Hartselle eSports team gearing up for upcoming season
For the Enquirer
Having four out of seven teams finish within the top 10 of the state was the highlight of the Hartselle High eSports team last season, and with a middle school program in the works, the team believes they will become one of the most competitive in the region in one of the most fastest growing sports in the world. Hartselle High School hosted its annual gaming camp on Monday and Tuesday for grades 5 through 12 and a few seniors who were on the team last season were there to guide some of the younger students who had never competitively played video games as a team.
“There are two goals for this camp,” said Bucky Garner, a basketball coach and computer science teacher who is also head coach for the eSports team. “We want to get our younger students interested and get them playing the games that they will play when they get to the high school. Second, this is a fundraiser for our eSports program.” The Alabama High School Athletic Association officially recognized esports in 2018 and there are currently over 100,000 Alabama high school students participating. Teams play video games on personal computers and consoles such as the Nintendo Switch and compete against other teams virtually through online gaming.
Garner said because the sport is played in the classroom with no audience, they do not sell tickets or concessions and so the camp is the only way to financially support the team. Entry fees this year were $50 for the entire two-day camp.
“This is the way we fund jerseys, equipment, and everything we need,” Garner said.
Currently, Hartselle High School only has a team for students in grades 9 through 12, but Garner said they are working on developing a “casual” league for students in grades 6 through 8 to introduce them to the league’s games.
“We had a club last year where we did one day a week,” Garner said. “They have now opened an introductory league and they won’t compete in playoffs or championships, just against other schools in the regular season. We’ve spent a year and a half upgrading computers and networks, and it may be another year as we ease into it, but we are moving to that path where we’ll have a starter program for sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.” Senior Houston Downs was on the team last year and is returning this year as a team captain. He was at the camp this week to introduce new gamers to the Nintendo games Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart.
“I just want to get people interested in the games and let this program be known,” Downs said. “A program like this is a great way for someone to make friends and connections. I know that since I’ve joined it, I’ve had more opportunities to learn from others and learned how to communicate better.” Downs said he expects four other seniors to return to the team this year.
“Our goal is to get at least one team in each game to place in the top 10,” Downs said.
The teams play Rocket League and Super Smash Bros, and Mario Kart and Chess were added for this season. Last year, the Hartselle eSports program consisted of 25 players, with five teams playing Rocket League and two teams playing Super Smash Bros. With the new games added, Butler said he would like to have two Mario Kart teams and two Chess teams.
Butler said he plans on speaking with the chess team at Hartselle High School to possibly recruit them for the eSports league. Butler said he also hopes to help senior students on the team secure eSports scholarships, with some colleges offering $15,000 or more for students to attend their school and compete on their eSports teams. Senior Hagen Henry said he hopes to be one of the first Hartselle High graduates to receive an eSports scholarship from a state college after this season.
“I know UAH and UNA has been offering scholarships for eSports. I’ve been really wanting to go to UAH for a while now and I want to go to UAH on a eSports scholarship and pursue cybersecurity,” Henry said.
He said Bob Jones and Lee high schools are some of the top eSports competitors in the region and some of the biggest threats they will face this year. He said when his school district eventually launches a middle school program, those young players will mature into top-level gamers who will become threats to other schools.
“We can hang around Lee High but Bob Jones has some insane players,” Henry said. “That’s why it’s specifically beneficial to have these younger kids who have all this time to get to that level of competitiveness.”
