E-Sports

Meeting Kids’ Needs: Palm Springs Unified School District’s eSports Program Showcases the Benefits of Gaming

Did you know that a local school district has a full-fledged esports program? For nearly a decade, the Palm Springs Unified School District has been building a desert esports presence: Instead of traditional sports like basketball or football, students compete against each other in video games. Every high school and middle school in the district […]

Published

2 weeks ago

May 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Did you know that a local school district has a full-fledged esports program?

For nearly a decade, the Palm Springs Unified School District has been building a desert esports presence: Instead of traditional sports like basketball or football, students compete against each other in video games. Every high school and middle school in the district has an esports team, with a few elementary schools joining in as well.

The district recently hosted a tournament with different PSUSD schools (as well as some from the Desert Sands Unified School District) competing against each other at the district’s new Esports Arena at Desert Learning Academy.

During a recent Zoom interview Will Carr, PSUSD’s director of educational technology, he talked about the beginnings of esports in the district’s schools.

“Back in 2016, we started preparing the district to bring esports into the curriculum here,” Carr said. “We had a great superintendent and a pretty open-minded board, which allowed us to approach the situation and talk about funding. What they said was, ‘Let’s give it a shot, as long as it’s not shooting games.’ We had to stick to games like Super Smash Bros. and League of Legends or Dota.”

At the same time, there were national efforts being made regarding esports in schools. Carr and his team used a curriculum built by the North American Scholastic Esports Federation to get the district’s approval for an esports program.

“We said, ‘Hey, there’s this corporation that’s tied to a college, and they have outlined this curriculum,’” Carr said. “The curriculum covers shoutcasting (announcing in esports), entrepreneurship, coaching, medical, IT design, setting up the network properly and all the things that have to do with a big esports event. From there, we started creating small pilot high schools, and that allowed us to get our foot in the door, open up some funding to buy some decent machines or build machines, have practices and work on getting a stipend for teachers so they can coach, just like football coaches or basketball coaches or soccer coaches do.”

In 2025, the esports program at PSUSD is thriving, thanks to an annual budget and the new arena.

“We created an environment that fits different kids’ needs,” he said. “Some kids in the esports program aren’t involved in basketball, swimming, soccer or sports in general. There some of them are involved with bands; some are involved with theater, but a lot of them aren’t involved with anything except for esports. We created a place where those students have an agency, and now they have a voice. There was a group of kids who didn’t do anything with the school besides go to school, and they’re now a part of this community. Some of them are the gamers, and some of them are shoutcasters, and some of them are fanart designers.”

Esports can also attract a wide variety of students, all year.

“We can bring in different games very easily, and there’s a job for everybody,” Carr said. “A lot of our esports teams at the schools consist of 35 to 40 students, and about 18 to 20 of them are the varsity or the ‘professional players.’ The rest are support, either doing entrepreneurial fundraising, coaching, setup or tear downs, things of that nature. Some are just practice squads.”

“The biggest roadblock has always been that ‘video games are bad, and kids who play shooting games shoot other kids and have rage and anger.’ Our parents don’t see the opportunities and the possibilities in the market space—and in our valley here, there’s not a ton for the kids to do.”

Will Carr, PSUSD’s director of educational technology

Bringing gaming into school has been a lifelong dream for Carr, and he hopes parents and the community look beyond the stereotypical anti-video-game arguments, and realize the many benefits of an esports program.

“There’s so much around studying, building a high-end computer, optimizing the network for speed and low latency, ergonomics, posture, rage and controlling your emotions, and all that good stuff,” Carr said. “The biggest roadblock has always been that ‘video games are bad, and kids who play shooting games shoot other kids and have rage and anger.’ Our parents don’t see the opportunities and the possibilities in the market space—and in our valley here, there’s not a ton for the kids to do.”

Carr sees a future for Coachella Valley esports beyond just being a school activity.

“We wanted to create a community in the valley, so we didn’t have to drive to San Diego or drive out to Orange County for this group of people and fans alike to start seeing what esports is about,” he said. “We built this brand-new esports arena. … We want to start opening it up to the community, meaning that we want to start hosting community gaming events, or partner with outside people to bring in community events, just to start getting it more adapted into the community.”

Students have already benefited from PSUSD’s esports program, Carr said.

