What comes to mind when you hear the word esports or competitive gaming? Most likely male-dominated, where the average player is extremely nerdy and lazy. But in reality, esports (electronic sports) is more than playing a game; it’s communication, teamwork, strategy, and commitment to a sometimes infuriating game.
Beginning with its early roots in the 1970s with “Spacewar!,” esports boomed into an international sensation people can compete competitively in and, for some, earn some money playing their favorite game. While local teams don’t allow their members to earn money from playing, if one plays nationally they can have the chance to do so. Colleges are pushing more money towards their esports facilities, including a lot of local universities, like Kutztown University.
Peyton Nolan is the Game Director (coach) for the Valorant team at Kutztown University. She speaks on the different aspects of esport gaming, and the great thing about playing a game such as Valorant.
“I think a common misconception with Valorant is that it has to be a competitive game. I’ve seen so many people who actually play it, just playing swift plays, which are a lot more casual. It doesn’t have to be a competitive sweaty game,” Nolan said.
Valorant is a first-person shooter where the player’s goal is to take a site (an area on a map) and plant the spike (a bomb), or defend that area to prevent the placement of the spike. There are two teams of 5 and one defends while the other attacks. What makes Valorant unique is the different agents (characters) one can play. Each agent has special abilities focused towards certain roles on the team to help with defending or taking a site. In a typical game you play rounds and switch between defending and attacking halfway through, and the first to win thirteen rounds is named the victor. Valorant is competitive, and it takes a lot of skill to get even decent at the game.
“It’s a lot of hand and eye coordination. It’s a lot of thinking and strategy. There’s definitely a lot that goes into it,” Nolan said.
This applies to any game one can play. It can be hard for someone who doesn’t play video games to realize that there’s more that goes into playing than moving something around.
John Dietrick, the Business and Computer Applications Department chair at EHS, ran the esports team until it eventually fizzled out around 2022. Although he didn’t play any of the games himself, he saw the passion the team had.
“Whenever they did well and competed, I would have their results announced by the principal. They were so excited, over the moon that they were being recognized,” Dietrick said. “They felt a stronger connection to the larger school community from that than they had before.”
Esports often goes unrecognized as a legitimate sport because of the harmful stereotypes surrounding gamers. For women especially, it can be intimidating to enter the gaming world.
“It is so rewarding to be able to say that I am a woman in charge of a bunch of men,” Nolan said.
Women can be seen as bad gamers — some say they don’t understand the games and they can’t strategize as effectively as men. However, this isn’t the case. Nolan believes to further advance the gaming world harmful stereotypes should end altogether. From esports to casual gaming, it’s just a community enjoying something they love together.
“When I play against the guys or play with my team, I never look at it as, I’m a girl with a group of guys. It’s my team and we are playing together,” Nolan said.
That’s all gaming is — spending time with friends or a team enjoying a game. The majority of gamers are passionate about it, but too afraid to show it because of the harmful stigmas society created. So find a local tournament to watch, or play one of the games professionals do to dive into the world of esports.
“That’s the great thing about Valorant is you don’t have to play a specific thing to win,” Nolan said. “You can play what you want, and you can win.”
