While the creation of an esports team has been a consideration for some time, Utica High was the first to form an official team, PRYME, throughout the Utica Community Schools district.
“I had been asked about the feasibility of esports at another UCS high school, so I knew that administration was keen on adding a team,” teacher Robert Peltier said.
Student involvement played a major part in this, many jumping at the chance of joining games they are interested in or have played extensively before.
“I’ve been playing ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ since it came out, almost six years ago
now,” junior Trent Jones said. “This was a chance to play with others in the same room.”
“I joined Valorant because it is my best game; I’ve been playing for three years now,”
sophomore Marwan Hassan said. “It’s not an addiction; it’s dedication.”
“I chose to join Overwatch,” junior Logan Spillane said. “I’ve been playing for years
and waiting for an opportunity to join a team.”
Although there is a variety of games available for students to participate in, only a few
have official teams at the U.
“Currently we have teams set up for ‘Rocket League,’ ‘Super Smash Brothers Ulti-
mate,’ and ‘Overwatch 2,’” Peltier said. “This is entirely due to student interest and participation.”
Players practice after school to improve at their game and prepare for matches.
“Practice is up to the students to sharpen their gaming skills. Most have played a
particular title for hundreds of hours and need no coaching from me,” Peltier said. “I am merely a manager or facilitator.”
“Valorant” players are especially competitive, shown by their seriousness when it comes to practice.
“I play comp matches, and play OSU! to practice my aim,” sophomore Joseph Zhong said. “Some people say [‘Valorant’] is hard; they’re like, ‘it’s too weird.’ No, you’re just bad.”
“Joseph is right, it’s not hard to learn and get good,” sophomore Marwan Hassan said, “but that makes it hard to be better than others, and we have to be better.”
“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” players, on the other hand, prefer a more casual approach to practice.
“We just play Smash together,” junior Jacob Hedge said. “A lot of what we do to practice is just playing the game and versing each other.”
“We practice by playing against each other,” junior Trent Jones said. “We’re always getting on each other’s nerves because we’re one upping each other. It’s fun.”
Unfortunately, some popular titles are missing, which is disappointing to players that enjoy those particular games.
“Lots of kids like ‘Fortnite,’ ‘Call of Duty,’ or ‘Rainbow Six Siege,’” Peltier said. “The games are chosen by the MASSP, though, so we’re playing what they allow.”
“Call of Duty,” also known as CoD, is one of the few games many students wish was available.
“I would probably add CoD,” Garrison said. “It’s a fun game that isn’t there.”
“I’d add ‘Call of Duty Cold War,’” Zhong said. “CoD is just a very good game franchise, in general.”
Other players add more games into the mix of missing titles.
“‘Fortnite’ and ‘Call of Duty’ not being there is crazy,” Hassan said. “No ‘Siege,’ no CoD, no ‘Fortnite,’ that kind of sucks.”
“I get why the games are not there,” Harris said. “They’re rated ‘M’, but CoD, ‘Siege,’ and ‘Counter Strike’
should be there.”
Currently, teams are preparing for their first matches, and enthusiasm is not lacking.
“We’re working on placement matches right now,” sophomore Collins Harris said, “We’re definitely making it to play-offs.”
“We’re not incredible at the game or anything,” Hedge said, “but we can hold our own. We will win.”
