Whether you are a streamer with millions of followers or getting on the game with your friends, video games are a crucial part of many people’s lives. You can spend hours on end playing the games you love with people you know or total strangers from across the world. You’ll find yourself jumping up and down with glee after a big win or screaming while throwing your controller at the TV after a heartbreaking loss (I’ve done this). Video games are a great way to relieve stress, compete with others, build community, and just have fun playing in the made-up world that they so stunningly create. All of these things are precisely why the E-Sports team was created here at ETHS.
In 2022, Brad Le and some others decided that they wanted to create a club for gaming. At the time, E-Sports was growing rapidly, and schools all around were beginning to create their own e-sports teams. Now, all Le and his friends needed was a sponsor, an ETHS staff member who could be in charge of the team. So they found Jose Arias, a math teacher at the high school. Video games weren’t Arias’s thing, but he knew he wanted to create a space and community for the many people who loved gaming.
“Arias didn’t know a ton about video games at all, but out of the kindness of his heart, he came in and was like, yeah, we’ll get the computers, and we’ll get this started,” said Kenzo Furukawa, the current coach for the team.
So, because Arias didn’t know much about the whole gaming world, he found someone who did. He called up Kenzo Furukawa, who was also a math teacher at the high school and had played video games since he was a kid. Arias asked Furukawa to come be the assistant coach for the team, and Furukawa immediately said yes.
“I played a lot of video games when I was younger,” said Furukawa about the club. “I would have loved something like this.”
From there, the club began to grow and was very successful, but things would eventually have to change. Le and the other seniors were graduating and Coach Arias was leaving. As much as Arias had loved his time with the club, he realized that he needed to step down and focus on his family. This was an easy decision for him knowing that Furukawa would be there to take charge, and that is exactly what happened.
Although Furukawa was perfectly suitable for the job, it was going to be hard to run the whole team by himself. He needed someone else to rely on and this was where Le came in. Le (One of the founding members of the club) was still nearby, as he was attending Oakton Community College. It was his freshman year and he was already missing the team, so he decided to drop by one of the practices to say hello and help out in around February of 2024. Shortly after, he got word that Coach Arias was leaving and that Coach Furukawa needed another coach, so upon Furukawa’s request, he decided to take up that role.
“I thought it’d be exciting to come back and help build the thing I started,” voiced Coach Le. “Previously I was a player and I had a blast and now I am watching over them, seeing them play, and giving them my advice. It’s fun seeing the perspective of the player.”
Now it’s been almost a year since this happened and the club is thriving. They have three practices a week in the South Technology Center, each for a different game they are focused on, and compete in all sorts of tournaments. There are two leagues that the E-Sports team is primarily part of and each one is different.
“So there’s one that’s IHSA (Illinois High School Association). So, think of your leagues in Illinois, like the IHSA soccer, football, etc. That’s where you play schools within Illinois and then you have a tournament at the end, to crown the state champion,” explained Furukawa. “We’re also in another one that’s more in the United States itself.”
There are many games. For example, when I came to visit a practice, there were two teams there. Apex Legends and Marvel Rivals were holding practices and senior Christian Rivera along with the rest of the Apex team was getting ready for a game.
“Every Tuesday there’s a match that gets a bunch of schools that also play Apex, and we get pitted against each other,” said Rivera
And not just anyone can play in these tournaments. While you can be part of the club for fun, they also hold tryouts for the specific games to decide who’s on what team and the captains for the teams. Yes, there are captains for every game and at every level (JV or Varsity).
“In the past, I was the captain for the Overwatch JV team, so it was just orchestrating practices and asking when everyone is available, and setting a time to play,” mentioned Rivera. “And yeah, it was mainly just building community with everyone.”
This sense of community is seen in all aspects of the club. Whether or not you are the captain of a varsity team or you simply show up to have fun playing video games with others, it is a great experience for everyone.
“It’s great to have a place for people to come and at least get to enjoy video games, even if it’s not competitive. Like this is a club, it isn’t just for students who are playing on teams and playing competitively,” said Furukawa
Another great part of this club is something that is often overlooked, the computers themselves. Although many students do have access to video games at home, some are not as fortunate and would love to have a space to play. The ability to have a place and set-up available to students is very impactful for them.
“It could be for people that are literally playing [because they] just want to come and enjoy a computer, a good computer to play something on because they don’t maybe have that home,” described Furukawa.
Looking at the future of this club, Coach Le and Coach Furukawa want E-Sports to be a fun, inclusive club that encourages anyone to join. They want to show that E-Sports is not some weird idea of a sport, but its own cool and exciting thing that is very similar to a sport. Although it does not have the physical aspects of a sport, it is still a team that works together, goes to practice, and competes in matches. There is a bond and community formed between the teammates and a competitiveness to win, just as in sports.
“Creating a space where [E-Sports] is acceptable for most people. I think there’s still a stigma on E-Sports itself, where people don’t want to say they are on E-Sports even though they want to join,” said Furukawa about what the future of this club looks like. “So I think it’s kind of breaking down those barriers right now and allowing people to have a space because there really wasn’t a space for [E-sports] 2-3 years ago.”
