East High is one of Denver’s 18 public high schools with esports teams, as well as a few middle elementary schools.
There was only a second left on the clock as the East High athletes put one last shot on goal.
The series was tied. The match was tied. A goal would win the state championship. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.
In what felt like an eternity, the ball glided towards Valor Christian’s goal and barely squeaked under the crossbar. Goal. East High wins!
As East’s three athletes, Austin Green, Jacob Malek, and William Turner, celebrated, they didn’t run to the corner flag or do a knee slide on turf. Instead, they stood up from their computers, wiped the sweat from their palms, and high fived.
Green, Malek, and Turner did not play soccer. They were playing Rocket League, a video game that is similar to soccer but uses rocket-powered cars to knock a huge ball around in dazzling acrobatic displays.
“That’s what every person dreams of, right?” Green, who scored the game-winning goal on December 10, explained. “That’s what every person dreams of.”
Esports are booming throughout Colorado.
The East High squad is the latest to win a Colorado esports tournament, often known as competitive video gaming.
In 2019, the Colorado High School Activities Association, the state’s high school athletics governing body, agreed to recognize esports as an approved statewide recreational activity. Commissioners set an ambitious goal: establish an esports team in half of Colorado’s high schools.
Since then, the sport has gained popularity. In Denver, 18 public high schools have esports teams, as well as a few middle elementary schools.
School authorities and coaches see esports as a means to make classrooms more accessible. East High esports participants claim the rise of video games has leveled the playing field, since jocks no longer shove nerds into school lockers to play Dungeons and Dragons.
“I’ve been wandering around, getting applause in class. We’ll attend pep rallies,” Green, a senior, stated. “Everyone plays video games, including the football team’s jock and basketball player. And so I’m quite grateful that there is an inclusive space where students may come.”
Terita Walker, East’s administrator, believes that the popularity of esports demonstrates that school cultures are becoming more inclusive, and that the concept of “outcasts” is less widespread.
“This may sound utopic, but I think at East, everybody’s cool,” she told me.
What happens next for the East High esports team?
East High esports coach Adam Paull said the team is now focused on qualifying for nationals, which would necessitate winning an in-person event this spring.
After that, with Green and Malek graduating this spring, East expects Turner, a first-year student, to captain the Rocket League team.
Aside from Rocket League, CHSAA organizes official tournaments for League of Legends, Splatoon, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Mario Kart 8.
East High teams also compete in other unofficial esports, such as the “hero shooters” Valorant and Overwatch, and even online chess.
Paull, who helped launch the East High esports team by bringing his own consoles to school, hopes team participation will skyrocket now that they’ve won the state championship.
“Esports is alive and thriving and it’s a brand new sport that I feel like a lot of people in this region even have a hard time recognizing,” he told me. “It’s a real thing now, I think it’s kind of hard to say no to.”