Future of Competition: Esports Club paves way for the future of competitions to Bishop Miege

Playing+solitaire+before+school%2C+junior+Willian+Watson+enjoys+playing+all+kinds+of+games+to+have+fun+and+a+sense+of+relaxation.

Colin Batliner

Playing solitaire before school, junior Willian Watson enjoys playing all kinds of games to have fun and a sense of relaxation.

Colin Batliner, Staff Writer

One of the newest additions to the many clubs offered to the students is the esports club organized by Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Gladbach.

The leader of the club, junior William Watson, said he enjoys playing video games in his free time outside of school and uses this club as a way to play with friends from school who don’t have as much time to play at home.

“We sit around and play ‘Super Smash Bros,’ it’s really awesome,” Watson said. “Being able to get together after school and hang out with cool people and play video games is amazing.”

Playing with friends from school is not the only option for the esports club though; the members are attempting to get in touch with other nearby schools to host an online tournament.

“We hope to be hosting an online tournament before the end of school against some nearby schools,” Watson said. “It would be fun to compete against other people other than just the kids that come to our meetings.”

The idea came to a few students after seeing other schools start their own similar clubs and colleges are starting to offer scholarships to play for their esports teams, the club has a mix of students who play sports but come to the meetings that are available for them.

“A few students had the idea and proposed it to Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Gladbach and so then they went along with it, and it’s just gone from there to having meetings twice a week and people that filter in and out depending on their sports schedules,” Watson said.

As of now the group has about 15 permanent members and only about 7-8 that are able to show up on a regular basis due to conflicts in their schedules. Watson said he hopes to be able to encourage other people to join the club and join in with the tight-knit bond the group has already created so far.

 “I would love to see more people come in and just play games and chill out with us after school,” Watson said. “I want to make it more mainstream than what it is right now and try to get more games available to us to play with the school’s help.”