Esports Goes Varsity in Columbus-Area Schools

Competitive gaming has gone varsity in Columbus-area schools, with organized esports programs drawing in students who never found their place in traditional sports or clubs. For those students, the teams offer the belonging and structure that extracurriculars are supposed to provide.

Skeptical parents and administrators have gradually come around as they see the programs demand teamwork, strategy, and commitment, and as scholarships for collegiate esports become real. The stereotype of solitary gaming gives way to something that looks a lot like a sport.

Coaches emphasize the same lessons any team teaches — practice, communication, handling wins and losses — while keeping an eye on balance. The programs, they say, are less about the games than about the students they reach.