Football, basketball, soccer, esports. All of these are team sports at Ludlowe.

First off, what is esports? To put it simply, it’s competitive video gaming at a professional level. 

Just like athletes play on sports teams that compete against each other, esports is just as competitive in the world of gaming.

As brands have marketed their products in the past, the terms of “esports” and “gaming” have been used in the same manner. Although, there is a significant difference between the two. Esports is similar to playing in a professional league, for example the NFL, whereas gaming is like occasionally throwing a football around with your friends.

The world of esports has grown a significant amount in the past few years and is increasing in popularity as more players become interested and skilled, just like the ones on our very own team here at FLHS. 

“Ludlowe has had an esports club since 2017. Our school’s club has multiple teams that play different games, such as Overwatch, Smash Bros, League of Legends, and Rocket League. Earlier this year, the Overwatch team made it to the national finals, placing second in the 2020 Walt Disney World Electronic Gaming Federation High School National Championships.

To find more out about the club, I talked to Gary Stewart, a senior and one of the members of the Overwatch team.

Gary joined the esports club in his freshman year at Ludlowe. He joined because he had always loved to play video games and thought it would be a great fit for him. “It was great to make it to nationals,” he said. “I was really disappointed that we were not able to play at Disney because of COVID but it was still a great experience.”

This year, the club’s Smash Bros team is also competing. We hope they have the same level of success!