Clovis High School Launches New ESports Team
CLOVIS (KSMX)- Clovis Municipal Schools has announced the launch of an eSports program at Clovis High School.
Designed for students in grades 10-12, the coed intramural activity is sanctioned by the New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA) and will be overseen by the Clovis Municipal Schools Athletic Department.
ESports, or “electronic sports” is a growing trend worldwide, which uses video games for competition sports. In the NMAA activity, there are three sanctioned games – League of Legends, Rocket League, & Smite – which are played by organized, multi-player teams.
Eric Wimbish and Andrew Tipton have been selected to co-coach the Clovis High School eSports team. Wimbish said eSports encourages team building and communication skills, because players have to work closely together as a cohesive and effective team against competing teams, while at the same time, accomplishing the goals of the game.
“ESports is one of the fastest growing sports in the world (as popular internationally as basketball and football). Esports tournaments take place all over the world with 100+ million live and online viewers,” according to NMAA.
“The academic benefit of eSports includes integration into the school community along with education-based participation. ESports requires large amounts of communication, collaboration and leadership.”
With the season set to begin after the holidays, students selected for the Clovis High School ESports team will take part in competitions against other high schools in the state. Students and families interested in eSports can attend one of two information meetings. The meetings
will be held at 3:45 p.m. Thursday, November 14 or at 3:45 p.m. Thursday, November 21, in the Lecture Hall at Clovis High School.
Try-outs for the Clovis High School team will be held in December, with the goal of building a roster of up to 20 players. The season will begin January 13.
ESports was approved as a sanctioned activity under the NMAA umbrella in June of 2018. The first competitive season was held in 2019, with more than 30 schools participating.
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