Mid-Buch esports team starts practice after championship-winning inaugural season

By Chris Fortune

Investing in an esports program for Mid-Buchanan students is already paying dividends after its first season.

Esports coaches and the Mid-Buchanan’s athletic director began talking about starting a team last year. They went and looked at programs at different schools and presented a plan to the school board.

The school board provided funding to start the program, and the first season kicked off in August. Players game on 32-inch curved monitors and computers with the latest processors, all of which help the program remain competitive.

“We’re very proud of our school board to support a program like this because this takes a lot of money to start,” co-head coach Ace Powell said.

Esports are played in the fall and spring, with different games being selected for each season.

“The fall season has a few different games, which we played Rocket League, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros,” he said.

Mid-Buchanan won the state championship in Rocket League on Dec. 1, thanks in part to the efforts of a member of the team with the gamer tag “Yimbo.” A gamer tag identifies online video game players.

“I really came in just trying to have fun,” junior James Brewer said. “I knew I was already good at the game, but I was just trying to have fun.”

The team’s communication and chemistry were great from the start. Brewer said the practices are made up of friends having fun and playing games together, but the state tournament was more intense.

“The nerves were pretty bad, like they got to me in between our games, like I had a bloody nose too,” he said.

A championship run was a lot for a coach who just wanted to give students a chance to play on an esports team.

“You’re just sitting on the edge because it was a great battle back and forth on who’s winning, who’s not winning,” co-head coach Steven Weese said. “And then finally, it’s just like, ‘Oh, they won, they won,’ and it was really neat to see that happen.”

Powell said he has enjoyed seeing more people realize that playing video games is cool, and the recent team success will help bring more talent to the program.

“We’ve already had a lot of middle school kids who are like, ‘Hey, can we get this in middle school,’” he said. “We’ll leave that up to the athletic director, but there’s already tons of interest.”