After school every Tuesday, Keith Szalay’s German classroom at Shaker Heights High School is transformed into a buzzing, high-energy space packed with focused students who are either working closely in pairs or huddled in groups around multiple computer monitors. These students are all members of the SHHS Digital Gaming Club, which—only in its first year—boasts approximately 40 members (mostly boys) and was the genesis for Shaker Heights High School’s first-ever Esports team. Members of the club and of the Esports team come together weekly to compete, practice, scrimmage, exchange tips and share their enthusiasm for video games and PC games.
The club’s advisor, Dr. Szalay, was approached last year by a few students, including current juniors Ethan Geye and Sean Hall, who wanted to start a Digital Gaming Club. The students spent the year creating the structure for the club so that it was ready for this academic year. “We had a huge turnout our first meeting. There were 30 to 40 kids and the room was packed,” remembers Dr. Szalay. “We started holding tournaments here in school for anyone who wanted to play. We hosted one in the small auditorium so that we could project the games on the big screen and it was really successful.”
The success of the tournament led the students to bump up plans to start an Esports team. After several months of research, Dr. Szalay and the students joined the EsportsOhio league, an Ohio-only high school gaming league of 44 schools from around the state. The league has competitive seasons for four games: Smash Bros. (Nintendo switch), Overwatch (PC), Rocket League (PC) and League of Legends (PC). In each game, schools can field teams who accrue wins and losses over the course of a six-week season.
Approximately 50 students tried out for the spring Smash Bros. season, but only the top 20 made one of the teams (two five-member varsity and two five-member junior varsity). The students practice during Digital Gaming Club once a week, two other times as the Esports team and then compete once a week.
“I have been absolutely blown away by the level of play,” says Dr. Szalay. “I’ve been a lifelong gamer and there’s not a single student on the varsity team that I can beat.”
Digital Gaming Club president Ethan Geye says that the success of the club has far exceeded his expectations. “I thought the interest would die away after a few weeks, but with the Esports team, we’ve kept a lot of students and gotten a few more,” he says.
Esports team captain Simon Hipwell says he’s grateful for the club and the team. “Playing at home can be more relaxing for some people, but here, we can all work with each other to get better and we can help each other with our playing style. Plus, there a sense of community when you’re here,” says Simon, who says he hadn’t found an extracurricular interest before this year. “This club gives me something to look forward to.”