SAN ANTONIO – With the new school year underway, many students are getting ready for football games, band performances, or debate competitions. One area seeing significant growth in popularity is esports in schools.
Pieper High School is among those experiencing a surge in popularity on campus. Sam Pippert started the esports program at neighboring Smithson Valley High School before moving to Pieper.
“At Smithson Valley, I probably had 50 to 60 kids pretty consistently throughout the probably two and a half, three years there,” Pippert said. “Here at Pieper, we’re regrowing, kind of rebranding it.”
Pippert said the program started in 2020. He said someone he knew at the district approached him with the idea since sports were sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, programs have emerged at all the high schools in Comal ISD. This summer, the district was named the first School District of the Year by PlayVS, an organization that hosts esports events across the country.
Pippert said that while many students gravitate towards traditional sports like football, esports offer something for everyone.
“I love esports for the inclusivity,” Pippert said. “Just about everybody and their brother play video games. I think I got my mom to play video games with me when I was younger, even though she probably did not care. It’s just one of those things that I think everybody has a good time winning or losing.”
“We all just try and try to make that person comfortable and enjoy it,” said Pieper senior Bri Hamling. “We’re all very comfortable here. It’s a big community anyone can try to join.”
Comal ISD published that the esports teams focus on “problem-solving and strategy skill management, collaboration, communication, mental and physical health, philanthropy, and real-world skills.”
Pippert said it also helps students who may struggle with social interaction.
“I’ve had kids that have gotten out of their shells, and they’ve shown how artistic they can be,” Pippert said. “They show that they think outside the box, and esports is one of those places where they can push that limit and not really be judged.”
"It’s helped me socially try to understand people,” Hamling said. “It’s definitely helped me in that way, but it’s also helped me with my performance anxiety.”
“It has helped me be more enthusiastic,” said Pieper High School junior Cameron Harvell. “It has gotten me to talk to a lot more people.”
Harvell, who is also on the golf team at Pieper, said playing esports has also helped him in social settings.
“When I joined, I was very nervous, and I’m still very nervous. But I’ve gotten to talk to a lot more people, and I’m glad that I have,” Harvell said. “I get to share the opinion with people that understand my opinion and sometimes agree with it.”
“I think it really helps those kids to realize that they are not outliers,” Pippert said. “They are important. They are really the glue that maybe we don’t always see.”
Pippert said esports is similar to organized sports because it requires players to work together.
“Some of these kids are coming from athletics, so they already know how to do it,” Pippert said. “Then you have kids that haven’t been a part of anything, and they could be just an Overwatch or Rocket League or League of Legends wonder, but they don’t know how to work with their peers. So teaching them how to communicate appropriately. ‘Hey, what is toxicity and how does that affect how we are working with our team?’ plays a really big part.”
The most important thing to Pippert and his students is that they all enjoy playing esports together.
“I really just enjoy the community of it,” Hamling said. “The team building, all of my friends being on in one area, and we can talk about things we enjoy.”
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