rookie” players. Each team will compete with other teams of the same skill level. At the moment, the team is made up of students in the Western Hemisphere time zones, though there is potential for more teams to form across the rest of the globe.
Regarding the topic of what games the eSports team will play, it is rather simple. The team has joined a league with several other schools, mostly from around the United States. They will play the game Rocket League. For those who don’t know, Rocket League is a video game where players drive cars and play soccer. The main idea of the game is the same as soccer, and players try to score more goals than the opposing team. The team will play two matches each Wednesday for seven weeks. This means they will play a total of fourteen matches. Some of the matches will be broadcast on Concorde Games’ exclusive channel. This means that anyone in the NSA community can watch the game and cheer for the players.
The NSA eSports team will be coached by a well-known Rocket League player who goes by the name of iSharrieff. Those who join the team will be added to a private discord server hosted by Concorde Education. This server is only accessible to players, coaches, and Concorde staff members. Players are able to interact with their teammates on this server, as well as practice and share tips with each other. Official practices are held on this server as well. There will be two weekly practices, which will be roughly 90 minutes each.
Though there is only one team based in the Western Hemisphere right now, there is potential for more teams to form. There have been discussions about adding more teams based in other parts of the world, or even a team that would play a game other than Rocket League. The most likely option is a team that would play Super Smash Bros. However, the only way either of these options would happen is if enough people expressed an interest. The team would need to form before the next season, which takes place in January.
If someone is interested in joining or forming a team, they should keep an eye out for the Winter Season sign-ups, which will be advertised soon. Another option is to reach out directly to Mr. Chuck Deitch, NSA’s Administrative Director of School Programs, and express an interest in the eSports team. The eSports program is open to all students in grades 4th-12th. The cost to join the team is $150 per student, per season. This will help to cover the cost of the coach and the fee to join the league. As mentioned before, there needs to be enough interest in order for a team to form, however, there is a limited number of spots on each team, so don’t wait too long to try and join.
Columns: 🧑🚀NSA Culture
John C. has been at Northstar for three years. He lives in the Middle East and is the youngest in his family. He likes to play sports, listen to music, and play video games. He has just recently started writing with the Navigator, and this is his first time working with a newspaper.