By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
There’s a new team getting ready to represent West Carter High School across the commonwealth this year – and they’ll do most of it without ever leaving the building.
The Comets are dipping their toes into esports with five teams represented in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) sanctioned PlayVS Super Smash Bros. Ultimate league. Comet Smash 1 – 5 are made up of about 20 kids, divided into groups based on play style and familiarity.
“We kind of looked at teams of students that are comfortable playing with each other, and students that complimented each other’s skills,” coach and team sponsor Chris Blankenship explained. “Then… we’ve got a couple of eighth graders that come over to and play; they were friends with a freshman, and so that kind of formed a natural team. Then we had three guys who played together quite often, and that kind of formed a natural team. We had one kid who wanted to play, and pulled a friend along, and pulled another friend along, and kind of formed a natural team. So, it’s just kind of a natural formation that we shifted a little bit from there.”
There are three to a team, he explained, with some “kids extra on a roster, on the bench so to speak, that we can pull in and out each week if needed.”
While the state offers esports competition across a number of games, Blankenship explained he and fellow coach Jared Salyers decided to start with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate because of the ease of entry. Our locals schools didn’t have the problems connecting with the Nintendo network that some other districts had, he explained, and the Switches were purchased by the district, along with some gaming PCs for future expansion into other games.
“We’re just running Switch OLEDs, we’ve got five of those. I and the library bought an extra one for the big tv, so we could do whole group demonstrations. But, just regular 32 inch TVs, regular Switch OLEDs. We’ve got pro controllers – the pro controller side of it tends to lend itself a little bit more for gaming. But I have a student who prefers the joycons, just from his own experience of playing on a Switch Light for years and years. That’s what he’s used to, so he plays joycons with an adapter. So, each of them kind of set up their own controller profiles.”
He said the Switch also provides access to other games sanctioned by the KHSAA as the program grows, such as Rocket League and Mario Kart.
And they do expect the program to grow. In fact, it’s already caught on with more districts since they began organizing their team.
“Previous to this spring season, Russell was the only other team in our region that had an esports team. This season, we are here. East is starting a team. Greenup has a team. Fairview has a team. And one of the academic team coaches from Elliott was wanting to start one too,” Blankenship said.
“It’s really pushing its way,” he continued. “I mean, you look at even scholarship opportunities, PlayVS they talk about how they’ve connected their players with over a million dollars in scholarships for esports.”
But like other sports, the most valuable aspects are also some of the more intangible ones, like friendship, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging.
“I had a student last week look at me and say this was the first group he had been in for more than five minutes outside of maybe group work in class,” he said. “I had a parent call me and say that this was the first time her child had been interested in anything at school. Anything. Ever. So, it’s something to get engaged with. It’s something to kind of connect students. And I know a lot of people kind of question the validity of it, but it’s strategy. It’s teamwork. There is a strategy involved in working together as a team to kind of plan out (your match). What player do you put up for the first round? Do you put your strongest, or do you bank that for later?”
Then there is the choice of which character the competitors will choose, and knowing which are strong or weak against which opponents. It involves scouting the other teams and their play styles too. It isn’t unlike traditional sports in that way at all.
The kids competing may not be running a ball, but they are competitive athletes, Blankenship emphasized.
“They do have to have a full on sports physical. They’re considered a Kentucky athlete, just like any other student or any other athlete in the state.”
And like any other athlete, he said, they’re working hard to perform to the best of their abilities.
“I’m really proud of how we’ve come so far, and we’ve interested a lot of students; in hoping to offer more games, more opportunities for people to play, and find another way to get connected and plugged in.”
You can find more information about the KHSAA esports program, PlayVS, and the Comets team at their PlayVS team page, https://app.playvs.com/org/west-carter-county-high-school-olive-hill-ky.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
