Last year, Mr. Jones announced that E-Sports would be making its debut at LHS by the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Due to students being released to virtual learning for the end of the semester, those plans got put on hold.

Now that students have returned, the E-Sports team has now finished its first semester of students being a part of something new and exciting for LHS. Staff members also were involved.

Mr. McCord and Mr. Hole built custom personal computers, 12 in total. Monitors, keyboards, and headsets were also bought to accompany the personal computers.

As of right now, students bring in their personal Nintendo Switches and controllers for the game Super Smash Bros. For Forza, a game offered in E-Sports, six steering wheel kits were bought.

“Having a group of people playing a video game we all love makes it very easy for us to all make friends,” said senior Harrison Crain.

Crain is on the Super Smash Bros. team.

“Mr. McCord is the coach for the Smash team, and all the players really like him. I feel I have improved a significant amount since the season started,” Crain said.

Super Smash Bros. is just one of the many games offered to compete in LHS. Overwatch, Rocket League, League of Legends, Forza, and Hearthstone are all the games students can pick to compete in. Mr. McCord, Mr. Packard, and Mr. Hole all split coaching for the six different games offered.

Sophomore Blake Hollis is on the Overwatch team.

“When playing other schools, we get into a custom match with the opposing school and play three separate matches on three different maps. Whoever wins the best out of three wins the entire match. I got taught how to communicate with the team more, how to use my character more efficiently, and how to just be a better player in general,” Hollis said.

Just like any other sport at LHS, there is a regular season, varsity teams and JV teams, and a state tournament to finish off the season. Students are looking forward to using their improved skills and competing at the end of the year.

If you’re interested in joining the LHS E-Sports team, contact one of the coaches.