“We have kids who have received scholarships,” Carr said. “We’ve had students who, their grades are so-so, but because they do esports, they were admitted into schools. We have kids who receive all kinds of swag from Logitech, G.Skill and HyperX.”

Carr said he’s happy the Coachella Valley is catching on to “one of the largest industries there is in the world.”

“It’s the future, and so the job of the school district … is to prepare those kids, or to create an avenue for those kids to be involved with that,” Carr said. “… What we’re trying to do is create professional gamers by the time they become high school kids. We’re trying to get them hooked. They’re already kind of hooked, but they’re hooked in casual play without much thought. We’re trying to give them the structure. We’re trying to give them these pathways. We’re trying to teach them how to control emotions and not get burnt out, and teach them balance at the elementary levels. As they get into high school, we start giving them some fine skills.”

Elementary-school students start with more lighthearted games like Super Smash Bros., before advancing to more competitive and strategic games like League of Legends in higher grades.

“We’re doing that to build awareness and understanding of the games and certain skill sets and communication tactics, so when they get to high school, they’re that much better,” Carr said. “When they’re in high schools, they start getting scouted by colleges.”

To involve other local school districts and the community at large, PSUSD founded the Desert Valley Esports Alliance. Carr detailed the three “seasons” within each school year.

“Season one is right around September, when all the high schools and middle schools have their rush,” he said. “… Season one is joining esports and creating your team, so we give them about six weeks to form their teams, and for us to come out to help out with anything, if we need to refresh computers, add additional network drops, furniture, whatever is needed.

“Season two starts right around Thanksgiving, and that’s pure scrimmage play. We have scrimmage play for another six weeks. … It’s a chance for the coaches to see who’s best in what roles, and it’s also a chance to meet other coaches and kiddos. After the scrimmage season, we go into the seeding season. Every game has a point assigned to it, and for the next six weeks, they round-robin and play every other team once or so. The game points seed them for the finals. The finals are three weeks long.”

Carr credited The Foundation for Palm Springs Unified School District, a nonprofit that assists the district, for helping ensure the esports program’s future is bright.

“We get about $175,000 donated through The Foundation for esports annually, which really makes things go smooth,” Carr said. “You can’t buy a ton with that, but you can upgrade some video cards. We can get additional consoles, subscriptions, and things of that nature. That helps out a lot.”

Carr hopes to expand local esports awareness beyond the schools.

“It’s not just gaming anymore; it’s a lucrative business,” he said. “… Because there’s so much money around this ecosystem, there’s a lot of buzz in the valley. The mayor of Palm Springs, Ron deHarte, is really interested in bringing something to the valley that’s involving esports and people streaming and watching stuff. … Right now, they’re leaning toward something like a big esports qualifier or festival, so we’ll see what happens.”

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E-Sports

Your Endless Call – Everything You Need to Know Before the Premiere

Image Via Tatsunoko Production and Dong Woo Animation The highly anticipated anime film “KING OF PRISM: Your Endless Call” is going to premiere in Japan next month. This new movie add a fun twist to the long-time Pretty Rhythm series. It has time travel, new character, and one special feature, some important scenes in the […]

Published

3 hours ago

May 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

KING OF PRISM: Your Endless Call – Everything You Need to Know Before the Premiere

Image Via Tatsunoko Production and Dong Woo Animation

The highly anticipated anime film “KING OF PRISM: Your Endless Call” is going to premiere in Japan next month. This new movie add a fun twist to the long-time Pretty Rhythm series. It has time travel, new character, and one special feature, some important scenes in the movie will changed every week.

That means the story is a little different depending on when you watch it. A trailer was recently released showing how this works. Every week, fans can seeing different scenes and outcomes in the Pretty Rhythm timeline. So people might wants go back to the theater many time to watch all versions.

History of KING OF PRISM

The KING OF PRISM series was begin in 2016. It was a spin-off from the anime Pretty Rhythm: RainbowLive and it made by Tatsunoko Production and Dong Woo Animation. The first movie, KING OF PRISM by Pretty Rhythm, come out in January 2016. Then the second movie, KING OF PRISM: Pride the Hero, came on June 2017.

