Fun and Games: eSports in High School

FUN AND GAMES: eSports in High School

When Mikinzi Strykul entered 9th grade in 2018 at Willow Canyon High School, she had a lot of social anxiety. Joining a school of 2,000 others can be overwhelming, and it can be even harder to make friends. Most students were into the conventional activities associated with high school, and that just wasn’t her. After four weeks she transferred out of Willow Canyon and into the online iSchool program full time. About a year later she saw one small announcement on the school website about an eSports program being started at Willow Canyon. Video games had been a part of her life for a while now. Her sister had been playing since 2012 and got Mikinzi into it as well. “I have her to thank for my eSports journey,” Mikinzi said. “My siblings are a big influence in how I got into video games, especially League of Legends.” After seeing the announcement, Mikinzi thought she would give it a try. At first she was very nervous to play with people she didn’t know, and play with people at school that were perhaps better than her, or knew the game more than her. After all, she only played at home with her siblings. “After we started playing and practicing though, it became really fun,” she said with an enthusiastic smile. “I decided, yeah this is something I really enjoy and want to participate more in.”

Mikinzi Strykul plays League of Legends in the eSports room at Willow Canyon High School

She was hooked, and all of a sudden saw part of the school and culture in a way she never imagined. Part of the reason eSports was introduced at Willow Canyon High School was to capture students like Mikinzi. Students who are involved in extracurricular activities in high school, whether that be athletics, arts, or clubs, have a greater sense of belonging and do better academically. “eSports created a space for many students that they didn’t have before,” said Jon Alfred, eSports coach at Willow Canyon. “They felt ostracized, they felt left out. Now they have some place where they can go, and they start building school spirit. They start buying into that they are ‘One Willow’ just like all those other programs. We are picking up students who would normally be excluded, and they’re now included.” For Mikinzi, participating in something that she loved with others who had that same passion was all she needed to overcome her anxiety. “I like this, and other people are liking it, so if we like it together, then it’s fine,” she said of video games and the eSports program. “They’re not going to make fun of me. They’re not going to joke about me, because we all love this.” eSports has only been around for three or four years nationally as a competitive sport. The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) created the sport in 2019 for high schools. For many years, there has been a stigma about video games. Some believe they rot your brain, or that video games are just a waste of time. But one thing that eSports does that traditional video games don’t do is it requires students to become organized. That organization is the key that elevates eSports to a new level. “It’s not just them deciding to play whenever,” said Alfred. “They’re forced to work on a schedule. They’re forced to work with teammates that sometimes they struggle with. So you have problem solving, you have critical thinking skills. There is a lot of planning and strategizing that goes in.” Mikinzi indicated that required communication was one of the reasons she was able to come out of her shell and thrive in eSports. “If I didn’t talk with my teammates, and I didn’t communicate with them, I was going to fail my team,” she said. “I needed to communicate.”

A student’s head is silhouetted against a computer screen in the eSports room at Willow Canyon High School.

After a few practices her and her teammates started to get into a rhythm, they started to understand each other, and how each other plays the game. “All the nervousness, all the shyness, went away,” she exclaimed. “I was playing a game I loved, there was no reason to be shy.” She’s not the only one who loves the game. eSports was worth approximately $1.1 billion in 2019. It made more money than the NBA. More than 140 colleges have adopted eSports programs and an additional 45 degree programs including programming, marketing, video production, and competitive play. “It’s just exploding,” said Alfred. “This is the way baseball, football, basketball was a hundred years ago.” Last year, a student at Willow Canyon even earned a scholarship to Grand Canyon University for eSports, something that would have been unheard of just a few years ago. That pathway to future success is another reason eSports has risen above the generic video game stereotypes and one of the reasons more students join. “Students who come in, they’re already excited, because video games are fun,” said Alfred. “Over 85% of Generation Z and Generation Alpha do play video games. And so that is a natural tendency for them. But, I can now show them that video games can take them somewhere. So when my grandparents made fun of me, and said, ‘hey, what are you ever going to do with video games.’ I can now say, well look at all these careers and opportunities that can be provided.” Now in her junior year at Willow Canyon High School, Mikinzi is on track to graduate an entire year ahead of schedule thanks to her diligence in iSchool. She plans to attend college and major in computer science and cybersecurity. She hopes that maybe she can use that degree to work in the eSports field. After all, video games brought her out of her shell and made her into the person she is today. “I sure have lots of memories from our games,” she says with an enormous grin. “It just makes me really happy, and I think it can make others happy as well. I think the memories you make in high school, and particularly eSports can really help you grow in life. You have a purpose in life, so you don’t lose yourself.”

A close up of a student’s hands working a controller