What Makes Esports Unlike Any Other Sport?

The Lambert High School ESports Logo, October 2017. Lambert’s Esport team has gone to every State Championship to date. (@LHSEsportsTeam)

The Lambert High School ESports Logo, October 2017. Lambert’s Esport team has gone to every State Championship to date. (@LHSEsportsTeam)

Esports is getting popular by the day. It is without a doubt that it is unlike any other common sport such as basketball and football. But at the same time, questions arise towards why Esports has become such a well liked sport and why it has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years.  To put things into perspective, I interviewed Lambert High School’s very own Esports head coach, Coach Sapp.

“One thing that makes it [Esports] special is that anyone can do it,” Sapp explained. “[If you] put in hard work, you can be great at it.”

He then went on to explain how opportunities such as getting scholarships and going to college for Esports are key reasons for its growth. On top of that, because of that influence, parental support has followed behind, leading Esports to boom and rise up in popularity.

Even though Esports is widely available and one which has many opportunities, it still requires the hard work of individuals and the team.  Lambert’s Esport team has been able to maintain a high status in competition through their individual efforts and teamwork. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, they were the League of Legends state champions. Also in 2020 and 2021, they were the Rocket League state champions. The fact that Esports is highly entertaining for the majority of the young population, and that professional Esports players can display their gaming skills to thousands, if not millions of people worldwide, has had an influence that no other sport could do.

One Esports and video game fan, Aalish Budhani, who is a 9th grade student at Alliance Academy, explained how the factor of availability has led him and a mass population of others to follow Esports closely.

“The [number of] people who want to pursue a job related to gaming is really high,” Budhani explained.

Mitchell Davis, a senior here at Lambert, has similar thoughts that coincide with that of Budhani’s.

“Esports is far more engaging because there’s a vastly superior choice of play,” Davis explained. “You could do shooter games, sports games, speedrunning, racing, fighting literally anything.”

The excitement and enjoyment of Esports is ever so growing.  People can expect Esports to be popular and sought after for years to come.