In 2019, the series gotten bigger with KING OF PRISM: Shiny Seven Stars. It released as four movies and later as 12 episode TV show. In 2020, fans was enjoyed KING OF PRISM ALL STARS – Prism Show☆Best 10 – which had many musical performances. Recently in 2024, KING OF PRISM -Dramatic PRISM.1- was showed to recap the Shiny Seven Stars story.

New Drama And School Rivalry

The story is picking up after Prism King Cup. Ichijo Shin now is in spotlight and started highschool at Kakyoin Academy. Meanwhile, Over The Rainbow group is break up, and Koji, Hiro, and Kazuki are making new agency. Things getting tense between the two school. After Hiro win the Prism King title, Jin from the rival school Schwarz Rose start a new competition call PRISM.1 to choose other king. That makes big rivalry between Schwarz Rose and Edel Rose.

Also Read : DAN DA DAN Season 2 Anime Unveils Action-Packed Trailer and New Theme Song

With many drama, time travel, and scenes what keep changing, KING OF PRISM: Your Endless Call give fans something different each time. Whether you liking the music, the people, or the story, this movie is a fresh experience every time you watching. Get ready for journey where no two time is the same.

Source : Official Website

Written By “Sujoy Bhowmik – India Today Gaming”

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E-Sports

Fan Fav Tourney ‘Deadman AllStars Season 2’ Airs 30th May

Announced a few short days ago, ‘Old School RuneScape’ content creator SOLOMISSION announced the return of the fan favourite tournament ‘Deadman AllStars’ with Season 2 airing on the 30th of May til the 8th of June. Rivalries will reignite as the competition heats up between OSRS stars in this special invite-only Creator-ran variant of the […]

Published

4 hours ago

May 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Watch your favourite OSRS content creators take center stage, working together to formulate the best plan of action to beat other teams and claim the ultimate victory. The show will stream live over on Jagex’s Twitch page and draft picks will begin tonight at 20:00 BST—head over to the official website to participate in polls and watch highlights as they come in.

Have a gander below for more details on Deadman AllStars. Old School RuneScape is a free-to-play MMORPG that is available on PC via the Jagex Launcher/Runelite/Steam, iOS, and Android via Google Play. Just last week, RuneScape members saw the addition of an all-new boss encounter with Yama, The Master of Pacts, available to those who have completed the ‘A Kingdom Divided’ quest.

Get ready for the return of one of the most exciting Esports events on the calendar, as Old School RuneScape’s Deadman AllStars Season 2 returns on May 30th, hosted by OSRS content creator Solo Mission with the grand finale streaming live on Old School RuneScape’s Twitch on Sunday, June 8^th.

Rivalries will reignite as the competition heats up between OSRS stars in this special invite-only Creator-ran variant of the Deadman Mode tournament. Watch your favourite OSRS content creators take center stage, working together to formulate the best plan of action to beat other teams and claim the ultimate victory. Root for your favourites, take part in polls, and watch highlights on the official AllStars Website, before tuning in for the thrilling tournament finale on June 8th to celebrate the best of the best in Deadman.

The action kicks off tonight from 20:00 BST, May 22^nd, with a semi-snake ordering draft where six teams of six will be formed ahead of the tournament starting on May 30^th. For this year’s tournament, Deadman AllStars Season 2 will introduce significant changes to the traditional Deadman format, including a new final arena, new breach spawn locations, reworked penalties, and a 120 hour cap to ensure that every second matters! Only the strongest will survive, are they up to the challenge?

Catch the Old School RuneScape Deadman AllStars Season 2 on May 30th – June 8th, directly on Twitch, with draft picks happening tonight, 20:00 BST, May 22^nd.

Old School RuneScape is available now on PC, Steam, iOS, and Android, complete with cross-platform progression and play on PC and mobile.

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E-Sports

Five Secret City Esports Players Sign To Play At NMSU

LAHS Secret City Esports team members, from left, Zane Kretz, Vigtil Szinger, Fortis Brown, Penny Doebling and Quinbee Sintay are headed to NMSU after successful high school Esports careers. Courtesy/LAPS LAPS News: Five members of the Los Alamos High School Secret City Esports team signed letters of intent to attend New Mexico State University as […]

Published

5 hours ago

May 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LAPS News:

Five members of the Los Alamos High School Secret City Esports team signed letters of intent to attend New Mexico State University as members of their Esports team.

Fortis Brown, Penny Doebling, Zane Kretz, Quinbee Sintay and Virgil Szinger are headed to NMSU after successful high school Esports careers.

