The Northern Lehigh High School esports team is experiencing success in video game tournaments.

Advisers Krystle Tiedeman and Janelle Scheckler, along with and sophomore Jomar Ortiz, a team member, were on hand at the school board meeting to give an update on the team.

Tiedeman said they just completed their fall season, and that the spring season starts next week, so they already have students signed up to compete.

“For the fall season, it was our first competition for a lot of the titles, but our students did really well,” Tiedeman said. “We made it to playoffs in two out of the four titles, and we made it to the finals in the Rocket title, so we got to take our students to Harrisburg and they competed in person there, and they did a fantastic job.”

Tiedeman said their team captain was in Dubai at the time, because the esports league changed the competition dates after they had booked their trip.

“So that hurt our team a little bit, but that just made them more determined to place again this season so that we have a second chance at competing in person at finals,” she said.

Ortiz said he was glad to be able to participate.

“It was a fun experience,” Jomar said. “And it was a great way to make some new friends.”

Tiedeman said Jomar competes in a couple of titles for the district.

“He does a fantastic job,” Tiedeman said. “Hopefully with a few more years with us, we’ll get him to compete in finals too.”

Third year

Link said he was happy to hear the success the team had as it made it into the playoffs and into the finals, and hopes it can build off that as it heads into the spring.

Tiedeman said this is their third year, and added they usually have 20-30 students involved.

“If we got brave enough to have multiple teams running simultaneously, which is what we started to try to do with the second coach, we can probably start to expand that,” she said. “The hard part is the league is new also, so over the past few years we’ve seen a lot of changes, and the downside to that is that a lot of our students will block their schedules through their employers so then we might lose some kids, or have conflicts with other activities; that’s kind of what impacts how many students we have involved.”

Also, Tiedeman said the fact this isn’t something that they’ve established at lower grades yet.

“By the time they get to high school, we’re getting a lot of juniors and seniors who are interested in trying to get recruited to college teams or to get scholarships, so we don’t have as many freshmen and sophomores that are getting involved because they’re not thinking that way yet; they want to play video games for fun, they’re not as invested in playing them for competition,“ she said. “So, I think if we were to open up something at a lower level, we would have those students more used to competing on a team, so then our high school program would probably grow.”

Link said what he’s hearing is that “this is starting to quickly shadow as far as participation rates, and opportunities such as collegiate scholarships available, or even a career pathway; there’s opportunities beyond just competition.

“Maybe most importantly is what Jomar said, ‘I get to meet and make new friends,’ either in person with our teammates, or perhaps even virtually with competitors from other school districts.”

Link then asked in what ways could administration and the school board support the club for ongoing success when the district is ready.

Tiedeman noted their setup is a little different from some other districts.

“Some districts have these very elaborate esports labs that they’ve invested a ton of money into, but if they don’t have the coach or the students don’t have the right timeline or transportation, those labs are sitting their empty,” she said. “Our students have been competing from home using their own technology, their own devices, and if they don’t have access to that, then we provide it for them.”

Tiedeman said, “The downside to that is we are fast as their internet connections, versus having something in the building that would allow us to provide that, so I think those are conversations that we probably have to have in terms of like the technology department, in terms of the individual players and where their comfort levels are, and see how we can grow that way.”

Getting recognition

Tiedeman added what she believes matters the most to the students.

“I think what made the biggest difference for our kids this year was being recognized more as an actual team, getting that recognition on the Dog Dish, having some other staff members kind of congratulate them when we share out their success,” she said. “We really would like to see something simple like jerseys; we’ve looked into that, tried to figure out how we can make something like that possible, because it is a team sport, these kids really do have to rely on each other and it would be nice for them after a win to come in wearing their jerseys and be able to say I’m part of a team that has qualified for states.”

Tiedeman said it’s the little things.

“We are incredibly grateful for the Nintendo Switches that we received and the games that we have that students like Jomar can borrow if they need to, and we’re hoping to continue to grow the program that way,” she said. “Most of the games, the titles that are selected for the league are free to play (there are just a handful that you have to pay in order to compete), and that’s something that we don’t feel our students shouldn’t have to pay to play. So having the title that we have to accommodate a full team so that if a student doesn’t have it on their own, we can provide it, that has been a huge help as well.”

Tiedeman added, “As the league continues to expand in those titles, that’s something else that we’ll have to look into.

“I think the support, just the interest, the acknowledgment that what these kids are doing takes skill, takes talent, takes practice and time, that’s the most valuable until we have those conversations about equipment and access.”

Superintendent Dr. Matthew J. Link said that’s very helpful to administration so that it can plan budget-wise moving forward.

“I do agree that the team should be treated as a varsity sport,” he said. I think you’ve proven that you’re ready, you’re going to state competitions already, and I think this is something that we need to take some responsibility for and continue to plan forward.”

Director Donna Kulp liked the jersey idea.

“Because it’s a team,” Kulp said. “And that’s what represents a team, there might be some way we can make that happen.”