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Team heading to state tournament next weekend

The Albert Lea High School esports team on March 2 will get the chance to compete with 16 of the best teams throughout Minnesota.

Esports is a fairly new program at ALHS, but it is one esports head coach Dalton Pagel said he hopes is around for years to come.

Esports is competitive video game-playing at the high school level.

“These kids get the opportunity to be involved with something. They may not get the opportunity to be involved in other sports,” said Pagel. “This allows them to use their skills that not a lot of people know about, and actually get to put them to the test with people who are like-minded.”

There are 18 students who compete at Albert Lea esports. There is a total of four games available to compete in: Rocket League, League of Legends, Fortnite and Valorant.

Each game gets its own separate team. Some of the games have small teams, like Rocket League, which has three players and two alternates. Others, like League of Legends, have 10 students and are split up into two separate teams.

Rocket League is the game that qualified the team for the state tournament.

Pagel described Rocket League as “soccer but with cars.”

The team qualified for the state tournament last year as well but was unable to attend because of a snowstorm. Pagel said he hopes the team’s success and support continues to go up.

“I really want to build the knowledge around our team to the people in the community and the people in our school,” he said. Right now, competitions are typically streamed on Twitch — a game and video streaming platform — so people can see how the team is doing.

Most Minnesota esports competitions take place at the students’ respective schools. The state tournament at St. Cloud State University is the only time they compete in person, Pagel explained.

The Albert Lea esports program has been going for two years, and many of the students have been involved the entire time it has been available. Pagel said esports was not offered when he was in high school, so he is excited to be able to now share the activity with his students.

“Esports is a really cool opportunity for kids to be involved in a group and social aspect, and also get to showcase their skills to not only their friends and their family but to colleges and people around the world, and I think that’s really exciting,” he said.

High school senior Elijah Goskeson has been involved with esports for one year. He said he joined because he was unable to compete in athletic sports because of a health condition and because he enjoyed video games.

“At first I was like, ‘Well, it’s video gaming. It can’t be that hard to go to state,’” Goskeson said. He added he soon realized he was up against very talented players, and he had to step up his game if he wanted himself and his team to be successful.

Junior Landon Lenz said esports has helped him build communication skills as well as teamwork.

Pagel said the Albert Lea esports program holds students to the same level as athletic sports, meaning students need to maintain acceptable grades in order to participate.

“Yes, they are playing games. But they’re also getting a chance to work on their social skills, learning how to win together; they’re learning how to lose together,” he said.

“[We] try to hold these kids not only to be good gamers, but to be good people.”