Fortis Brown (iamfortis), joined the Esports Club in Fall 2023, participating for four seasons on the Mario Kart and Valorant teams. Fortis plans to study genetics and biotech and is joining the Mario Kart team at NMSU.

Penny Doebling (p3bbl3), joined the Esports Club in Spring 2024, participating for three seasons on the Mario Kart, Valorant, and Pokémon Unite teams. Penny plans to study journalism and is also joining the Mario Kart team at NMSU.

Zane Kretz (Anizaniac) joined the Esports Club in Spring 2022 and has spent six seasons participating on the Production, Splatoon, SSBU, and Valorant teams. He will be studying marketing and joining the Splatoon team at NMSU.

Amelia “Quinbee” Sintay (professor) joined the Esports Club in Spring 2023 and has spent three seasons on the Splatoon team. Quinbee is planning to study animation and is also joining the Splatoon team at NMSU.

Virgil Szinger (tallyvi) joined the Esports Club in Spring 2024 and has played for three seasons on the Splatoon team. Virgil plans to study engineering and will be the third LAHS graduate joining the Splatoon team at NMSU this fall.

Other seniors honored during the Secret City Esports awards ceremony include:

Tristan Von Reyn, who Joined Fall 2024 and played one season on the Splatoon team
Tony Mishler, who Joined Spring 2024 and spent three seasons on the SSBU, Street Fighter, Valorant, and Pokémon Unite teams.
Felix Lorenc, who joined Fall 2022 and played three season on the Valorant, Apex Legends, Overwatch, StarCraft, and Mario Kart teams.
Jacob Castro (jacthesnake), who joined Spring 2024 and played three seasons on the Hearthstone and Street Fighter teams. He will be attending Eastern New Mexico University in the fall.
Joe Dale (blockfusster), who joined Fall 2023 and played four seasons on the Mario Kart team. He is planning to attend New Mexico Tech.
Miles Iverson (MilesAway), joined Spring 2022 and spent five seasons on the SSBU, Production, Splatoon, Mario Kart, Valorant, and Pokémon Unite teams. He is headed to Colorado State University.
Stringfellow (AET_Rise), who joined Spring 2022 and played for seven seasons on the SSBU, Valorant, Splatoon, Overwatch, and Pokémon Unite teams.
Kaden Colson (wooms), who joined Spring 2022 and played for seven seasons on the SSBU, Apex Legends, Splatoon, Overwatch, Mario Kart, & Pokémon Unite teams.

This year’s Esports team took 2nd place overall in the Class 4A Team State Championship. The Rocket League, Splatoon and Mario Kart teams took first place, while Hearthstone garnered a second-place finish. Street Fighter and Smash Bros both placed fourth.

The team was recently ranked the number three program in the United States by USA Today. This is the second year in a row making the top 25.

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E-Sports

Tenino esports team wins state championship to cap off perfect debut season

May 21—Philip Harrington knew fairly quickly that the Tenino High School “Rocket League” esports team could be a championship contender. After all, he understands what it takes to build a championship team. Harrington came to Tenino last year from Oklahoma, where he developed multiple state and national championship-winning esports programs. Advertisement His vision for the […]

Published

9 hours ago

May 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

May 21—Philip Harrington knew fairly quickly that the Tenino High School “Rocket League” esports team could be a championship contender.

After all, he understands what it takes to build a championship team. Harrington came to Tenino last year from Oklahoma, where he developed multiple state and national championship-winning esports programs.

His vision for the Tenino squad was ultimately correct.

The quartet of freshman captain Dawson Williams, eighth grader Weston Frank, eighth grader Nathan Pye and junior Eric Bowe Jr. took home the top prize in “Rocket League” at the Washington state Scholastic Esports Association High School State Championships on Sunday at the Lynnwood Event Center.

The Beavers competed in three different best-of-five matches through the playoffs for a total of 13 games to claim the trophy. Tenino swept Silas in three games, outlasted Selah in five games and triumphed over reigning back-to-back champion Kennedy Catholic in five games.

“They are organized, motivated self-starters,” Harrington said of his team. “Skill and talent will only get you so far. Dedication, teamwork and cooperation are what win matches. More often than not, we won against players this weekend who are, on paper, better than us.”

