Pulaski County High School recently put a new program in place, offering students another opportunity to compete and represent the school and community. The new program is the PCHS ESports team, led by Mr. Charles English from the video production program in the CTE Department.
Currently, the program has around 30 members. While this program is new to PCHS, the Virginia High School League began implementing it and it is currently listed as an emerging activity. The VHSL Executive Committee voted at the end of last year to “reset the clock” for Esports, meaning that the league has until the end of the 2024-25 academic year to determine if Esports will become a fully sanctioned and sponsored activity under the Emerging Activity guidelines.
Teams who compete in Esports do so by registering through the PlayVS website. Schools may register at any time prior to the start of the regular season. Students must maintain eligibility to participate, the same way other students in other VHSL activities are required to do. Practice and competitions happen after school in a supervised environment, meaning no travel is required to compete online.
The team may enter more than one team, comprised of different students, in each game title competition. The students can compete in three game titles … League of Legends, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. There are two seasons, one in the fall and one in the spring.
“We matchmake online via PlayVS to compete against other schools,” Mr. English said. “If we can’t find anyone, we compete against ourselves. It’s been a mix so far. We’ve faced schools from Northern Virginia within the VHSL league, but we’ve also scrimmaged against one team from Miami.”
The students have shown a great amount of interest in the program, which will likely grow as time goes on.
“There are definitely some technical kinks to get straightened out,” English said. “Our IT Department has been great about helping us get things set up and running. We couldn’t have done it without their help. We’ve been doing well so far in the matches we’ve been able to play. Our League of Legends team is going to be in development for a while. The Super Smash Ultimate teams will be put to the test this week. Our Rocket League team is doing the best out of everyone so far. Our students are going to show improvement rapidly.”
During the fall league last year, there were 155 teams competing for a State Championship in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate League. The Freedom High School team, Freedom Gold, won with a record of 24-6. They defeated the Freedom Black team in the opening round, then defeated the Rock Ridge Phoenixes in the championship match.
In the League of Legends Championship, Centreville High School defeated Rock Ridge High School for the title. In the Rocket League Championship match, W.T. Woodson High School defeated William Byrd High School for the win.
The team is scheduled to host games Tuesday through Friday each week for the foreseeable future from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
