By D.A. Reed, WKTV Contributing Writer

Esports isn’t just exploding in high schools across the country, it also has found a foothold in many colleges as well.

Short for electronic sports, esports can offer students a sense of belonging, college scholarships, and for some, a new path in life.

Davenport University freshman Abraham Hernandez and League of Legends esports player said video games changed his life.

“Kept me off the streets”

“I didn’t grow up in the best neighborhood,” Hernandez said. “It kept me off the streets.”

On a personal level, Hernandez said playing video games with his friends as a teen was “some of the best memories I’ve ever had in my life. The relationships I’ve built off of it, the memories I have — I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Hernandez also sees the value in long-term benefits of esports.

“I enjoy the competitiveness, the drive, the want to get better, knowing how to get better at something — that skill goes way beyond esports. Esports changed my life for the better and I don’t know where I would be without it.”

Like traditional sports, esports teaches soft skills: teamwork, accountability and communication being just a few. Character building, developing discipline, self-esteem and sportsmanship also are advantages of being on an esports team.

Organized competitions in the video game culture experienced a surge in popularity in the late 2000s, with esports becoming a significant factor in the video game industry by 2010.

Michigan experienced their own surge in esports popularity in 2019 — and has seen it gain considerable traction over the last few years in both public and private educational facilities.

Colin Graham, head coach of esports at Davenport University, told WKTV that the college esports program began in 2019 with an arena in the Student Activity Center.

“We started with eight (game) titles. I was tasked with bringing in 20 students my first year. I had five recruited and signed prior to becoming head coach.”

South Christian High School in Byron Center also is new to the esports scene, beginning in the 2020-2021 school year with nine participants. They are not yet competitive, but are willing to continue the program for grades 9-12.

“We strive to give kids the most opportunities we can as an athletic department within the scope of our school motto which is equipping students to live Christ-centered lives in order to serve God to their greatest potential,” said David Kool, athletic director at South Christian High School. “The main goal is to give our students another platform to have fun and do what they love to do.”

Participants in esports are considered athletes, the same as in traditional sports.

“We have practices, we have scrimmages, we have film review, we have expectations,” explained Graham, who said the inception of esports at Davenport was well-received by traditional athletes at the college, and that the other athletes seem to understand what the esports community is trying to do and accomplish.

Davenport esports athletes Benjamin Pringle and Austin Mikkelsen both enjoy the competitive aspect of esports.

Back-to-back national championships

“I’m a really competitive person,” said Pringle, Davenport sophomore and part of the Counter Strike: Global Offensive team. That competitive spirit won Pringle two back-to-back national championships, but there also is a more personal reason for Pringle’s dedication to the sport.

“I don’t have my parents’ support and I wanted to get away to support myself. So, I was like, I might as well do what makes me happy.”

Austin Mikkelsen, also a Davenport sophomore esports athlete, said, “I enjoyed the part of winning your lane and just beating somebody. You can see you’re better than somebody at it. It gave me a drive for it.”

Like traditional athletes, esports is not for the faint of heart.

“We are a year-round sport,” Graham said. “We compete from September through April. Summers are where they are offered down-time if they would like to take a break, but some of our teams don’t.”

Graham makes it clear that if participants decide to continue through summer, all of the obligations that come with in-season practices and scrimmages carry over to the summer.

Nationally-ranked

Those expectations have produced results. Last year, Davenport University finished in the top eight teams nationally in the game Call of Duty. Their Rainbow Six team is currently ranked on the fringe of the top 10 national teams, and their Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is currently the best in the nation.

And esports offers more than championship rings and prizes.

Graham previously worked at schools where sports were the kids’ way of getting to the next level and out of unfavorable circumstances in life.

“My coaching mantra is: Using the esports platform to offer opportunities to students who wouldn’t have them through traditional sports.”

Jessie Barger, a junior at Davenport University and esports athlete, is one of the students who found his home in esports.

Fitting in, building relationships

“When I was younger, I felt like I didn’t fit in to most traditional sports,” Barger said. “I felt like I was more comfortable playing video games.”

Esports offers a level of social interaction some students may not otherwise achieve.

“It’s their way of having social interaction,” Graham said. “They have friends that they know online that they’ve known for years.”

Graham said Davenport’s Call of Duty team owes its success to the fact that the players have all played the game together since the age of 12.

But that’s not all.

College scholarships?

High school esports participants can take advantage of college scholarships as well.

“All students on our roster, aside from maybe one or two, are scholarshipped,” Graham said. “I am very aware of the cost of attending a university. I also believe that you shouldn’t leave college with a mountain of debt if you don’t have to.”

Kool says scholarship opportunities “definitely gives esports more credibility” in the eyes of students and parents since the concept of esports is still new to many of them.

Graham actively recruits for his esports teams, admitting that he is “old-school” in his recruiting, traveling and speaking at schools and meeting with both teachers and students.

“I think it’s really beneficial to the program to make those connections.”

He also feels it is important that each participant fits the overall personality of the group they will be joining.

“We want to make sure that they feel this is a place they can call home, and they can find their people and they have an experience here that is beneficial to them long term.”

Kool also has seen advantages to esports programs, the main benefit being opportunities it gives students to be successful and have fun.

“Their confidence can grow in themselves as a person, and it gives them a sense of belonging,” Kool explained. “Esports is a great program where kids can experience playing these games in a safe and friendly way while building confidence and morale within a school setting.”

Graham believes esports has definite longevity.

“If you look at the history of video games, there has been interest in it since they hit the market. It really caters to a specific kind of person … so it gives participants an opportunity to find people like them and socialize.”

Proof also is in the continued interest among high school and college students.

“This year, we should be pushing about 70 students across nine different titles,” Graham said. And that includes domestic and international students.

Esports “here to stay”

“I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere,” Graham continued. “I think the games that are competed in may come and go, but esports as a whole, I think, is here to stay.”

“Esports in high school isn’t the future. It’s the present,” claims the website of popular esports platform PlayVS.

To find out more about esports opportunities at Michigan high schools, visit: Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.

For more info on esports at Michigan colleges, visit: NCSA College Recruiting

D. A. (Deborah) Reed is an award-winning author of young adult novels and a creative writing instructor from the Grand Rapids area. To find out more about D.A. Reed, visit her website: D.A. Reed