In his sixth year as an esports coach, Harrington said he had never seen dedication from a student athlete like Williams, who created a spreadsheet in the dawn of the regular season to track competitive rankings of all the players he could find information about.

“He wanted to scout ahead and see what opposition we had coming up so they could better prepare for each weekend,” Harrington said. “This is my sixth year as an esports coach, and I’ve had very few students over that time that would have, on their own, gone and made an organized spreadsheet. He’s one in a million.”

Williams knew the competition would be stiff throughout the season, but the Beavers had a hardworking bunch that had put in many hours of practice at school and late at night in pursuit of glory en route to a perfect 10-0 record.

“After I saw everybody’s rankings with the spreadsheet I made, I figured out that we were one of the best teams. All of our starters were all top 10, and Eric wasn’t too far behind,” Williams said.

Each teammate credited Pye for their interest in playing “Rocket League” as Pye is the top-ranked player in the state.

“Nathan is sort of the reason all of us are in ‘Rocket League.’ He helped teach me how to play ‘Rocket League’ early on, which made it more fun for me to continue on,” Williams said.

Bowe, the team’s alternate, said Frank and Williams passed on what they learned from Pye, and the starters praised Bowe for his contributions during the state playoffs.

“Dawson and Weston put me through the ringer and sat with me for almost three hours just grinding ‘Rocket League’ and showing me what I need to learn and what I should do,” Bowe said.

The Beavers were motivated during the state competition by their friends and parents in attendance cheering them on, especially in the championship-clinching match. With so much on the line, the players enjoyed the experience playing alongside each other at the highest level.

“It was an awesome experience. There was a lot of pressure, but because of Dawson’s spreadsheets, we knew they had some pretty good players,” Pye said.

Harrington was proud of how his team handled the pressure and communicated efficiently through the ups and downs of the long day of competition.

“In the middle of a match, what you’re thinking about is the plays going on in the match in front of you and literally nothing else. There’s no room in your head for nerves,” he said. “We’ve drilled really hard that the play that just happened is over and move on. We just focus on the now.”

The young team is hungry for more trophies to add to their collection and instill fear in opposing teams.

“We’re going to have to do so much grinding over the summer,” Frank said.

Harrington’s goal with the program is to push the players competitively and give them opportunities to pursue not only competition in the state and across the country but also potentially at the collegiate level.

“I want schools to be like, ‘Oh no, Tenino is here. We’re going to have a hard time winning,’ but I also want them to be like, ‘Oh great, Tenino is here. They’re a bunch of great people and great sportsmen,'” Harrington said. “I want us to have both a feared and loved reputation: feared as competitors and loved as young people and student athletes.”

Centralia High School’s “Super Smash Bros: Ultimate” team placed third at the state championships, bouncing back from a shutout loss to Southridge in the semifinals to beat Nooksack in the third-place match.

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E-Sports

Flagler Takes Down North Georgia to Advance to Women’s Tennis Semifinals

Story Links ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FLA — The fifth-seeded Flagler Saints upended fourth-seeded North Georgia 4-0 to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA women’s tennis national championships on Thursday morning at Sanlando Park. With that win, the Saints (23-5) will meet top-seeded Barry in the national semifinals on Saturday at 9:00 am […]

Published

12 hours ago

May 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FLA — The fifth-seeded Flagler Saints upended fourth-seeded North Georgia 4-0 to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA women’s tennis national championships on Thursday morning at Sanlando Park. With that win, the Saints (23-5) will meet top-seeded Barry in the national semifinals on Saturday at 9:00 am with a ticket to the national finals on the line.

The all-Peach Belt affair was a rubber match between the two, who met for the first time at the ITA Indoor National Championships in February with North Georgia winning 4-3. Flagler returned the favor with a 4-3 win on the road in their regular-season matchup in March.

On Thursday, the two teams began battling from the first serve with Flagler edging out the doubles point. The #1 team of Dana Heimen and Anastasia Nikolova defeated UNG’s Angelina Linnikova and Carolina Reis 7-5. UNG’s Emily Bush and Linn Goerdes beat Flagler’s Laura Jepescu and Adela Latalova 6-4 at second doubles, leaving the deciding match at #3.

