Esports has a lot more history than people think. As one of the first members of esports at LCHS, it has been a big part of my life. When I was in 8th grade, I was terrified of coming to high school. The school was huge, and I was worried about failing classes. But when I toured the school and I saw that esports was going to be a new addition, I felt relief to know that there was something familiar to me. My friends and I all planned to join once the school year started, which was also comforting to me. We had signed up for League of Legends (LoL), a top down team fighting game that my friends and I enjoyed playing.

   Coming to esports on the first day was something I’ll never forget. Seeing all the students working together to win their games was exciting. Being able to relax and play games was a great way to end my day. The coaches were all friendly, and even though we were initially terrible at our games, they were patient and happy to help us learn. The coach for League of Legends, at the time, was former teacher Jacob Sarmiento. He was a big part of esports because he acted like a friend and a coach.

   Eventually, we started to practice for the competitions which all the schools from Virginia would compete in. All of the different teams practiced hard each day. Most of the competitions we played in ended in us going 0 to 2 against the other teams. Despite that, we still had a good time. The group was small, but, over time, more people joined, and it grew into what we have today. 

   Eventually, sophomore year came around and so did Covid-19. Covid was a big roadblock in the way of esports since the club was still new. Coaches struggled to plan games and competitions, and it led to some of the members and coaches eventually quitting. But esports survived and came back strong during my junior year. A lot of people joined, and we had more players than ever.