Congratulations to our esports teams who had their first official AIA scrimmages last week and put on a strong showing, especially the Rocket League team who had a 3-game sweep in a best-of-5 matchup against Sunrise Mountain High School.
Dear interested community members,
We are happy to announce that this is CVHS's first year competing in esports with the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA), which is the same organization that organizes all of our sports teams.
This means our esports team offers many of the same benefits as any other team, including college and university scholarship opportunities, an opportunity to learn communication and collaboration skills, the development of critical thinking skills through problem solving and strategizing, and helps to build a stronger community and provide students with another reason to want to be at school. We understand that esports is a relatively new phenomenon and would like to share some information about our program including some of the significant benefits to student athletes.
One of the biggest benefits of esports is the possibility of gaining scholarships. Many Universities and Colleges also compete in esports and there is quite a lot of scholarship money available to esports athletes. We have already had two Arizona colleges reach out to us with scholarship opportunities for esports athletes.
Students also benefit from the development of tech-based skills. We use personal computers and gaming consoles for our esports program and there is a need for technological knowledge to set up our systems and keep them running smoothly. Student athletes learn hardware and software skills which have real-world applications whether students get into an IT based career or not.
In addition to scholarships and the acquisition of tech skills, we also believe that almost all of the benefits that a young person gains from participating in traditional/physical sports also apply. Things such as learning collaboration and communication skills, being a part of and helping to grow a community, and contributing to a school environment that students are excited to be engaged with.
Student athletes also get guidance in how to develop and maintain healthy gaming habits, which includes not playing games for too long, taking regular movement breaks (at least once an hour), and being conscious of diet as well. Esports focus more on the mental components of competition versus the physical, but the mind works best when the body is strong.
Our season begins on January 29th and is eleven weeks long. Playoffs begin April 15th, and the State Championship games happen on April 27th. All regular season games will be played in our library, though it is possible to travel after the regular season. We have practice or games every Monday through Thursday from 4 - 5:30. Our Super Smash Brother's team has games on Wednesdays at 4 o'clock, and our Rocket League team plays Thursdays at 4.
Thank you for your support and interest in our esports program and please feel free to come next Tuesday, February 6th so you can meet Coach Harris and myself and we can help answer any questions you may have. During the season please feel free to stop by and watch our games in the school library, though accommodations are limited. If you cannot make the meet and greet and have any questions or comments please feel free to email us at npabst@campverdeschools.org and mharris@campverdeschools.org
Sincerely,
Coach Pabst and Coach Harris