The third doubles set was tied at 6-6, forcing a tiebreak. Flagler’s Sofia Balsera and Eryka Kruk picked up key points and defeated Ashley Moinard and Vasiliss Kupriyanova 7-5 in the tiebreak to take the point.

Boosted by their doubles performance, the Saints picked up three quick points in singles to put the match away. Nikolova swept Moinard 6-3, 6-0 at second singles while Balsera beat Reis 6-2, 6-3 at fifth singles. Flagler got their final point at #4 singles where Kruk defeated Goerdes 6-1, 7-5.

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E-Sports

Farmington High, Rochester High take home state titles for esports

The Rochester High team celebrates after winning the Rocket League state title. Photo provided by Abby Goosen, MHSEL The Farmington High team poses after winning the state title for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Photo provided by Abby Goosen, MHSEL Advertisement ROCHESTER/FARMINGTON HILLS/FARMINGTON — Oakland University hosted the semifinals and finals for the 2025 Michigan High […]

Published

13 hours ago

May 22, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Rochester High team celebrates after winning the Rocket League state title.

Photo provided by Abby Goosen, MHSEL

The Farmington High team poses after winning the state title for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Photo provided by Abby Goosen, MHSEL

ROCHESTER/FARMINGTON HILLS/FARMINGTON — Oakland University hosted the semifinals and finals for the 2025 Michigan High School Esports League Spring 2025 Championships on May 10, where both Farmington High School and Rochester High School took home state titles.

There were five events throughout the weekend, and five different schools took home state championships.

The racing game Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was won by Richmond High; the car soccer game Rocket League was won by Rochester High; the shooter Fortnite was won by Detroit Catholic Central High; and the fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was won by Farmington High, at the high school level, and Pierce Middle School, at the middle school level.

“The turnout for this year’s event was really awesome,” said Nicholas Bank, the esports coach at Rochester High. “There was a lot of cool people that were just spectating. There were a lot of schools that played out of their minds.”

The Rochester team that took home the Rocket League state title included Elijah Watson, Ty Keller, Andrew Taylor and Alex Crum. The team had a perfect season last year before falling short of a state title, and this year made it a mission to have another perfect year but finish the job.

“We were going into the tournament last season as the No. 1 seed, but unfortunately lost in the finals to Hartland,” Banks said. “Going into this championship with again a perfect season, and this time with a chip on our shoulder. … We’re taking this home.”

That they did. The growth this group has experienced together has been a huge reason for the team’s success.

“There was a lot of synergy between the team members,” Banks explained. “They were always on the same page. That’s what I think set them apart.”

The contest for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate also saw a team out for revenge in 2025, with Farmington High taking home first place after falling short a season ago.

“I was extremely stressed. … I was really looking forward to this, though. Super fun,” said Jason Kazensky, a senior and team captain at Farmington High. “We got it done, and I’m glad I got to do it with some of my really good friends.”

One of the biggest motivators for Farmington High was the fact that the team members were all seniors. Kazensky, Madison Doctor, Delano Marinelli and Sean Campbell will all go out with a state title.

“Going into the first set, we were all pretty confident. But our main goal was basically to win at all costs because it’s our last year. We’re all seniors,” Marinelli said. “We just wanted to take home the title and bring home something to our school. End esports for us on a good note.”

The year for Farmington High was not without its ups and downs, however. The team fought through some rough patches of the regular season to get to this point, which makes it even sweeter.

“We had a lot of challenges with the regular season,” Doctor said. “But we united as a team and were able to strategize. … We were able to take out Novi and get the finals.”

Ultimately, the group left an everlasting mark on the program and will be a team that the next generation of esports players at Farmington High can really look up to.

“This is not something that’s just a fun thing for them. They’re learning leadership skills and learning to train our junior varsity team,” said Lauren Kendall, the coach at Farmington High. “Seeing them take home the gold was just a really impressive feat. … They do their best to make sure that their … esports team and club will carry on after they’re gone, and it’s really just amazing to see.”

The turnout and the results for this year’s MHSEL were fantastic, and the league is headed in a great direction. This year showed that the market and stigma around gaming is only improving.

“I’m hoping that not only this win, but a lot of people seeing how exciting esports can be can kind of clear that stigma and (encourage people to) at least want to try it out,” Banks said. “Being involved with video games … is a valid escape.”

For more information on the Michigan High School Esports League, including how to join, visit www.mhsel.org.