By Kim McDarison

Video games. Kids of all ages are captivated by these virtual realms.

Often perceived as the antithesis of group-inspired play, the activity conjures notions of solitary behavior, with a single gamer mesmerized by a screen.

In the physical world, in more conventional sporting disciplines, players come together and form teams.

Enter the macrocosm of Esports where online gamers play in teams and against competing teams.

While Esports gamers might be playing games like football and soccer, in the virtual space, games come with imaginative twists, Whitewater High School teacher and Esports club coach Justin Buntrock said.

On Tuesday, club members participated in an Esports game called “Rocket Team,” which, Buntrock noted, is like soccer, only the players are chasing the ball in cars.

Esports gamers are not limited to conventional sports, he said, adding that this season, gamers also are competing in a game called “Fortnite,” which, according to its online description, is a space in which players battle one another in a fight for survival, with each playing hoping to become the last man standing.

As an Esports game, Fortnite is played in three-member teams against other three-member teams, Buntrock noted. 

The Esports concept, which allows students across the state to form teams and compete is facilitated through the Wisconsin High School Esports Association, Buntrock said. Whitewater High School joined the association last year and fielded its first teams.

The association chooses which games are available for statewide competitive play each season, Buntrock, and his associate coach, school district IT technical associate Cody Garthwaite, explained.

More recently, Buntrock said, the students in the Esports club were presented with jerseys, with each sporting the player’s gaming tag and number.

The jerseys are another way of establishing club members as a team, Buntrock stated.

In person, players gather in a lab, and each commands a computer, but in the virtual space, they work together, and they play against teams from across the state, Buntrock said.

Buntrock has served as a tech ed teacher at the Whitewater High School for approximately two years. When he was interviewed for the position, he said, he was asked if he would be interested in starting an Esports club.

“I’m definitely a gamer,” Buntrock said, adding: “I thought it was like an added bonus that they were allowing me to do it.” 

While the idea was solid, it was soft on cash; there was no budget, he said.

A Switch and a game

A first step in starting the club was to advertise it, and find interest, Buntrock said.

At the beginning of each school year, the high school holds an activities fair, he said, noting that he arrived at the fair last year with his Nintendo Switch gaming console, looking to interest students.

He also contacted Garthwaite, who had joined the district one year before him, looking for support.

Garthwaite said the idea had already been discussed at the high school and was looking for momentum.

The two joined forces, Buntrock said, describing the newly formed coaching team as “Bonnie and Clyde.”

The two began networking with the building’s teachers, looking to design and establish workstations, Buntrock said, and then, they caught a break.

Said Buntrock: “I learned that if you signed up a team of four players for the spring season, Smash Bros. (defined online as a “crossover platform fighting game series published by Nintendo”) would send us a Switch and the game for free.”

In October of 2022, he said, six players signed up. The students arrived after school and began playing the game. 

An opportunity for some money came through a grant, which was matched by the school’s IT department, Buntrock said.

“Our grant was for $5,000. A former teacher applied for the grant,” Buntrock said, and the school’s IT department offered some money from its budget to match it.

Armed with $10,000, the coaches offered a one-week workshop during which students were invited to help build gaming consoles. The money was used to buy parts, Buntrock said.

“We used the grant money to get parts to build the computers and at night I taught a class where kids learned how to build the computers we needed to play on,” he said, adding that eight students arrived last April to build the equipment. 

“We built 10 computers which are now used not only by our club but by students in engineering classes, and kids in drafting and robotics use them. This is a computer lab. It’s a multipurpose room,” Buntrock said. 

How does it work?

Over the course of the last two season, the Esports club was joined by 15 students. This season, eight club members have been arriving to play. The current season began in December, Buntrock said.

Through the association, the club plays three nine-week season each year, with three-week breaks in-between each season.

Students arrive on Tuesdays and Wednesday, and are assigned to a team for each of the afternoon’s competitive games. This season, the association is offering Fortnite and Rocket Team, so two teams of three, or six players, compete each afternoon.

Those schools that sign up with the association to play Esports are placed into a division based on the size of the high school’s population, Buntrock said.

The schools register each season to be eligible to play.

Whitewater High School is included within the association’s Division 3. In Wisconsin, this season, there are 31 Division 3 teams, Buntrock noted. 

After each game, the association calculates a team’s standing using a point system, he said. Next week, top-point earning teams will play in the association’s finals.

How the teams are stacking up as they head into finals, as of Tuesday, had not yet been released, Buntrock said, but, he anticipated that the Wednesday afternoon Fortnite team would place.

Who are the players?

Manning consoles Tuesday afternoon were high school gamers who play using such tags as “Turtleman” and “Badfish.”

Once the game began, the room was quiet; players were focused. Following the game, players joined one another at the screens. They were engaged gregariously with fellow club members.

While two teams were identified to play a competitive game Tuesday, one game was canceled. The club members used the time to practice their gaming skills.

When asked why he joined the club, Eric Arredondo, a sophomore who uses the tag “Play,” said: “because I like that it’s after school. I have more fun with teammates than playing by myself.” 

He has been a gamer since 2012, he said. 

Nathaniel Cruz, a senior, who uses the tag “WLFIX,” said: “I just wanted to come in and play with teammates and it gives me something to do after school. I like games, so I figured it would be easy to just get into something, and I’m familiar with video games.”

While he said he has many games that he likes to play, Tom Clancy’s Division 2 role-playing game, which, he said, was released in 2019, is high on his list of favorites. 

“It’s fun to play and I like the competitive aspects of playing with other schools,” Cruz said. 

Logan Kienbaum, a sophomore, who uses the tag Turtleman, said he was attracted to the club because: “My friends were here and I’ve been gaming since I was 9. It is fun.”

Among club members is his cousin, Joseph Kienbaum, a sophomore, who uses the tag “Static.”  Found together throughout the afternoon, the boys agreed they enjoy spending time together.

Other members engaged in club activities on Tuesday included: Lucas Klein, a sophomore, who uses the tag, Badfish; Eli Trow, a sophomore, who uses the tag “Trowski,”and Emmanuel Cansino-Pena, a sophomore, whose tag is “Ecansinopena.”

Along with competitive games, practice and bonding time, the team, as of January, is complete with jerseys. Buntrock said he designed the jerseys because: “I wanted (club members) to feel like a team.”

The jerseys were purchased using donations. The club’s sponsors include Planet Chaos, First Citizen’s State Bank, Drive Burtness and Casey’s, he said.

According to the association’s website, upcoming important dates include Tuesday, Feb. 13, when the Rocket League Playoffs, Round 2,  will be held and Wednesday, Feb. 21, when the Fortnite Championship is scheduled. A Winter State Championship is planned for Saturday, Feb. 24.